Political Affairs Assistant

Details

Mission and objectives

UNAMA was established in 2002 as a Political/ Peacebuilding Mission, exceptionally) directed and supported by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).

Context

UNAMA’s field presence will remain central to the Mission’s engagement with its stakeholders at the sub-national level in Afghanistan. The field presence enables the Mission to deliver its mandate and maintain its awareness of related developments throughout the country. The Mission currently maintains six regional offices, in Balkh (Mazar-e-Sharif), Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar (Jalalabad) and Paktya (Gardez); and five provincial offices, in Badakhshan (Fayz Abad), Baghlan (Pul-e Khumri), Bamyan, Faryab (Maymana) and Kunduz. Field offices have a direct reporting line to the Chief of Staff. Gardez Regional Office shall continue to support mandate implementation at the sub-national level through building effective working relationships with the de facto authorities to facilitate an enabling environment for mandate/programme implementation, strengthening cooperation for and the coherence of UN activities; support the provision of essential services to Afghans; support dialogue between the de facto authorities and local stakeholders on issues of sub-national governance, basic rights and inclusion; provide outreach and good offices, including facilitating dialogue between political stakeholders, focusing on promoting inclusive, representative, participatory and responsive governance and broad participation in public life; and provide advice on local consultative mechanisms, confidence-building measures, capacity building, and conflict management and reconciliation. The FO shall also maintain situational awareness, reporting and analysis and engage with all stakeholders at the sub-national level in the protection and promotion of human rights.

Task description

Under the overall and direct supervision of the Gardez Head of Field Office (HoFO) , the National Volunteer would be provided with on-the-job training to support the field office in areas to: •Gather, select and analyse information from diverse sources through engagement with various de facto officials at sub-national level and non-governmental counterparts, with special attention to the representation of all segments of society, including civil society organizations and vulnerable categories like minorities and women, youth and university students; •Support the monitoring of provincial and district level developments and keep abreast of the latest developments and trends in the area of assignment, in accordance with the priorities established by the Mission; •Assist in the development, maintain and update profiles/maps and relevant databases run by the Regional Office units, including drafting provincial and district profiles, tribal profiles, background of important personalities, and other directories, profiles, maps, as requested; •Assist in preparing summaries of articles from a wide variety of sources, and provide inputs to reports; •Support the Office’s provision of good offices in line with the mandate; •Interpreting from English into Dari/Pashto and vice-versa during meetings; •Translate documents from English into Dari/Pashto and vice-versa when necessary; •Provide support to visiting teams/missions, as required; •Participate in periodic field missions to update the overall political, governance, and human rights situation; •Provide administrative and logistical support to the Head of Field Office, including arrangements for meetings, and preparation of documents etc.; •Support field trips, including the preparation of road and air mission requests, and arrange for security clearances; •Create and maintain administrative files and official records, including records of incoming and outgoing correspondence; •Support implementation of Political and Human Rights outreach projects and the UN Regional Team secretariat functions, and •Perform other related duties as required.