Access Specialist

overall aim of the Access Specialist post is that he/she will be responsible for supporting the day-to-day Access functions and oversight of the DRC Afghanistan Access Strategy Management function at the Country Office in Kabul while having the capacity to rove throughout the Country when/if required. This includes ensuring compliance with the DRC Afghanistan Mission Access tools, policies and approaches. Under the direct supervision of the Access and Advocacy Coordinator, the Access Specialist position will promote humanitarian access and coordination efforts. The main tasks will also include staff training on day-to-day negotiation, humanitarian principles and contributing to evidence-based access advocacy. The Access Specialist will work closely with other program and support Managers, Coordinators, and Field Staff to ensure a unified reporting information sharing on access constraints, enablers, and statistics. He/ She will regularly interface with other organisations and coordination Fora as relevant.

Responsibilities:

Humanitarian Access strategic planning and resolution support :

• Contribute to develop and implement the DRC Afghanistan access strategy and work plans.
• Support monitoring and evaluation of access-related initiatives and other reporting and information/communication flows.
• Maintain and update access-related incident tracker for all locations in Afghanistan.
• Liaise closely with other functions as needed, including Deputy Country Director and Area Managers to resolve access issues in a timely, compliant and safe manner as and when they arise.
• Provide guidance, recommendations and other facilitation support to Program and support teams in CO and area offices.
• Travel to the field to sites and support management of access issues as and when needed.
• Support areas in maintaining and updating area-specific actors mapping for all DRC Afghanistan locations.
• Work with the Access and Advocacy Coordinator to ensure timely and appropriate follow-up to operational breaches of humanitarian principles.

Internal coordination and external liaison:

• Support the preparation of access coordination groups which DRC participates in and/or leads.
• Facilitate field-level coordination meetings with the Field team, Area Managers, Program Managers, and Coordinators, ensuring access challenges are identified and discussed with relevant local actors.
• Lead and/or participate in meetings with de facto authorities on National and Provincial level as and when needed.
• Brief and debrief with participants of access meetings as needed to ensure strategic approach which upholds DRC positioning.
• Identify and maintain a network with I/NGO/UN and other humanitarian access professionals operating in Afghanistan.

Training and Capacity Building: 

• Facilitate training on access and humanitarian negotiations to DRC team and partners
• Assist in providing regular refresher training for all DRC Afghanistan staff on the humanitarian principles and access workshops as directed by the Access and Advocacy Coordinator.

Context Understanding and information management:

• Continuously and proactively monitor and evaluate the political, economic, social, and humanitarian situation for developments affecting humanitarian access to inform DRC’s response.
• Monitor the operating environment, identify new access threats, assess vulnerabilities, and recommend mitigation.
• Contribute to local-level conflict sensitivity analysis and macro-level analysis of access trends within the Afghanistan context.
• Keep records of minutes from all meetings and ensure these are shared with CO as and when needed.

Access advocacy:

• Support the Access and Advocacy coordinator to develop access advocacy messages and develop case studies
• Support the Access and Advocacy coordinator in developing access advocacy strategies and evidence-based document to enhance principled delivery of assistance
• Other support as required on advocacy initiatives

To be successful in this role you must have:

Experience and technical competencies: 

• Tertiary education (Bachelor minimum) in Humanitarian Studies, Management, Communication, Law, Public Administration, or related field.
• Computer skills (primarily MS Office applications), especially Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• 3-years’ experience working with international agencies or UN agencies.
• Proven ability to prioritise tasks and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrate knowledge of humanitarian principles, access constraints, and legal frameworks (including Afghan NGO Law and related guidelines)
• Stable and robust character, with high integrity.
• Excellent communication skills and a good team-player.
• Proven commitment to accountability practices.
• Competent and literate in English, verbal and written, with a sound knowledge of technical expressions in English, Dari, and Pashto.
• Demonstrative experience in INGO/NGO or UN field (operations) with experience of Access, safety, and/or advocacy.

Education/qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree.

Languages:

• Fluency in English, both written and verbal.
• Fluency in Dari, Pashto, and/or other local languages appropriate to the target population.

Source:   https://candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationInit.aspx?cid=1036&ProjectId=170537&DepartmentId=19150&MediaId=5