Job Purpose:
The purpose of hiring an Individual Consultant “PSEAH Coordination Analyst, Herat” is to strengthen safeguarding from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH) across western Afghanistan, which has been identified as one of the three high-risk regions in the country. The western region faces heightened vulnerabilities, shaped by large-scale returnee and cross-border movements, ongoing protection risks for women, girls, boys, and frontline female staff, and the compounding effects of recurrent natural disasters.
The Analyst reports directly to the PSEAH Specialist and Network Coordinator for strategic direction and operational oversight, while also receiving daily administrative guidance from the relevant Head of Sub-Office/Provincial Coordinator, as appropriate.
As a field-based position, the Analyst will work with colleagues in the Herat Sub-Office to ensure that PSEAH is systematically integrated into UNFPA’s programmes, humanitarian interventions, and basic human needs response. This includes supporting the Sub-Office to mainstream safeguarding across projects, assisting in the establishment of systems for safe and confidential reporting and referral, and helping to promote awareness of victim-centred approaches to SEA and SH. The Analyst will also support staff training, mentoring, and capacity-building to ensure consistent safeguarding practices across thematic areas and units operating in the western region.
In relation to implementing partners, the Analyst will provide targeted support to both established and new partners to meet safeguarding requirements and build sustainable systems. This will include conducting capacity assessments; supporting the development and monitoring of action plans; and providing technical mentoring and guidance. Particular emphasis will be placed on the safety, wellbeing, and professional capacity of female frontline staff engaged by implementing partners, while also ensuring that programme participants (especially women, girls, boys, youth, returnees, and other at-risk groups) are informed of their rights, understand safe reporting options, and have access to victim-centred services. Community engagement and systematic data collection will be central to this work, helping to build an evidence base for interventions that are responsive to the realities of affected populations.
The Analyst will also contribute to inter-agency coordination by supporting the Western Region PSEA Working Group, which plays a central role in coordinating safeguarding efforts across agencies in the west. This will involve convening and following up on meetings, promoting joint community outreach, and ensuring collective prevention and response initiatives are implemented. The role will require close collaboration with the GBV AoR and the Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) mechanisms to ensure complementarity and synergies between PSEAH, GBV, and gender-focused interventions, particularly in areas such as referrals, outreach, and risk analysis. In addition, the Analyst will work with the new regional and provincial coordination structures and liaise with partners engaged in returnee and cross-border response to ensure safeguarding is effectively embedded in all aspects of humanitarian programming.
Based in Herat, with regular travel across western provinces and to border areas, the Analyst will serve as the operational link between UNFPA’s national safeguarding commitments and field-level realities. The aim is to ensure that PSEAH standards are consistently translated into practical protection measures for frontline female staff and programme participants in western Afghanistan, with a particular focus on gender- and age-sensitive prevention, safe reporting, victim-centred response, and the inclusion of returnee and disaster-affected populations.
You would be responsible for:
Under the overall supervision of the PSEAH Specialist and Network Coordinator for strategic direction and operational oversight, and with daily administrative guidance from the Herat Sub-Office (Head of Sub-Office/Provincial Coordinator), the PSEAH Coordination Analyst will work closely with UNFPA staff, implementing partners, and inter-agency counterparts to strengthen safeguarding commitments across internal systems, partner institutions, and coordination mechanisms in western Afghanistan. She/he will perform the following tasks:
Herat Sub-Office
- Support colleagues in the Herat Sub-Office to mainstream PSEAH across humanitarian, development, and basic human needs interventions.
- Assist in setting up and strengthening safeguarding systems, policies, and procedures to ensure consistent practice across UNFPA-supported projects.
- Strengthen safe and confidential reporting and referral pathways, including those relevant to emergency contexts.
- Organize and deliver trainings, workshops, and mentoring for staff to reinforce prevention, safe disclosure management, and victim-centred responses.
- Support sub-office activities, monitoring, and programme activities, as requested by Head of Sub-Office/Provincial Coordinator
Implementing Partners
- Provide technical support to both established and new implementing partners in the western region to meet safeguarding requirements and strengthen their institutional systems.
- Roll out the UN Implementing Partner PSEA Capacity Assessment, support the development and monitoring of capacity-strengthening action plans, and provide technical mentoring and follow-up.
- Strengthen safeguarding measures for female frontline staff, ensuring their safety, wellbeing, and access to support in cases of sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment.
- Ensure programme participants (particularly women, girls, boys, youth, returnees, and other vulnerable groups) are informed of their rights, aware of reporting channels, and able to access support services.
- Support community engagement and awareness activities in coordination with implementing partners, integrating data collection and analysis to inform evidence-based interventions tailored to the western region.
Inter-agency Coordination
- Support coordination of the Western Region PSEA Working Group by convening meetings, ensuring follow-up, and contributing to collective prevention and response initiatives.
- Participate in inter-agency missions, monitoring visits, and awareness campaigns in western provinces and along the border.
- Collaborate with the GBV AoR and Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) mechanisms to ensure complementarity and synergies with PSEAH, particularly for victim referrals, outreach, and risk analysis.
- Work with the new regional and provincial coordination structures (established under the humanitarian aid architecture review) to embed safeguarding in humanitarian response.
- Liaise with actors engaged in returnee and cross-border response to ensure PSEAH is included in support for communities affected by displacement and return.
Support
- Provide logistical, administrative, and translation support for PSEAH-related activities in Herat and across the western provinces.
- Support the rollout of the SEARO risk index and contribute to its use in programme monitoring and planning.
- Contribute to reporting requirements by providing inputs to internal reports, inter-agency updates, briefing notes, and lessons-learned documentation.
