Advocacy, Communication and SBC Officer

Contract

This is a UNV National Expert contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Expert contracts.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is present with 10 offices across Brazil, including one national office in Brasília, 9 Zone Offices. UNICEF is actively implementing its 2017-2023 Country Programme in Brazil and is in the process of preparing a new Country Programme for the period 2024-2028. Both the current and upcoming programmes incorporate significant components related to communication, advocacy, and social & behaviour change (SBC). The Communication Section plays a crucial role in these areas by raising public awareness on child rights issues, creating visibility for UNICEF's initiatives, and collaborating with local communities to foster behavioural changes and advance children's rights.

The Communication Section is responsible for achieving outcomes related to communication, public advocacy, and SBC. The Communication Team is composed of two parts: the Brasília Team, which oversees national communication, and the Zone Office Teams, which manage local communication. The Zone Offices are organized by territories, including the Amazon, the Northeast and Southeast regions. Within the Amazon Region, the Manaus Zone Office is responsible for Amazonas, Acre, and Rondônia.

This assignment, based in Manaus, aims to support the Communication Specialist based in Belem and the Chief of the Manaus Zone Office in developing and implementing communication, advocacy, and SBC strategies for the states and municipalities under the coordination of the Manaus Zone Office (Amazonas, Acre, and Rondônia). It includes the following objectives: 1) Supporting the development and execution of local communication and public advocacy strategies for children's rights. 2) Strengthening UNICEF's relationships with the local media. 3) Assisting in the design and implementation of tailored SBC strategies

Under the direct supervision of the Communication Specialist for the Amazon Territory, and having the Chief of the Manaus Field Office as a second supervisor, the UN Volunteer will support the Communication Team in implementing communication, advocacy and SBC strategies, undertaking the following tasks: Advocacy • Support the Communication Specialist and the Chief of Manaus ZO in outlining and implementing advocacy strategies focused on the states and municipalities coordinated by the Manaus ZO (Amazonas, Acre and Rondônia). • Coordinate the development of materials for policy advocacy opportunities. • Monitor and evaluate the appropriate and timely dissemination of advocacy and communication materials to target audiences and participate in the evaluation of their impact. • Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of media materials. Maintain a library of coverage (clippings, coverage etc.) in the Amazon Territory. • Ensure good quality data collection, analysis, evaluation and reporting to ensure effective communication strategies, planning and advocacy. Ensure good quality data collection, analysis, evaluation and reporting to ensure effective communication strategies, planning and advocacy.

Media Relations • Ensure rapid and accurate information dissemination to the media. • Develop and maintain close collaboration with mass media, as well as with groups and organizations whose support is essential to the achievement of advocacy and communication objectives. • Draft and edit articles, press releases, human interest stories and other advocacy/information materials in all media formats, as appropriate. • Prepare background communication and promotional materials for briefing and visits of media and other special interest groups. • Collaborate with the media through activities such as organizing project site visits, facilitating photo coverage and TV footage and utilizing both web-based and traditional media as appropriate. • Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of media materials. • Support the Communication Specialist based in Belém and the Communication Section in Brasília in compiling a daily media monitoring report that analyses UNICEF’s presence and topics of interest for advocacy and fundraising in the media. • Undertake a lesson learned review of successful and unsuccessful communication experiences as directed by supervisor.

Social Behaviour Change Communication • Support the strategy design and implementation of SBC activities and participation mechanisms in both development and humanitarian contexts, if applicable. • Research and/or participate in conducting comprehensive SBC situation analysis of social, cultural, economic, communication and political issues in the country/region. Collect and synthesise qualitative and quantitative information and data to support the establishment of comprehensive and evidence-based information for developing and planning SBC interventions. • Assess the impact of SBC activities on the CO and UNICEF goals to achieve measurable behavioural and social change. • Provide operational and technical support to the design of SBC strategies, to ensure maximum outreach and impact on behavioural and social change of target audience, recommending operational strategies, approaches, plans, methods and procedures. • Assess and recommend potential contacts, networks, resources and tools to support the maximum outreach of SBC initiatives. • Collect and assess information for budget planning and management of programme funds, monitor/track and report the use of resources as planned and verify compliance with organisational guidelines. • Build and maintain partnerships through networking and proactive collaboration with national and international civil society organisations, UN agencies and public authorities to reinforce cooperation through engagement, empowerment and self-determination of target vulnerable groups. • Coordinate capacity-building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders/partners across programme sectors in SBC. Develop training materials for training activities, and revise them periodically for improvements and updates.

