National Consultant -Communication Expert

Programme & Policy

Overview

Consolidate communication materials and produce key advocacy handbook for governmental use.

You have:

• Advanced university degree (masters) in Mass/media communication, Art and Humanities, social or political sciences, agriculture and development studies.
• 5 or more years of relevant experience in social protection, environmental management, resilience and development projects, emergency assistance.
• Fluency in English and Chichewa with bias to other local languages is required.
• Professional in Communication with strong understanding of policy issues related to food security.
• Excellent written and spoken English, with ability to draft background supporting documentation and policy documents.
• Excellent remote working skills.

National Consultant-Communication Expert

Job Title: Communication Expert

No. Position/s: 1 (One)

Date of Issue: 22 March 2021 Deadline: 04 April 2021 (2 weeks)

Type of Contract: National Consultant- Special Service Agreement (SSA)

Unit / Division: UN World Food Programme Malawi Country Office-Programme Policy Unit

Duration: 3 months

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. As the international community has committed to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition by 2030, one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat. Food and food-related assistance lie at the heart of the struggle to break the cycle of hunger and poverty. For its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict, WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020.

Malawi is a small landlocked country in Southern Africa. With a population expanding rapidly at 3 percent per year and the majority of livelihoods dependent on agriculture, the population is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate-related disasters. Poverty is experienced by most rural families, with those headed by women suffering the most. Relying on small parcels of densely cultivated land for their livelihoods, rural Malawians are highly affected by climate change. Episodes of drought as well as severe flooding are increasing in frequency, intensity and unpredictability, giving the most vulnerable households inadequate time to recover.

Malawi’s challenges are also compounded by high rates of HIV infection (at 9.6 percent), low primary school completion rate (at 51 percent) and chronic under-nutrition (at 37 percent for children under 5). WFP continues to partner with the government, other UN agencies, NGOs, civil society and the private sector to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, with a particular emphasis on reaching Zero Hunger (SDG 2), addressing structural drivers of hunger wherever possible.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

In Malawi, under both the Malawi National Social Support Programme II (MNSSP II) and the National Resilience Strategy (NRS), shock-sensitive social protection is defined as a system that meets seasonal needs, prepares for and responds to shocks together with the humanitarian sector, and supports recovery and the return to regular programming. The concept means building on existing Government systems to increase coverage, transfer value, or services provided to affected households to meet their routine as well as heightened needs.

The Government of Malawi through the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development (MoEPD), Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) under the Office of the President and Cabinet and the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare (MoGCDSW) is looking at strengthening structures and linkages of social protection and humanitarian developments in the country. This is to ensure timely support to reach the affected population, including responding to routine assistance as well as short-term and protracted crises. There are different processes requiring strengthening support and in addition to that most significantly is communication.

The Government of Malawi (GoM) team together with WFP and partners developed clear, measurable and open messages, easily understood by the population and critical in ensuring the successful implementation of national social protection and humanitarian processes, and their linkages in 2020. As part of the MNSSP II, WFP is supporting the Government of Malawi in safeguarding and being responsible for the communication messages to support shock-sensitive social protection agenda going forward.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT CONT:

This work focused on specific targeted messages attesting the smooth roll out of the shock sensitive social protection during lean season response (LSR) in the districts of Balaka and Nsanje, the vulnerability assessments and analysis results (VAA); operationalization and strengthening the linkages in preparation for 2020/2021 implementation, coordination and understanding social protection and humanitarian processes. Takeaways from the 2019/2020 lean season response showed the importance of messages for specific processes; without which there were significant challenges with implementation.

It is meaningful that the messages and processes used in 2020/21 be well detailed and be a meaningful sub-section for the MNSSP operationalization. It is envisaged that, a well-documented handbook/guidebook on rigorous communication that has taken place in country will be handed over to government to ease SSSP operationalization during scale up process to other districts and implementation in the district where this work is ongoing. Takeaways from this work will foster into the broader communication strategy and messages which are being developed, including messages for pillar 3 of the MNSSP II on shock-sensitive social protect and need to be accessible to the larger audience.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THIS WORK:

The main purpose of this work is to consolidate communication work done in 2020/21 and endorsement review of all communication materials, translate into a usable handbook and tools and submit to different forum for use.

The consultant would be supported by the team who produced the materials, comprised of social protection, humanitarian and other actors at all levels. The consultant would also be expected to produce 1-2 drafts of the handbook for comments (to be outlined in the inception report). It is envisaged that a handbook and associated tools will be handed over to Government as a package which can be used for further scale up.

Key Result:

• Inception Report
• A synthesis report: Review available messages, data and channels used.
• A handbook with associated tools: Produce key advocacy messages based on message sources in hard, soft and digital copies for future use and reference

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES CONT:

1. Inception Report:

What? An inception report with the skeleton for the results outlined, including a workplan and method for approaching the tasks, and taking stock of all materials to be reviewed

Deliverable: An inception report

2. Review & Consolidate key tools and messages and recieve feedback on the channels used:

What: Collect and review materials from all the communication channels used since 2019/2020, 2020/2021 workspace in the operationalization of the SSSP – these included PA/Van, Radio, DEC/Full council or face to face briefing sessions and posters.

File all the resources in an easily accessible form, including transcribing all radio programmes (at least 10).

The second part of this objective is to conducting research on how these tools were used through Key Informants Interviews (KIIs) at district and community members to advise which messages should be used with which communication channels.

Deliverable: A synthesis report: reference document outlining all the messages, communication channels, and initial recommendations on standard methodologies, with associated tools in a corresponding folder.3.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES CONT:

3. Key advocacy /government handbook with associated tools:

What: Identify/ update the key advocacy messages and produce government handbook with associated tools (i.e. scripts for radio programmes; updated posters etc.). This work includes translating materials into local languages based on standard methodologies.

To provide options to partners using the available messages, gaps identified and effective means of communication even amidst Covid-19

Deliverable: A handbook in hard, soft and digital copies containing messaging materials for specific communication channels, the outline of this pack will be included in the inception report.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education: Advanced university degree (masters) with experience in one or more of the following disciplines: Mass/media communication, Art and Humanities, social or political sciences, agriculture and development studies.

Experience: Has 5 or more years of relevant experience in one or more of the following areas: social protection, environmental management, resilience and development projects, emergency assistance, and/or diverse aspects of national, bilateral or multilateral assistance. International research experience preferred.

Knowlegde & Skills:

• Professional in Communication
• Strong understanding of policy issues related to food security, adaptation, and resilience.
• Excellent remote working skills.
• General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing international policy, governance and frameworks.
• Excellent written and spoken English, with the ability to draft background supporting documentation and policy documents.
• Excellent ability in word processing, spreadsheet, and power point tools

Language: Fluency in English and Chichewa with bias to other local languages is required

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

The deadline for receiving applications is 04 April 2021

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

GENDER:

WFP is committed to gender equality. Consultants are required to indicate how they will ensure that gender equality considerations are included in the provision of consultancy contract, including how they are incorporated into deliverables. Examples of integration of consideration for gender equality could include but are not limited to ensuring government departments responsible for women are included wherever possible, gender sensitive indicators are included, emerging data is sex disaggregated, and relevant documentation related to gender is reviewed.

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Potential interview questions

Added 5 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: wfp.org