Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group, Southern Region

Terms of Reference
January 2024

Background: Protecting human rights and promoting gender equality must be central to
humanitarian action. The needs of women, men, girls, and boys are different, and often these
differences are amplified during humanitarian crises. In humanitarian preparedness and response,
women's leadership, and capacity as agents of change represents an untapped resource. Despite an
increased awareness within the humanitarian community about the issue of gender equality, there is
growing evidence that indicates that gender equality measures are still inadequately and
inconsistently integrated within sectoral programming in humanitarian responses.

It is in recognition of the importance of integrating gender equality across all stages of humanitarian
action that in 2017, Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Policy on Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women and Girls (GEEWG) in Humanitarian Action was endorsed by the IASC
Working Group (December 2017). The policy lays out the principles, standards, and actions that IASC
Bodies, Members and Standing Invitees must abide at global and field level to integrate GEEWG into
all aspects of humanitarian preparedness, response, and resilience. The policy is accompanied by an
accountability framework that elevates the accountability and leadership of the Humanitarian
Country Team (HCT) in ensuring implementation of the policy commitments.

In Afghanistan, even prior to the Taliban takeover, harmful and discriminatory gender norms and
insecurity limited full and equal access of women and girls across diversities to services and their
participation in humanitarian action as decision-makers and frontline workers. Under the de facto
authorities, the humanitarian situation has further deteriorated. Over half of the population needs
humanitarian assistance and one third of the country is on the brink of starvation. Women and
girls face additional risks in part due to the roll-back on fundamental rights, including freedom of
movement and access to services –particularly health, protection, and education. Restrictions
across the country are also preventing women from participating in humanitarian interventions.
The latest Taliban directive banning women from working with NGOs 1 has meant that a large
number of women-led CSOs and women NGO workers can no longer provide life- saving protection
support and has severely impacted women’s access to assistance across all humanitarian sectors.

Women have long seen a curtailment of their rights in the Southern region of Afghanistan, even
before the De facto Authorities takeover. Due to the Taliban influence even prior to their seizing
power, conservative views regarding women’s rights and gender equality have long dominated the
region and impacted women’s mobility and girls’ right to education, as well as their access to
protection services. The compounded effected of previous restrictions enforced by the Taliban with
the ban on women NGO workers have created multiple issues in the Southern region. Many

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Directive issued on 24 December 2022

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operational challenges are faced across all sectors in reaching women and girls, while GBV services
and women friendly spaces have been closed by the DfA. In provinces such as Helmand, affected
women’s access to assistance had already been restricted before the latest ban, leading to the
impossibility of reaching women in many instances.

Mandate and Scope of the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group for Afghanistan: GIHA
WG is an inter-cluster technical working group set up to support the humanitarian system in
advancing GEEWG in emergencies through identifying, profiling and addressing the humanitarian
needs of women and girls as well as men and boys in their diversity, and ensure their views,
experiences and capacities are heard and addressed equally and their rights protected and
promoted. The GIHA WG has existed for a number of years; however, it became inactive between
2017 and 2020.

Strategic Focus of GIHA WG in the Southern Region: At regional level, the GiHA WG provides
support to the ICCGs and the RHTs, as well as the OCTs in different provinces of Afghanistan.

In particular, the GIHA WG at regional level focuses on:

A. Coordination on advocacy and harmonization of gender equality efforts in Humanitarian

Action
- Coordinate and convene meetings for information sharing and joint action that bring
concrete issues and suggest practical guidance to the ICCG. These meetings will serve to raise
strategic issues that need to be raised at the RHT.

- GiHA WG will convene regional GiHA WG meetings once a month and on an ad-hoc basis as
needed to:
o Ensure promotion of gender mainstreaming efforts at grassroot level.
o Promote greater involvement of women led organizations at local level.
o Provide a platform for both national and international NGOs particularly women led
organizations to participate and contribute to all aspect of response in local
languages.
- Strengthen participation of Afghan women’s rights organizations and Afghan gender equality
actors at provincial and district level to promote their influence and engagement in all
aspects of response.

B. Strategic advocacy at regional and national level

- Provide strategic advice to the ICCG and RHT to strengthen accountability in advocating for a
gender responsive humanitarian response that is anchored in evidence-based analysis, and
direct engagement with clusters and communities at provincial level.
- Produce and contribute to strategic and analytical gender briefs led by the national GiHA
WG, including as it concerns gender issues in the Southern Region
- Relay gender issues in the Southern Region to the national GiHA WG for advocacy, as well as
to the ICCG and RHT
- Organize joint GIHA WG advocacy campaigns and events in the region.

