The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. The UN-Habitat Afghanistan country office is part of the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP). The position is located in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Learning from the experience in the last 30 years and recognizing the realities of the current context in the country, UN-Habitat in Afghanistan designs and implements projects in settlements of all sizes, putting the needs of people first, targeting the most vulnerable and meeting local needs by focusing on area-based and community-driven outputs. The portfolio currently covers projects ranging from humanitarian responses to supporting recovery and meeting basic human needs. UN-Habitat collaborates closely with the UN country team as well as with technical and financial partners in Afghanistan, in alignment with the UN Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) and the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plans (HNRP). In alignment with those frameworks and the new UN-Habitat global strategic plan (2026-2029), UN-Habitat Afghanistan has recently published its strategic priorities for 2026-2027 for the office.

Afghanistan is experiencing a continuous humanitarian crisis, with nearly half of the population in need of humanitarian assistance of some kind. Many people are displaced due to climate change impacts, and since September 2023, massive returns from neighbouring countries have taken place (ongoing). Urban areas grow rapidly, as people in vulnerable situations settle in cities, hoping for jobs, access to services and opportunities. But with cities unprepared for the rapid population growth, the number of people living in unplanned, underserviced and informal settlements, including in risk-prone areas, is increasing and living conditions as well as access to services are inadequate. The unfolding crisis in Afghan cities and settlements of all sizes, which is accelerated by climate change impacts and natural disasters, is occurring in a context of underlying vulnerabilities, including lack of adequate housing, infrastructure deficits, insecure livelihoods and pervasive tenure insecurity. Most at risk are displaced people in informal settlements, with women, disabled and ethnic minorities being particularly vulnerable.

UN-Habitat applies a participatory, community-driven and area-based approach, using participatory spatial planning and community action planning processes to empower communities to identify and implement priority service and infrastructure investments. The overall objective is to support socio-economic recovery processes and create an enabling environment for people to advance towards durable solutions. UN-Habitat's community-centered “People's Process” is a proven and effective approach to reduce vulnerability at scale in the Afghan context. UN-Habitat builds upon its long tradition of partnering with communities to create sustainable and safe settlements, improve living conditions and access to services to those most in need.

Reporting Relationships

The Durable Solutions Expert will report to the Country Program Manager (CPM) as first reporting officer and the Senior Human Settlements Officer (SHSO) of the Regional Office for Asia Pacific (ROAP) as second reporting officer.

In addition to the close collaboration with the Regional Office (ROAP), joint programming and cooperation with different HQ teams, specifically on Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights, Durable Solutions and Urban Crisis will be encouraged for this position.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the CPM, international and national Team Leaders to plan, prioritize and sequence project activities for Durable Solutions projects effectively.

• Manage the overall implementation of Durable Solutions (DS) projects and support teams across the office for programme management, working closely with programme, financial, administrative and technical teams and providing oversight.

• Draft and provide substantive inputs to concept notes/project proposals, advocacy papers and other pieces on Durable Solutions to displacement.

• Supports work across teams on Durable Solutions, also advocating for different components linked to Durable Solutions, including HLP rights, HDP nexus, area-based, integrated and longer-term programming;

• Develop (annual or bi-annual) workplans and budgets for Durable Solutions projects, ensuring alignment with results & resource frameworks and in collaboration with other teams.

• Maintain oversight of project deadlines and reporting requirements, in coordination with the M&E team and in accordance with donor specifications.

• Provide relevant training and capacity building to the teams on DS approaches.

• Support the M&E and the comms/advocacy team with best practices and lessons learned from the projects for organizational sharing and learning, inc. HQ level.

• Prepare and support period, quarterly and/or annual report on the DS component and as required by donors and UN-Habitat’s regional or HQ teams.

• Act as technical focal person to Durable Solution coordination within the UN Durable Solution Working Group at national level, and support teams in the region representing UN-Habitat.

• Actively engage with other international, national and sub-national Durable Solutions actors (inc. other UN agencies) to identify gaps and enhance synergies in programme implementation.

• Contribute to building partnerships with key actors for advocacy and resource mobilization;

• Participate in inter-agency programming processes, including joint needs assessments.

• Ensure facilitation of knowledge building on durable solutions approaches within the UN-Habitat team.

• Carry out any other tasks assigned by the Country Programme Manager

Competency

Professionalism: Ability to understand and advance durable solutions approaches, specifically in complex urban (crisis) settings. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to clients.

Qualifications and Experience

• A Master’s degree in urban planning or related studies, geography, law, land administration, international relations or related fields; A first level university degree (Bachelor) in combination with 2 additional years of qualifying experiences may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;

• At least 5 years of relevant experience at international level, including in planning, developing and delivering complex urban humanitarian and development programmes, in providing advisory services and managing projects (inc. in urban crisis), hands-on experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of projects in urban contexts and humanitarian, development or basic human needs portfolios and/or projects in durable solutions area;

• Proven experience in establishing inter-relationships among international organizations is required;

• Experience implementing durable solutions programmes in urban (crisis) settings, including project management at middle or senior managerial positions undertaking progressive responsibilities;

• Experience in resource mobilization, development of projects & design, proposal/report writing

Language

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the advertised post, fluency in oral and written English is required.

International Travel:

A return air-ticket from the place of recruitment on least-cost economy and visa fee will be reimbursed upon submission of travel claim together with the supporting documents including copy of e-ticket, receipts and used boarding passes. Three quotations from the reputable travel agents shall be submitted for UN-Habitat’s clearance prior to purchase of tickets.

Travel Advice/Requirements:

If travels will be required, Durable Solutions Expert must abide by all UN security instructions. He/she should undertake BSAFE Training as prescribed by UNDSS.

How to apply

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested and qualified candidates are requested to please indicate their immediate availability to undertake the assignment as per terms of reference above. The application must be accompanied with a completed UN Personal History Profile (PHP) or P11 (MANDATORY):

• PHP – Online : (1) Please create your profile in inspira.un.org, (2) Go to “My applications”, (3) “Create Draft Application”, (4) fill all required steps, (5) save the application and go back to “My applications”, (6) “Print the Admin Profile” and download it to be submitted via email. (Your online PHP profile can be updated and used for future applications) OR

• P11 – Offline: Please download the form (MS-Word) from UN-Habitat ROAP website:

https://fukuoka.unhabitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Personal_History_P11- 1.doc

The application should comprise of:

• UN Personal History Profile or P11 – Incomplete applications will be rejected.

• Recent Curriculum Vitae (CV)

• Cover memo (maximum 1 page)

Please indicate the Post Title: “Durable Solutions Expert” in your email subject.

All applications should be submitted to: UN-Habitat Afghanistan Office at hr-kbl-hab@un.org

Please note that applications received after the closing date stated below, will not be given consideration. Only short-listed candidates whose applications respond to the above criteria will be contacted for an interview. Overall remuneration will be determined according to the qualifications, skills and relevant experience of the selected candidate. In line with UN-Habitat policy on gender equity, applications from female candidates will be particularly welcome.

Deadline for application: 30 November 2025