VAC-8876 Senior Project Assistant (Regional Cluster Coordinator)

IOM is in partnership with UNHCR, coordinating the shelter Cluster in Afghanistan in order to improve coordination, delivery and monitoring of humanitarian services to vulnerable populations. The inter-cluster response is facilitated by OCHA while individual sectoral response is led by the respective clusters. In Afghanistan seven clusters and several working groups are activated and operational (FSAC, WASH, ESNFI, Protection, Health, Nutrition, Education).

The Shelter Cluster has national and regional Coordination mechanisms in place but given the recent political and economic changes as well as increasing numbers of vulnerable communities being affected by recurring natural hazards the cluster needs additional strengthening at a regional level.

Afghanistan is one of the multi hazard prone countries of South Asia, with earthquakes, floods, droughts, landslides, sandstorms, and avalanches as the common natural disasters. Heavy rain and snow cause major problems across the region almost every year. Extreme winter conditions and avalanches are also a recurrent feature in the mountainous areas of Afghanistan that make up approximately 63 per cent of the country. Poor housing provides little protection to the households in rural as well as urban parts of the country. Lack of capacity and resources within provincial de facto authorities and institutions further add to the vulnerabilities of families affected or displaced by natural hazards.

In order to respond to the above highlighted gaps, the shelter cluster needs regional coordination support in various locations. The key objective of the regional cluster coordinators will be to support the IOM co-lead shelter cluster on a regional level, on the standardization and harmonization of the shelter cluster response in Afghanistan. This will also include the monitoring and reporting of interventions in field by our various partners. 

HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT

Conflict, natural disasters, and the sustained erosion of communities’ resilience during close to 40 years crisis continues to drive shelter and NFI needs across different population groups in Afghanistan. These pre-existing needs are further compounded by outbreak of the covid 19 with the related containment measures, resulting in massive disruptions to livelihoods. This is predominantly challenging for people already living in poverty, those that depend on the informal sector and those in underserved locations and residing in informal settlements. Across the country, the need for shelter has been reported by affected populations as their second highest priority need after food. Emergency and transitional shelter needs remain high, particularly among new and protracted IDPs, refugees and returnees who require core emergency shelter assistance, as well as longer-term shelter solutions to recover or find a stable and safe place to live. People’s capacity to cope with repeated shocks has continued to be eroded with those who have been displaced multiple times acutely vulnerable due to their depleted financial and emotional reserves. Poor shelter, lack of winter clothing, and other household items leave people vulnerable to disease and unable to cope with Afghanistan’s harsh winters. The high need for heating and clothing coincides with limited livelihood opportunities and heightens the risk of preventable mortality among children and the elderly. The overall objective of the Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Item (ES-NFI) Cluster is to preserve the immediate safety and wellbeing of people and improve their living standards. This includes those affected by conflict and natural disasters, as well as cross-border returnees and refugees, people facing multiple shocks and those who are acutely vulnerable and in need of shelter and NFI assistance. The response seeks to address wide-spread shelter and NFI needs with 71 per cent of affected households reporting either severe or critical needs.

The Cluster’s objectives fall within the umbrella of two of the HRP’s over-arching Strategic Objectives. Under SO1 of the HRP, the Cluster aims to ensure that people who have been directly impacted by new shocks have immediate access to emergency shelter, household items, and seasonal assistance across the country. In line with SO3, the Cluster also plans to ensure vulnerable IDPs, returnees, refugees of all ages are protected and have access to shelter materials, transitional shelter, enabling safer and more dignified living standards contributing to durable solutions and preventing recovering communities from slipping back into humanitarian need. It is envisioned that vulnerable people with insecure tenure will receive short- to medium-term shelter support in the form of shelter upgrades, repairs, or rental subsidies.

While some 10.9 million people have humanitarian ES-NFI needs in 2022, the ES-NFI Cluster has planned to reach a target of 1.9 million people. This includes more than 370,000 people displaced by drought and conflict, 490,000 cross-border returnees, 27,000 refugees, 36,000 people affected by natural disasters, and more than 1 million acutely vulnerable people affected by multiple shocks. This gap between needs and targets is a result of a realistic analysis of partners’ capacity to deliver and funding received in past years, despite its increased capacity to scale-up response when required. The Cluster is projected to reach around three quarters of a million people with ES-NFI assistance by end of 2021.

In 2022, the ES-NFI Cluster will continue all its core activities – emergency shelter; non-food items; transitional shelter; shelter repairs and winterization support – to meet needs created by the aftereffects of conflict and natural disasters, as well as displacement.

With the change in context, including the reduction of conflict and increase in newly accessible areas – the ES-NFI cluster shifts to focus by aiming to repair and upgrade shelters for more than 1.9 million people while assisting 426,000 people with transitional and permanent shelters. This meant that the Cluster has increased its planned reach with shelter repairs/upgrade, transitional shelter, and winterization activities – by 300 per cent, 180 per cent and 84 per cent, respectively compared to 2021 – and reduced the NFI support by 24 percent.

