Public Advocacy and Communication Officer - In support of the national “protect the girl, save the nation” Campaign, Kampala, Uganda, 11.5 months, Ugandan Nationals only

Consultant Communications & PR

Overview

Support national campaign on teenage pregnancy advocacy and communication

You have:

• Advanced university degree in Communication, Journalism, Public Relations, social sciences, or related field.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Ugandan local languages is an asset.
• Five years of progressively responsible and relevant experience in communication, advocacy, campaign management, print, broadcast, and/or new media.
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness.
• Nurtures, leads and manages people.
• Works collaboratively with others.
• Builds and maintains partnerships.
• Innovates and embraces change.
• Thinks and acts strategically.
• Drive to achieve impactful results.
• Manages ambiguity and complexity.

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a fair chance

Uganda is one of the over 190 countries and territories around the world where we work to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination place in a child’s path. Together with the Government of Uganda and partners we work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the objectives of the Uganda National Development Plan, and the planned outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework.

Visit this link for more information on Uganda Country Office https://www.unicef.org/uganda/

How can you make a difference?

In Uganda, 10.86 million people (25.33 percent of the population) are adolescents (10-19 years) out of which 5.4 million (49.8 percent) are girls. The country has the 16th highest prevalence rate of child marriage in the world and tenth highest absolute number (787,000) of children in union. Teenage pregnancy and motherhood have been a major health and social concern in Uganda for some time. According to the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS 2016), 34% of women aged 20-24 married before the age of 18, while 7.3 percent before the age of 15 and 25%of teenage girls aged 15-19 years were pregnant or had started childbearing. The proportion of teenage girls who have begun childbearing increases dramatically with age, rising from three percent among teenage girls aged 15 to 54% among those aged 19. Teenagers in rural areas are more likely to have started childbearing than those in urban areas (27% vs 19%), while teenage childbearing varies by region. The percentage of women aged 15-19 who have begun childbearing ranges from 16% to 17% in Kigezi and Kampala regions to between 30% and 31% in North Central, Bukedi, Teso, and Tooro regions. Teenage childbearing decreases with increasing education and wealth. In addition, Uganda is host to over 1.5 million refugees, mostly women and children (81%) from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Somalia. This humanitarian situation predisposes girls to teenage pregnancy and high risks of sexual and gender-based violence and sexual exploitation.

At the regional level, the Commission of African Union led a campaign to end child marriage in Africa in 2014, while nationally, Uganda developed and implemented a National Strategy to End child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy (NSCM&TP) 2014/2015 – 2019/2020. The strategy was based on the fact that for more than 30 years prior, there had been very little or no change in median age at first marriage (averaging at 17.9 years), in spite of the multiple interventions in place. Teenage pregnancy has direct linkages to school dropout, limited life skills that inhibit the ability of children to generate future economic opportunities, increased health risks that lead to a higher likelihood of mortality for girls and their newborns, among others. Teenage pregnancy has terrible consequences for the future of children, their families and, ultimately, the country as a whole. 3

Inadequate access to reproductive health information increases girls’ risk of getting pregnant. Complications related to childbirth and pregnancy are the leading cause of death worldwide for girls ages 15 to 19. A girl between the age of 15 and 19 is twice as likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth as a woman in her 20s. If she is under 15, the risk is 5 times higher1. Factors contributing to increased teenage pregnancies in Uganda include high fertility rate, risky sexual behaviors, sex as a coping strategy including transactional sex (sex in exchange for food, money or other services) peer pressure into early sex, lack of education, lack of family support, low socio-economic status, low education levels and low use of contraceptives among young people/teenagers2.

The containment measures of COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted the lives of children and families, impacting on efforts to prevent harmful practices such as child marriage and teenage pregnancies.

Anecdotal evidence from various sources including the media and health facilities, point to an increase in cases of teenage pregnancy resulting from the COVID-19 lockdown measures, they led to the depletion of household incomes and erosion of livelihoods – leading to a disproportionate negative impact on children who form the biggest proportion of the population (54 per cent). For example, millions of children in Uganda stayed out of school for over one and a half years and the plight of the working poor worsened because a significant proportion of informal and small-scale enterprises closed, leading to loss of income for many households, which led to transactional sex – among others.

Justification

In response to this dire situation, UNICEF in collaboration with UNFPA and other UN sister agencies, supports the government national campaign titled ‘Protect the Girl, Save the Nation” to address teenage pregnancy and promote positive parenting. The initiative will be led by the Government through inter-ministerial coordination, given that the needs of pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers go beyond one sector. The campaign will aim to create a movement for change by providing convincing, consistent and solution-oriented information and evidence to those who must protect the girls and in addition for the adolescents, it will provide information and conditions that enable them to access services that ensure their wellbeing and development is sustained.

The campaign will be implemented through two arms:

i) Political arm / high level advocacy and communication and consistent messaging.

ii) Technical / programmatic arm of the campaign, which will strengthen accountability mechanisms at the various sectors at all levels to ensure that the health and wellbeing of adolescent girls is high on the agenda, with focus on:

A. Prevention of defilement, child marriage and teenage pregnancy while promoting positive parenting

B. Investment on Social protection for teenage mothers

C. Protection of Babies of Teenage Mothers and the teenage mothers themselves

D. Evidence generation and knowledge management

The goal of the political track is to create momentum for a national movement to protect the girls from the harmful and damaging implications of teenage pregnancy and becoming teenage mothers. Appealing to key stakeholders and allies, including the media, will be essential to this effort. Within the UN this campaign will be under the leadership of the UNICEF and UNFPA Country Representatives, the track will focus on supporting three high profile champions – the First Lady of Uganda, the Prime-Minister and the Vice President in leading the national campaign during the one-year period. The campaign will apply multiple advocacy approaches and channels at national and local levels and will engage different influencers of community norms and practices ensuring knowledge, clarity and consensus on the importance and their role in protecting the adolescent girl. In addition to the three national champions the campaign will also engage other actors among them teenage and young influencers as well as young Ministers and PMs.

