Associate External Relations and Reporting Officer

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org).

Currently, due to the UNHCR´s operational context in Colombia, programmers are directed to respond the needs of vulnerable persons of concern including internally displaced persons, refugees, returnees, and asylum seekers. UNHCR also works in close coordination with other UN Agencies and other humanitarian actors through GIFMM* in the response to vulnerable groups and persons with specific protection needs. The Interagency Group on Mixed Migration Flows (GIFMM) was created in late 2016. Its main objective is to coordinate the response to the needs of refugees, migrants, returnees and host populations, in a complementary way with the Government. It works as a coordination space for the response to the situation of refugees and migrants in Colombia. It is coled by IOM and UNHCR

Under the direct supervision of the Senior External Relations Officer, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Keep abreast all developments in operations to prepare appropriate briefings and reports. • Prepare periodic reports, i.e. donor updates, internal sitreps, briefing notes for senior managers, and activity-specific reports as required. • Prepare funding submissions for donors, and draft any required after-action reports. • Develop and maintain working relationships with the government, NGOs, and UN agen-cies to ensure cooperation in inter-related activities. • Support the UNHCR-led Cluster activities by preparing and distributing minutes, assisting in the organization of meetings; occasionally chairing meetings, and serving as the gen-eral secretariat for the relevant Cluster. • Support the supervisor in preparation for meetings and missions drafting of talking points. • Organize and accompany missions for VIP visitors, delegates to visit refugee sites or the activities of UNHCR implementing partners. • If there is no Public Information (PI) focal point in country, serve as PI focal point, con-tributing to and coordinating press events, interviews, PI missions and other activities re-lated to information dissemination to the general public to promote UNHCR activities.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by read-ing relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities; • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publica-tions/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible. • Support the work with potential and current public and private sector partners and UN-HCR donors (including responding to queries, ensuring that profiles of potential donor are properly recorded, maintaining interest of potential donors, supporting in elaborating products for the private sector), in close collaboration with the Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Unit, especially for potential partners in the labour insertion strategy; • Draft project proposals as well as interim and final reports both in English and in Span-ish for public and private UNHCR Colombia donors in close collaboration with field of-fices and programme colleagues; • Organize and participate in UNHCR donor missions and briefings, including donor visits; • Draft and/or support in the drafting UNHCR external and internal communication mate-rials, including factsheets, weekly reports, situation reports, briefing notes, background material, talking points and other communication materials (both in English and in Span-ish) in close collaboration with Public Information and Information Management col-leagues; • Work closely with the Public Information Unit to assist in providing visibility for donors’ contributions to UNHCR; • Contribute to the consolidation and maintaining of Excel databases that include the dif-ferent budgets of UNHCR donors. • Work closely with Information Management, Public Information to ensure accu-rate and attractive data presentation, including maps in external and internal communication materials; • Consolidate information on UNHCR’s country operations and identify appropriate messages for campaigns and appeals; • Stay abreast of the challenges posed by the political context, the UN and humani-tarian reform, and institutional developments in the area of forced displacement and humanitarian operations; • Any other duties as assigned by supervisor

Results/Expected Outputs:

• The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counter-parts, including Implementing Partners (IPs); • Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment. • A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during the as-signment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed. • The Associate External Relations & Reporting Officer contributes to the production, edit-ing and quality control of donor proposals and reports for his/her public and private do-nors assigned. • S/he establishes and maintains open communication with the Field Office colleagues as well as the Programme Unit, including meeting all reporting deadlines and other donor compliance issues such as visibility requirements, as well as receiving information of pro-ject implementation challenges. • S/he maintains effective professional relationships with a wide variety of public and pri-vate donors, operational and implementing partners, UN agencies, and other stakehold-ers to gather, analyse and disseminate information about activities of UNHCR and its partners. • By drafting external and internal communication materials in English and in Spanish, and by systematizing and sharing of accurate and timely information, the incumbent pro-motes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNHCR. • S/he establishes close contacts with all UNHCR field offices and branch office Units to gather and analyse information.

• 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 own-ership; willingness to accept wide responsibilities and ability to work independently under established procedures in a politically sensitive environment, while exercising discretion, impartiality and neutrality; ability to manage information objectively, accurately and confi-dentially; responsive and client-oriented. • Accountability: mature and responsible; ability to operate in compliance with organization-al rules and regulations. • Commitment to continuous learning: initiative and willingness to learn new skills and stay abreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work en-vironment. • Planning and organizing: effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish pri-orities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities. • Teamwork and respect for diversity: ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious work-ing relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity and gender; • Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presenta-tions, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommenda-tions; • Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards the UN core values.

a field related to external relations, communications, media relations or reporting. Knowledge of Microsoft applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint Demonstrated skills in oral and written communication.

Living conditions in any of the UNHCR Colombia destinations, including Bogotá, are generally good. There is a wide variety of activities in these cities, from tourism, theater, cinema, cultural and sports activities, and restaurants offering typical local and regional food, as well as international cuisine.

The duration of your assignment is of 11 months of contract, the expected contract end date is 31 December 2022.

A volunteer receives a Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) which is composed of the Monthly Living Allowance (MLA) and a Family Allowance (FA) for those with dependents.

A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) is paid at the end of each month to cover housing, utilities, transportation, communications and other basic needs. The VLA can be computed by applying the Post-Adjustment Multiplier (PAM) to the VLA base rate of US$ 1,571. The VLA base rate is a global rate, while the PAM is country-specific and fluctuates on a monthly basis according to the cost of living. This method ensures that international UN Volunteers have comparable purchasing power at all duty stations irrespective of varying costs of living. The PAM is established by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) and is published at the beginning of every month on the ICSC website (http://icsc.un.org). For example, if the PAM for the current month in the country of assignment is 54.6%, then the VLA for that month and for that country will be US$ 1,571 x 1.546 = US$ 2,429. Moreover, to complete the monthly VLA rate, a Family Allowance (FA) is added in function of the number of recognized dependents (or: in the amount of US$ 250 if the UN Volunteer has 1 recognized dependent, and US$ 450 if the UN Volunteer has 2 or more recognized dependents). In addition, in non-family duty stations that belong to hardship categories D or E, as classified by the ICSC, international UN Volunteers receive a Well-Being Differential (WBD) on a monthly basis. The VLA and WBD taken together form the net core entitlements.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are provided a settling-in-grant (SIG) at the start of the assignment (if the volunteer did not reside in the duty station for at least 6 months prior to taking up the assignment) and, under strict conditions, also in the event of a permanent reassignment to another duty station (duty stations can change in the course of an assignment based on operational necessity; UN Volunteers may be required to work anywhere in the area of operations of the host organization, including in remote locations). Life, health, permanent disability and malicious acts insurances are included, as well as assignment travel, annual leave, full integration in the UN security framework (including residential security reimbursements as per the local MORSS), DSA payment for official travel, periodic home visit, final repatriation travel (except in the event of a resignation within the initial contract period), and resettlement allowance for satisfactory service. UNV will provide, together with the offer of assignment, a copy of the Conditions of Service, including Code of conduct, to the successful candidate.