Adolescent Program Consultant

Background

With support from IPPF, AFGA is preparing an adolescent girls programme based on the IRC Girl Shine approach. The programme will support girls affected by humanitarian and economic pressures in selected locations of Afghanistan. AFGA seeks a consultant to identify the subjects most relevant to girls’ daily lives and recommend a safe, practical and culturally appropriate programme design.

The consultant will use the IRC Girl Shine Practitioner Guidance, particularly the programme design and adaptation process, while ensuring that recommendations reflect girls’ priorities, local languages, literacy levels, available services and current operating conditions in Afghanistan.

Purpose

The consultancy will identify which topics, sequence and delivery methods best respond to girls’ needs in four connected areas: safety, well-being, health, and personal hygiene. It will also recommend safe participation arrangements, facilitator requirements, caregiver and community engagement, referrals and simple monitoring tools. The programme will also strengthen youth facilitator preparedness and capacity of selected young women from AFGA’s youth networks to safely facilitate the adapted curriculum and work effectively with adolescent girls.

Scope of Work

The consultant will complete the following tasks

Review and inception

Review Girl Shine guidance, AFGA and IPPF documents, available assessments and relevant services. Submit a short inception note with the workplan, consultation methods, locations, participant groups and safeguarding measures.

Consultation and needs assessment

Use age-appropriate participatory methods to consult diverse adolescent girls, with separate consultations with caregivers, female service providers and relevant community representatives where appropriate. Identify girls’ priorities, protective practices, barriers to participation and preferred ways of learning. Do not ask girls to disclose personal experiences of violence.

Identify and adapt priority topics

Recommend topics according to girls’ expressed needs and age. Areas to explore include personal safety and seeking support; confidence, communication, friendships and managing stress; puberty and body changes; age-appropriate health information; menstrual health and hygiene; personal hygiene, nutrition and self-care; and how to reach trusted, confidential services. The assessment should determine the final topics rather than treating all topics as compulsory.

Programme design and implementation readiness

Recommend age groups, group size, session sequence, frequency, safe meeting arrangements, female facilitator profile, caregiver engagement and community acceptance measures. Include facilitator training needs, verified referral arrangements, simple monitoring and girls’ feedback tools, and practical options if travel, permissions, female staffing or girls’ mobility changes. Develop a capacity-building and preparedness recommendations for selected young women from AFGA’s youth networks, covering curriculum delivery, adolescent-friendly facilitation, safeguarding, confidentiality, managing disclosures, safe referral, inclusion and facilitator self-care. The consultant should also recommend selection criteria, supervision, mentoring and ongoing technical support arrangements.

Key Deliverables

The consultant will produce

1. Inception note with methodology, workplan and safeguarding arrangements.
2. Short assessment report presenting girls’ priority needs and recommended topics by age group and, where relevant, marital status, disability and displacement situation.
3. Contextualized programme package with selected topics, session sequence, adaptation notes, delivery arrangements, and caregiver and community engagement approach.
4. Implementation-readiness package with facilitator competencies and training plan, referral arrangements, monitoring and feedback tools, risk and contingency measures, and a final presentation to AFGA and IPPF.
5. Youth facilitator preparedness package, including selection criteria, training plan and needs, competency assessment, supervision and mentoring arrangements, and readiness criteria for delivering the curriculum with adolescent girls.
6. Approach and Safeguarding:

The consultant will use a desk review, key informant interviews, age-appropriate consultations with adolescent girls, female youth volunteers, separate consultations with caregivers and relevant service providers, and a validation discussion with AFGA and IPPF.

• All engagement with girls must be voluntary, confidential, age-appropriate and approved by AFGA. Consultations must be conducted by trained female personnel in safe and private settings and follow AFGA safeguarding, PSEA, consent and assent, code of conduct and data-protection requirements.
• Before fieldwork, AFGA must confirm a clear response procedure and available referrals if a girl requests help or shares a concern. No names, identifiable stories or unnecessary sensitive information may appear in notes or reports.

1. Management and Coordination:The consultant will report to the designated AFGA project manager and coordinate with relevant AFGA and IPPF focal points. Payment will be linked to AFGA’s acceptance of agreed deliverables.
2. Remuneration and Payment:

Payment will be made according to an agreed schedule linked to AFGA’s written acceptance of deliverables. The contract or vacancy notice should state payment percentages and whether approved travel costs are reimbursed.

• University degree in social sciences, MD, public health, psychology, social work, gender, protection or a related field; an advanced degree is an asset.
• At least five years of relevant experience in adolescent girls, protection, health, psychosocial well-being or humanitarian programming.
• Demonstrated experience conducting safe consultations with adolescent girls and adapting curricula or structured group activities.
• Strong understanding of safeguarding, informed consent and assent, confidentiality, inclusion and safe referral.
• Experience in Afghanistan and fluency in Dari and/or Pashto are strongly preferred; professional English writing is required.

Qualified and interested candidates are highly encouraged to submit their CV, Technical Proposal, Financial Proposal, and Sample of Work from a similar project in a single combined ZIP folder to vacancies@afga.org.af

Applications that do not include all three required documents or are not submitted in a ZIP folder will not be considered.

The selected consultant will be subject to reference and safeguarding checks. Please do not attach any additional documents, such as educational certificates, experience letters, or other irrelevant documents.

Due to the high volume of applications received, the AFGA HR Department will not be able to contact each candidate individually. If you do not receive an email or phone call from the AFGA HR Department, please understand that your application has not been considered for this particular position at this time.

AFGA Recruitment Process Commitment

At AFGA, we do not accept any kind of recommendation, favoritism, or discrimination during the recruitment and selection of candidates. Our process is designed to be objective and merit-based, focusing solely on the qualifications, skills, and experiences of the applicants.

We want to assure all candidates that their applications will be evaluated equally, without any undue influence or bias. AFGA is dedicated to building a diverse and talented workforce that can contribute to the organization's mission and objective

vacancies@afga.org.af