SCOPE OF CLUSTER

The Afghanistan Emergency Shelter and NFI cluster was established in March 2008, led by UNHCR and co-chaired by IOM. The ES/NFI cluster continues to coordinate and support access to basic lifesaving assistance through the provision of emergency shelter solutions (e. g. shelter construction, repair, rental support) NFIs and winterization assistance and while ensuring adequate coordination mechanisms and response capacities at national and regional levels with various partners and de facto line ministries. The ES/NFI cluster has established a coordination mechanism at national and sub-national/regional level in eight regions. This team, at all levels, must ensure the inclusion of key humanitarian partners within the Cluster, respecting their mandates and programme priorities. Together with the Cluster members, the team will identify the overall requirements in responding to natural and conflict emergencies and will endeavor to ensure Cluster capacity to meet this threshold.

·Lead the ES/NFI Cluster at sub national level with by local, national, and international organisations and donor agencies.

·Closely coordinate with shelter cluster counterparts and Co-Chair Coordinator to undertake relevant regional ES/NFI Cluster activities

·Represent the ES/NFI Cluster at regional Level in engagement with partners and donors

·Represent the ES/NFI cluster at regional level at meetings with the regional de facto authorities

·Support ES/NFI Cluster meetings and other Cluster activities at the regional level and arrange, host, and organize ES/NFI cluster meetings

·Collaborate with OCHA and other Clusters on the design of regional ES/NFI activities and provide support to the assessment of needs and gaps. Ensure, that activities are based on and clearly in accordance with the national strategy and guidelines

·Provide timely weekly reports to national ES/NFI cluster team, by organizing and sharing regional level data, and developing regional ES/NFI documents Advocate for ES/NFI best practices including identifying and supporting appropriate capacity building needs assessment and capacity building plan for partners are developed with the guidance from the National Cluster Team. ensuring ES/NFI cluster strategy is understood by the members and feedback from partners to contribute to the review and alteration of the strategy if shared with Shelter Cluster Technical Advisor and National ES/NFI cluster team.

·Convening and ensuring proper and regular functioning of ES/NFI and other necessary TWiGs at Regional level as deemed necessary and appropriate in coordination with the Shelter Cluster Technical Advisor and National ES/NFI cluster team.

·Coordinate with other clusters or coordination forums such as OCT, HRT, PDMC at regional/provincial level to ensure cross cutting issues (protection: gender mainstreaming, disaster risk reduction, disability inclusion) are integrated into response. Establish contact with Humanitarian Access Working Group (HAWG) in the region and guide partners in extending their programs to remote areas

·Promote and conduct joint Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) of the distributions conducted by ESNFI cluster partners, provide feedback to regional cluster partners and to the national cluster on good practices, lesson learned and improvements.

·Ensure a good track of partners that obtained Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF), closely work with national cluster, OCHA and AHF focal points in the region for monitoring the progress, evaluating the quality of the delivery and provide feedback on the performance of the partners to the national cluster.

·Take lead in winterization response by coordinating targets for winterization strategy, flagging needs or gaps, ensuring partners have coordinated response to avoid duplication, adherence of the partners to the cluster winterization strategy.

·Recommend and refer cluster specific needs to relevant clusters identified through MS-RAF and ensure proper follow up with relevant cluster until recommend needs are addressed.

·Coordinate the emergency assessments and response activities

Other Functions

·Perform such other duties as may be assigned

N/A

Values

• Inclusion and respect for diversity: respects and promotes individual and cultural differences; encourages diversity and inclusion wherever possible.
• Integrity and transparency: maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.
• Professionalism: demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.

Core Competencies – behavioural indicators level 1

• Teamwork: develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.
• Delivering results:produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner;is action oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.
• Managing and sharing knowledge: continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.
• Accountability: takes ownership for achieving the Organization’s priorities and assumes responsibility for own action and delegated work.
• Communication: encourages and contributes to clear and open communication; explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring and motivational way.

Other

Any offer made to the candidate in relation to this vacancy notice is subject to funding confirmation. 

N/A

Education

·Completed advanced university degree in Architecture, Urban Design / Planning, Spatial Planning, Landscape Architecture, Anthropology, or Structural / Civil engineering or other shelter related field.

Experience

·4 years of professional experience in the field of cluster coordination, inter-agency approach and humanitarian assistance especially in conflict, post conflict and natural disaster.

·Experience with Shelter, Settlements, CCCM, or DRR coordination or programming

·Experience in coordinating response with specialised international agencies (UN Agencies, International Organisations, and International specialized NGOs) and in complex humanitarian operations, including conflict, post-conflict and natural disasters situations.

·Good knowledge of UN, IOM, International Organisations and NGO mandated to the IDP, returnees, and shock affected populations response and programmes in the area in humanitarian assistance coordination, cluster coordination, inter-agency level coordination.

·Direct experience in the regions.

·Experience in the usage of office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and knowledge of spreadsheet and data analysis.

Languages

Fluency in English, Dari and Pashto is required.

Note:

Applications from qualified female candidates are highly encouraged.