Job Detail

About Mercy Corps

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible.  In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.  Now, and for the future.

Country Summary

Mercy Corps works in places of transition, where conflict, disaster, political upheaval, or economic collapse present opportunities to build more secure, productive, and just communities. Providing emergency relief in times of crisis, we move quickly to help communities recover and build resilience to future shocks and promote sustainable change by supporting community-led and market-driven initiatives. Recognizing both the great potential and the complex challenges faced by Afghanistan, since 1986 Mercy Corps has been implementing a range of humanitarian assistance and development programs tailored to the specific needs of the country and of those communities where we work.

Program/Department Summary

EmpowerED (Elevating Trainer Expertise in Afghanistan) program, funded by GiZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer internationale Zusammenarbeit) aims to increase access for vulnerable young people, including women, to needs-based quality vocational training within in-company apprenticeships or other on-the-job training opportunities. Implemented over 20 months, the program targets master trainers from private sector companies across Kabul, Parwan and Herat and establishes master trainer courses based on in-depth market assessment. The program will be implemented together with two national partners.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Success Factors

The successful candidate will have an ability to work independently, take initiative in tasks and self-learning, and be proactive in communications and development of professional relationships. S/he will be able to work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly intense and fluid work and security environment with demonstrated sensitivity to the people and issues in the country. Strict adherence to Mercy Corps security policies and procedure. Capacity to spark innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to programming and inspire groups to collaborate closely to design impactful high-quality programs. Desire and ability to learn and grown, both personally and professionally.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development. 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

Job Description

General Position Summary

This role is primarily focused on supporting projects on economic development and economic opportunities. The program has been designed to adhere to the principle of “by women, for women”, to ensure the involvement and participation of women throughout the project’s design, planning, and implementation. The program’s theory of change is partly built around the assumption that Afghan women, although facing severe restrictions around their Freedom of Movement, may currently have greater access to employment within the private sector within their immediate communities, than compared to higher education and public or donor-funded vocational training, from which women have been banned outside of the health sector.

Mercy Corps is seeking a dynamic individual with an background in Protection and Gender mainstreaming and Safeguarding, and has experience in engaging with professionals from various humanitarian and development sectors to analyze protection, gender and safeguarding issues in service delivery and provide practical solutions and mitigation measures ensuring equal, safe, and dignified access to services, while encouraging the participation of diverse populations and marginalized groups.   

The Senior Protection and Safeguarding and Gender Officer will work with MC program teams and implementing partners to enable a systemized approach to standardize protection and gender mainstreaming and  integration and Safeguarding across the project. This involves strengthening and enhancing the capacity of each sector's initiatives by assessing gaps, issues, and risks related to their project activities and approaches while ensuring high-quality programming that can adapt to the different needs of vulnerable (men, women, girls, boys, people with disabilities) and marginalized groups, especially women and incorporates tailored actions to promote equal opportunity, building agency, Do-No-Harm practices, mitigates protection and Safeguarding risks and advances equal participation and empowerment.

In addition, the Senior Protection and Safeguarding and Gender Officer will work with the sector teams and implementing partners to adopt practical action plans to implement and maintain safe programming best practices of Mercy Corps Afghanistan (MCA) in their programming including assessments, activity implementation, and monitoring. The Senior Protection and Safeguarding and Gender Officer will also develop a capacity-building plan that would include training and mentorship with teams and partners to enhance protection, gender mainstreaming and safeguarding best practices in each sector's project activities and demonstrate the connection between safe programming and enhanced quality within their sectors’ expected outcomes.  

This role will help to ensure that different vulnerabilities of women, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups are adequately reached and equally participated in the program implementation.  Together with the Safeguarding standards and Community Accountability Reporting Mechanisms (CARM) focal points, they will foster an environment for safe programming in Mercy Corps emergency response. 

