Vac-11389 Community Liaison Officer

UNOPS strategyfor Afghanistan is aimed at providing maximum support to the Government andpeople of Afghanistan though the delivery of projects and services in line withthe government’s own priorities. The UNOPS Afghanistan Operation Center (AFOC)has been established as an organizational mechanism to deliver a range ofprojects for which UNOPS has been designated as the implementation agency. Atpresent, UNOPS AFOC is implementing a number of projects in a range of sectorsincluding infrastructure (roads and schools) development, capacity building tovarious ministries, and environmental protection, among others, on behalf ofthe Government of Afghanistan and the donor community.

The functionalobjective of UNOPS AFOC is to deliver projects in an efficient and effectivemanner, to achieve the development outcomes sought by the Government ofAfghanistan and the donor community, where capacity building is alwaysconsidered and encouraged. The aim of UNOPS AFOC is to provide implementationservices to the Government of Afghanistan, the donor community and partneragencies in the reconstruction and development of the country. In doing so,UNOPS aims to exceed client expectations in the delivery of quality servicesthroughout the country.

TheInfrastructure for Basic Human Needs in Afghanistan (IBA) Project is aninitiative aimed at promoting social and economic development at the locallevel within Herat province, an area significantly affected by a series ofearthquakes in October 2023. This project is committed to the construction andrehabilitation of critical community infrastructure, prioritizing aspects suchas safety, earthquake resilience, and adherence to the 'building back better'philosophy, all while maintaining respect for the local cultural context.Additionally, the project contemplates employing the "Cash for Work"scheme as a strategic measure to revitalize livelihoods and stimulate economicactivity in the region.

The projectenvisages the active participation of a diverse group of stakeholders, relevantto the affected communities.

The Community Liaison Officer will support theProject Manager and the team as required in liaising with the local communityand authorities to ensure the project can be implemented as per schedule andscope, addressing the day to day concerns of the community, updating onproject’s progress, project’s plans, etc. The responsibilities include but arenot limited to:

Planning andCoordination:

●Plan, organize, managemeetings/focus groups for UNOPS with stakeholders and or with any otheragencies or person if so requested, including organizing meeting spaces,agendas, methodologies of running the events, preparation of relevant material,post processing of the results of the events such as mapping the results,reporting, sharing with team and follow up activities;

●Facilitate the smoothliaison between coordination entities, working groups, stakeholders from civilsociety, international and local NGOs, Representatives of the Authorities (andother) involved in the Herat earthquake response by maintaining regular contactand networking;

●Organize and implementactivities of collection of information and strategy definition for theimplementation of the project. (examples: stakeholders mapping,interviews/focus group with stakeholders, collect best practice examples,contextualized inputs, work with UNOPS team and transfer the acquired knowledgeto colleagues, and similar);

Community Engagement and Implementation:

●Maintain detailed andaccurate record of meetings including agendas, meeting minutes,follow-up/action points. Details of meeting held or canceled should also bemaintained;

●Deliver documents toall the interested parties and similarly receive documents from both externaland internal parties;

●Ensure that follow upof document approvals by concerned authorities is done timely and consistentlyand keep the Project Manager updated as required;

●Ensure that communitiesat construction/implementation sites are kept abreast of the projectdevelopments and communication channels remain open with the communities;

●Respond to communityconcerns by ensuring that they are brought to the attention of the UNOPSproject team and facilitate the process of resolving the issue, and leveragingon opportunities;

Communication and Reporting:

●Report to the ProjectManager on a daily and weekly basis on community issues and the project’sperformance in relation to those issues;

●Keep up with the weeklyand daily developments of the project;

●Inform Project Managerwhen there is issue between the community members and the project staff;

●Forward questions about the project from community leaders andresidents to appropriate government authorities and the Project Manager;

●Acting as a focal pointfor the project on behalf of the Project Manager within UNOPS and and otherstakeholders as required by the PM;

●Assist UNOPS in theidentification of potential implementation problems and bottlenecks,

Perform other duties as may be assigned  

Reporting to Project Manager.

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