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| Regional Access to Finance (A2F) Officer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Afghanistan | Province | Herat, |
| Categories | Other, | Type | Full Time |
| Post Date | 2021-04-17 | Close Date | 2021-04-30 |
| Vacancy No | 006/021/HR/WEE-RDP | Gender | Female |
| No Of Jobs | 1 | Contract Duration | One Year with possibility of extension |
| Education | Bachelor’s degree with prior experience | Experience | At least 4 years working with either a micro finance |
| Organization | Opportunities for you | Salary | As per NTA Salary Scale |
About Company
About WEE-RDP/MoWA: The Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA) was established in 2001 under the Bonn Agreement. Until the third quarter of fiscal year 2020, as a government institution for advocacy and coordination, it was dedicated to plan, implement, and monitor programs within its strategic plan and national and international commitments. With the support of the leadership from the GoIRA, other governmental institutions, and non-governmental organizations, particularly, in the past five years, according to its “activities procedure”, it becomes a policy-making ministry and have brought significant changes in the life of Afghan women. With the changes in the leadership of the ministry in 2020 and the commitment of the president of the GoIRA, it became an executive institution in addition to policy making. The initial steps to improve the quality and effectively address women's issues taken to improve its plans and organizational structure through evaluation and consultation with women, domestic and foreign elites considering social, economic, cultural, financial and political aspects. Based on the consultations, a Deputy for Women Economic Empowerment was established in the structure of the Ministry of Women Affairs. Objectives of the Ministry The goal(s) of the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA) are effectiveness and quality in all national and local programs, empowerment of women at national level through, participation, coordination, and evaluation for balanced and effective development with national values. Women Economic Empowerment-Rural Development Project (WEE-RDP) is a flagship national initiative of the GoIRA and part of the Sustainable Economy Growth pillar of MOWA, which intends to increase social and economic empowerment of rural poor women in selected communities during a five-year project. It would work in 5000 villages in all 34 provinces across Afghanistan in close collaboration with Citizen Charter (CC) and assuring convergence with other MoWA projects, NHLP project of MAIL, Access to Finance project (TUP) of World Bank, etc. The project will work closely work with Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) and other stakeholders from financial sector to promote access to finance in selected rural areas.
Job Description
The Access to Finance Officer will work in the Regional Offices of the WEE-RDP and will support the Access to Finance Unit by working closely with the District Coordinators, District Officers, Social Organizers and Village Facilitators, and s/he will also serve as a liaison between the Regional Offices and A2F unit for the required activities. S/he needs to travel in various provinces, districts and villages in the relevant regions. S/he should ensure that the bank accounts are opened properly, check and monitor the Seed Capital disbursement process and documentation provided, improve the management of the savings and loan portfolio, coordinate with MFIs, commercial banks and other financial service providers in order to link the potential VSLAs and SHGs and follow up with communities to make sure members have commercially viable activities to be able to apply for loans and other financial services.
Duties & Responsibilities:
- Coordinate closely with and follow up with DCs, DOs and SOs to ensure the key members of the VSLA are fully aware of their responsibilities as ‘authorized signatories’ of the bank account
- Make sure the bank accounts are opened in a timely manner and entered into the MIS and the details are reported to A2F HQ in the format shared with the regions in order to track the account monthly maintenance fee
- Strong coordination and follow up with commercial bank in the regions to facilitate the opening of the official bank accounts of the VSLAs and Prepare and submit monthly progress report on account opening to the Regional Office and A2F unit
- Verify and collect Bank Debit Voucher, VSLAs Receipt Voucher & SHGs Receipt Voucher and submit them to the regional MIS team for data entry; and send the documents to A2F unit for further processing. All SC documents must be archived in regional office for audit purpose
- Check and verify that all seed capital disbursement processes are in order
- Work closely with DCs, DOs, SOs and key members of VSLAs for the on-time repayment of loans
- Collect the list shared by MIS on Portfolio at Risk and Poorly Performing SHGs/VSLAs and work closely with DCs, DOs and SOs to find out the reason for poor performance, and find a solution and report back to regional office, MIS and A2F Units
- Conduct regular field visits to provide awareness and guidance on Operational Self Sufficiency (OSS), all Islamic Products and Income generating activities at VSLAs/SHGs to improve the operational and financial sustainability of the groups (SHGs/VSLAs)
- Analyze and determine potential VSLAs of AREDP/WEE-RDP that need higher amount of loans and report the data to A2F unit in order to link them with other financial service providers, including MFIs, commercial banks etc.
- Conduct awareness sessions for mature VSLAs of AREDP/WEE-RDP periodically and participate actively in MFIs/commercial bank awareness meetings and conferences as required
- Support the provincial staff in training and mentoring of the SHGs and VSLAs in carrying out their financial operations, e.g. developing saving and lending systems, so that they emerge as mature community -level banking institutions
- Serve as liaison between the Regional Offices and A2F Unit for the required activities and follow up on compliance, linkage and operational issues
- Link with other project components’ regional and other staff, including Community Mobilization and Institution Development (CMID) and Enterprise Development and Market Linkages (EDML)on following up on any flagged discrepancies in data entry, performance and presence of community financial intermediaries. Further ensure that reporting of performance information and all data entries have a specific cut off data for entry into the iMIS
- Provide quarterly regional briefs on beneficiary success stories in the region
- Any other duties assigned from time-to-time by the head of unit.
Job Requirement
Should have at least a Bachelor’s degree with prior experience of at least 4 years working with either a micro finance institution or a commercial bank in the areas of operations and portfolio management, or experience of working with a project in the areas of access of finance and financial inclusion. Prior knowledge of innovations to improve financial inclusion like digital financial services and mobile banking would be an added advantage. The selected persons would be employed as Delivery-Based Service Providers (DBSPs). They will have a dual reporting line – administratively, to the Regional Managers and functionally, to the Head of Access to Finance at the project’s head office in Kabul
Submission Guideline
Interested Afghans with the required qualifications and experience should submit their applications electronically through in to Vacancies.weerdp@gmail.com and CC :mowa.r.hrd@gmail.com
While submitting your applications please mention the Title of the position plus Vacancy Number in the subject of the e-mail; please do NOT submit any other supporting documentation or educational certificates with your application. If you are short listed you will be asked to submit electronic copies of your educational certificates and if you are invited to written test you will be required to present the original certificates. Applications will not be accepted after the closing date of the position. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for written test Note: In the interests of open and fair competition and a merit based selection process applicants are advised that lobbying for a position , whether by the applicant or by any person acting on his or her behalf, shall result in the immediate disqualification of the candidate from further consideration. Applicants are strongly advised to inform potential supporters of this restriction which shall be strictly enforced.
Please don’t forget to type the Vacancy Announcement Number (006/021/HR/WEE-RDP/MoWA) in Subject while applying online. Application without vacancy number will not be accepted.
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is highly committed to increase women’s participation in government sector therefore women are highly encouraged to apply.