Essential Job Responsibilities

Program Implementation and Technical Assistance

• Support the program team and implementing partners in conducting assessments to identify and assess gender gaps, protection and safeguarding risks to their operational context with a focus on women and vulnerable populations' access and engagement in employment development training and engagement in the market for economic opportunities. 
• Support the development and implementation of innovative strategies to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are covered by Skill training and apprenticeship; including the development of Gender/Protection checklists to be applied in designing training curriculum and employment.
• Determine team-sensitive situations with assessment and programming approaches, information sharing, and awareness; work together to devise safe alternative actions that can enable program progress while minimizing risk and optimizing participation (especially for women, and other marginalized groups). 
• Ensure that a Gender/Protection lens is applied in the development and implementation of all activities by the project team and MCA team, especially when in direct consultations with communities (i.e. field studies, mapping of vulnerable exposed populations; a collection of experiences of extreme events; Market Assessments; selector selection etc.)
• Advocate for the importance of Gender/Protection considerations to other stakeholders involved in project activities, when supporting them in the development of their strategies and tools (e.g. ensuring specific gaps and barriers faced by the most vulnerable groups are taken into consideration in the development of early actions, SOPs, contingency plans, etc.).
• Monitor different teams' activities to continually advocate for and enhance safe programming, especially for women.
• Support integration of gender into the program’s M&E to ensure that gender is reflected in output, outcome, and impact level indicators and that sex and age disaggregated data (SADD) is regularly collected and reflected upon to inform adaptations.
• Establish tools and timetables to Identify, map, and regularly update local support services available to GBV/SEA survivors and individuals requesting protection assistance.
• Prepare teams to timely refer individuals requesting protection or safeguarding assistance by developing readily accessible information materials of available services and regularly training staff on active listening skills/psychological first aid (PFA)
• Maintain relationships and communication with other organizations/entities who provide GBV/SEA response services. 
• Using survivor-centered approaches, support the referral process for individuals seeking assistance for protection/SEA coming through any Mercy Corps team or CARM channel. 
• Work with the People function (i.e. HR staff and the Onboarding team) to help ensure Safeguarding content is included in the onboarding process. 

Capacity Building

• Train and mentor program teams and partners on protection and gender mainstreaming and integration and safeguarding concepts including survivor-centered approaches, and engaging and empowering women.
• Work together with partners to prepare training curricula and content developed for skill training including the gender aspect and informed by protection and safeguarding risks.
• Mentor teams on safe programming including protection risk analysis, SADD, GESI minimum standards, CARM, and Safeguarding Core Standards.
• Support the training of enumerators/volunteer workers/ vendors and partners on safe programming approaches. 

Coordination & Representation

• Support in ensuring that all accountability mechanisms CARM systems are placed, registered, investigated, and responded to in a timely and appropriate manner and are considered in program decision-making processes.
• Ensure strategies and activities are integrated, mutually supportive, and in line with the overall MCA Safe, Diverse, Inclusive workplace and program commitment.
• Provide support to all project staff in ensuring that gender and cross-cutting themes are considered in interventions at all levels, especially in project design, budgets, work plans and training.
• Represent Mercy Corps at relevant protection, PSEA network, GBV, child protection, and gender clusters/sub-clusters at the national and local levels and report back on critical information and protection trends related to the humanitarian response. 
• Coordinate with CARM focal point to support the inclusion of CARM channels to reach a diversity of the communities population.
• Regularly coordinate with internal program and operational stakeholders, and relevant Technical Advisors

Others

• Mercy Corps as a humanitarian agency is expected to respond as and when crisis and humanitarian situation engulf. As an MC employee all staff are expected to be part of humanitarian and emergency response in addition to their regular roles and responsibilities.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Conduct themselves both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned by their supervisor and or Country Director.

Supervisory Accountability:  None

Reports Directly To: Protection Manager

Works Directly With: PaQ lead, CARM team, MEL team, Program Managers, and implementing partners. 

Skills Required

• Communication Skills
• English Fluency

Submission Guideline:

To apply for this position, please submit your CV and Cover letter, with the vacancy number and position title (MCA087-2024 Application for (Senior Protection and Gender Officer ) in the subject line, by emailing

 af-vacancieskbl@mercycorps.org.

The deadline for submission is the close of business on 24-March-2024 applications received after the closing date and without a subject line will not be given consideration so, please make sure you put the vacancy number and title on the subject of your email, or your application will be disregarded by the system.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates whose application responds to the above criteria will be contacted for the written test/interview.

Note: Please note that MCA will provide office space and facilities only and is not providing any lodging facilities for its Team Members/Employees in HQ and field offices and it is the employee’s responsibility to arrange the lodgings for themselves if they work in a field office other than their home province.

Ps. Females are highly encouraged to apply for the MCA Open positions.

Submission Email:

af-vacancieskbl@mercycorps.org