In addition, religious leaders, community leaders, adolescents (girls and boys), parents/care givers, relevant ministries, members of parliament, media and CSOs – are expected to play an active role in the national campaigns.

In view of this background, UNICEF is looking for a consultant who can support UNICEF and UNFPA advocacy and external communication teams and efforts in support of the national ‘Protect the Girl, Save the Nation” campaign. In order to endure continuous and cross-sectoral engagement including coordinating the preparation of various campaign assets the UNICEF and UNFPA communication teams will require the support of a mid-level communications consultant to drive the advocacy and communications efforts during the whole process of the campaign (pre-campaign, during and post campaign) in support to the national campaign secretariat.

Objectives

The consultant will support coordination of public advocacy and communication efforts between UNICEF and UNFPA communication teams in support of the national campaign secretariat.

In parallel, the consultant will support the coordination of the advocacy and communication requirements. Detailed can be found below as per the following categories:

1. Draft and implement strategic documents (strategy papers, budget, mapping)

2. Communication material, compilation, production, placement, and dissemination

3. Monitoring of voice, reach, engagement and impact

The consultant will work closely with the communication staff at UNICEF and UNFPA throughout the process. UNICEF and UNFPA systems, tools, networks and administrative, contractual and logistic infrastructure will support the consultancy.

Major Tasks

1. Draft public advocacy strategy, workplan, action plan, including calendar of events – with associated budget, and coordinate for the 1 yearlong campaign.
2. Develop a social media plan on teenage pregnancy for use by stakeholders and ensure implementation.
3. Conceptualize an engagement plan to identify platforms and to support amplification of teenage girls’ voices on the issue of teenage pregnancy.
4. Conceptualize plans and secure engagement with influencers and celebrities during key events—DAC, Int Youth Day, Techers Day, Premature Day, Int Day on Education, Girl Child Day and World Children’s Day, budget sessions etc.
5. Based on overall workplan, work out year plans for the three champions and ensure sign off by their respective offices.
6. Carry out a detailed mapping of media, social media influencers and celebrities.
7. Support logistical and administrative requirements for high-level advocacy events and activities.
8. Support in identifying and drafting/commissioning of one human interest stories each month. Stories will be done through photo and text and / or video
9. Develop a compendium of human-interest stories, key media coverage, reports, key messages, speeches and other relevant and share with media and key influences.
10. Draft press releases for media dissemination on agreed upon important occasions
11. Draft speeches for key influencers, including UNICEF and UNFPA staff – in line with the national campaign themes and ensure dissemination.
12. Coordinate media buying and media placement on TV, Radio, and newspapers.
13. Build relationships with key media and coordinate media pitching for key influencers, including youth.
14. Coordinate communication asset production.
15. Coordinates sign off on media and communication assets, including key messages.
16. Help set Key Performance Indicators to measure input, output, outcome and impact
17. Produce weekly and monthly media monitoring reports in line with teenage pregnancy.
18. Produce weekly social media monitoring reports in line with teenage pregnancy.
19. Document a quarterly media monitoring analysis.
20. Monitor and flag disinformation, misinformation and misinformation in the (social) media and public domain.
21. Provide a KPI report by mid and end campaign period
22. Draft a lesson learnt document on the campaign design and roll out and provide recommendations
23. Monthly progress and deliverable reports
24. Any other tasks relevant to the advancement of the national campaign

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

1. Education

Advanced university degree in Communication, Journalism, Public Relations, social sciences, or related field.

(*A first University combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree in the field of journalism, communications, external relations, public affairs, public relations, or corporate communications.)

2. Work Experience

Five years of progressively responsible and relevant professional work experience in communication, advocacy, campaign management, print, broadcast, and/or new media.

3. Language Proficiency

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of local Ugandan local languages is an asset.

4. Competencies

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

Conditions:

• Under the consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 21 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays
• Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement
• No contract may commence unless the consultant provides a certificate of completion of a mandatory course on “Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse”. A certificate to be submitted with the signed contract should have been obtained in the last three months.

• Clearance from DHR will be required for former UNICEF staff

• Clearance from the Government required for civil servants

• The consultancy will commence after signing of the contract.

• The SSA consultancy will include the consultancy fee and DSA. The consultant will be based at the Ministry of Health – ACP, with occasional interface with the HIV team at UNICEF Country Office team.

• The consultant will use their personal computers and will be facilitated in case they have to do any printing or photocopying.
• Transport will be arranged as per approved TAs.
• A consultant will be paid upon presentation of a deliverable report (see deliverable table 1 above)
• Consultants will not have supervisory responsibilities nor authority on UNICEF budget and other resources.
• Consultants will be required to sign the Health statement for consultants/Individual contractor prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance, if applicable.
• The Form 'Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary' has to be completed by the consultant upon arrival, at the HR Section

Application Procedure/Call for Proposals

Interested candidates are required to submit a technical proposal on how they intend to approach the work. The proposal should include a timeline, and methodology, based on the Terms of Reference. The proposal must also include detailed CV of the consultant, as well as a financial proposal, clearly indicating daily rate for professional fees. The financial proposal must be all-inclusive of all costs (consultancy fees and where applicable air fares, airport transfers, daily living expenses). This is an international level consultancy and competitive market rates should apply.

Evaluation of Candidate:

The consultant will be competitively selected from a list of applicants based on their past experience of doing similar work (extensive experience in writing donor reports, in compiling and editing annual reports for various UNICEF offices).

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The competencies required for this post are….

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Apply now

Potential interview questions

Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org