C. Technical Advice, Guidance and Capacity Development to ICCG and relevant

Clusters/Thematic groups
- Liaise with clusters and wider ICCG at regional level to provide advice and technical guidance
from a gender perspective, including using available tools, and promote joint action across
clusters in assessments, programming, monitoring, preparedness, and resilience.

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 - Participate in needs assessments taking place in various provinces and monitoring of cluster
response and projects.
- Strengthen technical capacity of humanitarian actors.
- Provide support for women’s civil society organizations (CSOs) and women’s networks to
engage in the humanitarian response architecture at the regional level, shape policy and
implement humanitarian action.

D. Assessment, Analysis and Monitoring

- Provide inputs to ICCG gender analysis and gender-responsive assessments, research,
messaging and feedback mechanisms for clusters/ across clusters including sex, age, and
disability disaggregated data collection methodologies.
- Promote gender-equal community-led monitoring and feedback mechanisms.
- Participate in activities and missions with ICCG and cluster members, as relevant, to
contribute to strengthening gender-responsive humanitarian response assessment, planning,
monitoring, and reporting in the field and at provincial and district level.
- Contribute narrative and data inputs to various plans, reports and strategies produced by the
ICCG and RHT

E. Information Sharing and Management

- Identify and analyze important developments, including needs, gaps, good practices, and
success stories in gender-responsive humanitarian response in the Southern region and raise
these at the GIHA WG meetings.
- Routinely share information and issues of concern on gender and raise these issues at ICCG,
RHT and OCT levels
- Ensure linkages and information sharing with other established coordination mechanisms in
the region.
- Share lessons learned and good practices on gender responsive programmes, including
through provision of platforms for affected women and raising the voices of local affected
women in local coordination structures.

Membership and Management Structure: The GiHA Working Group at the regional level is led by
two co-leads: UN Women Afghanistan Country Office as the permanent co-lead and one elected co-
lead – either an International Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) or a National NGO.

Terms for elected co-lead agencies will be one year. At the beginning of each calendar year,
organizations interested in being elected co-leads will nominate themselves. The WG members will
vote and select one INGO or one NNGO among the nominees to co-lead the working group for one
year.

Membership of the GiHA WG at the regional is as inclusive as possible, on a voluntary and self-
nominated basis, and is comprised of the national and international NGOs, UN agencies and women
leaders.

Every member institution should assign one relevant programme staff to regularly represent their
institution to contribute to the discussions and provide updates as and when needed. An alternative
staff member should be made available during the absence of the representative. The representation
in the GIHA WG remains based on institutions and not individuals.

The members of the WG at regional level fulfill the following functions:

o Attend and actively participate at the WG meetings.
o Share relevant information to support a coordinated response to emergencies.

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 o Participate and contribute to preparedness activities.

Meeting Frequency and Reporting Arrangement: The regional GiHA WG meets on monthly basis and
may consider ad-hoc meetings as needed. The GiHA WG co-leads ensure close collaboration,
communication and coordination with clusters and technical working groups at the regional level
including the regional GBV Sub-Cluster and the regional Access Working Group to ensure
complementarity of the efforts, avoiding duplication and maximizing resources, as well as amplifying
advocacy efforts.

Reporting arrangements: The GiHA WG at regional level is accountable to and reports to the RHT on
strategic issues. It participates in the ICCG on all operational matters relevant to gender equality, be
they referred to it from the RHT, ICCG, national GiHA WG or identified and reported on of its own
volition. It also participates in the Access Working Group at regional level, and other cluster meetings
and coordination mechanisms as needed.

The GiHA WG works in close coordination with OCHA to ensure the identification of gender issues,
setting up of gender-responsive solutions at the ICCT level, and production of robust gender analysis
to inform coordinated information and response in the field. The WG aims to enhance organizations’
accountability towards affected people on integration of gender in humanitarian action overall.

The Terms of References, including membership of the regional WG and modes of operation, will
be reviewed, and revised on a regular basis, taking into account evolving programming across the
humanitarian spectrum and the evolving situation of women’s rights in Afghanistan.