Integrity and professionalism; demonstrated expertise in area of specialty and ability to apply good judgment; high degree of autonomy, personal initiative and ability to take ownership; Accountability; effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; Teamwork and respect for diversity; good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; capacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups; flexibility, adaptability, and ability and willingness to operate independently genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement; and commitment towards the UN core values.

communications, print and broadcast media, public relations, private sector communications, of which at least 8 years of practical experience .

Common Technical Knowledge Required • Communication practice, methodology and practical application. Knowledge of current theories and practices in communication research planning and strategy. • Fundamentals of working in various media formats – print, audio, video, web etc. • Computer systems, including internet navigation, office applications, and specifically, interactive digital media. • Knowledge and expertise in communication strategy and networking.

Additional skills-assets • Excellent inter-personal and networking skills • Excellent writing skills • Familiarity with the UN system is a plus.

Manaus is the largest city in population in the state of Amazonas and in the Northern Region of Brazil. The municipality has about 2,219,580 inhabitants. The city still has a high population density for the standard of northern Brazilian municipalities. Manaus population is characterized by miscegenation, especially of Portuguese and indigenous people. In addition, the municipality received many immigrants throughout the 20th century, due to the rubber economic cycle and the industrialization process.

In demographic terms, the city of Manaus has presented a high population growth in the last decades, recognized, even, as a process of population explosion. The motivation for this phenomenon is linked to the city's role as an attractive center for migrants from the northern states of the country, since it is the main economic and political center of this region. In addition, the birth rate of the municipality is positive and life expectancy has increased over the years.

Manaus' human development index is considered high. However, the city has elevated poverty rates. The disorderly growth, in terms of population and urban structure, has generated consequences such as violence and environmental degradation. In addition, the city of Manaus has a significant level of social inequality among its population.

Manaus' economy is based on the manufacturing industry and public administration. The secondary and tertiary sectors are the main ones of the Manaus economy. The growth of secondary activities was the result of the creation of the Manaus Free Trade Zone, an area aimed at attracting and installing companies through the offer of tax incentives, which was created in the municipality in 1967.

The city of Manaus is a large urban center and has an extensive infrastructure, but very uneven between the different regions of the municipality. The Manaus territory is served by a network of highways, but the main connection between Manaus and the rest of the Brazilian territory is through the air modal. River transport is very important to the transfer between Manaus and the cities in the interior of Amazonas. The main transport structures in Manaus are the Port and the Airport of Manaus.

With regard to access to basic services, such as energy and sanitation, the city of Manaus has many structural problems, especially in water supply and sewage collection. In addition, despite the city having the main health and education facilities in the Amazon, there is difficulty in accessing and offering quality for the population. The health crisis experienced by the municipality due to the coronavirus pandemic is an example of the precariousness of the local health system.

The disorderly growth of the city had a direct impact on its structure. The lack of urban planning culminated in the creation of many housing areas of irregular occupation, which have precarious housing conditions. The city is divided into 7 geographic zones, which have a total of 63 official districts.

All United Nations personnel must scrupulously comply with UNDSS procedures and recommendations during their assignment. For missions in rural areas or indigenous reservations, special procedures may apply; UN personnel should consult with the local DSS office in advance.

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging their own housing and other living essentials.

Specific UN Volunteer entitlements, including insurance coverage, Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA), and Deployment / Repatriation lump sums, among others, are available at https://app.unv.org/calculator . The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos