Reporting and Communication 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.

UNDP’s Country Programme priorities were defined with national counterparts in alignment with the five-year government plan (PQG), the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2017-2020, the priorities of the UNDP Strategic Plan, and the Istanbul Programme of Action for least developed countries.

Early recovery is a vital element of an effective humanitarian crisis response as a foundation for building resilience in post-crisis settings. Just as emergency relief activities are crucial to saving lives by responding to the most urgent human needs, integrating an early recovery approach within humanitarian operations is crucial to the first efforts of a community to recover. It prepares the ground for an effective ‘exit strategy’ for humanitarian actors and contributes to ‘durable solutions’ by establishing the base on which nationally-led development occurs after a crisis.

UNDP has developed a range of interventions that focus on three interlinked and transformative pillars:

(a) Sustainable and inclusive economic transformation; (b) Resilience and natural resources management; (c) Good governance, peace and social cohesion.

UNDP’s vision of the cyclone recovery programme arises from key considerations related to development, governance and resilience. It has three important strands:

1. help the communities recover from the impact of cyclone and floods and rebuild their assets and livelihoods with a focus on women and persons with disabilities;
2. develop national capacities and systems to plan and implement the recovery programme;
3. build community and national resilience to reduce the impact of disasters.

On 14 March 2019, Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique leaving devastating loss of life and large-scale destruction of assets and infrastructure in its wake. Entire swathes of crops were damaged – with nearly 500,000 hectares flooded – and severe loss of livestock is expected, exacerbating food insecurity across the central region of the country. Tens of thousands of people were displaced with an estimated 1.85 million people in need of urgent assistance. The revised HRP issued on March 26 includes one strategic objective aimed to Support the restoration of livelihoods and strengthen resilience of climate affected population.

On March 21 UNDP Crisis Board declared a UNDP crisis response level 2 that grants comprehensive support to increase the capacity of the country office (CO) to respond to the crisis and enable the initiation of recovery activities.

Drawing from the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and the Disaster Recovery Framework (DRF), UNDP’s vision of the cyclone recovery programme in Mozambique arises from key considerations related to development, governance and resilience. To realize this vision, UNDP has established a Recovery Facility funded through a UNDP-led multi-donor Basket Fund as an agile tool to implement short-to-long term recovery activities that will contribute to addressing the root causes of vulnerability and build resilience to future disaster. It has three important pillars: (1) help the communities recover from the impact of cyclone and floods and rebuild their assets and livelihoods with a focus on women and persons with disabilities; (2) rebuilding public and community infrastructure to bounce back from the disaster; and (3) develop national capacities and systems to plan and implement the recovery and resilience programme.

The Recovery Facility is being funded with the support of resources from the European Union, Canada, Finland, Netherlands and Norway along with UNDP. The programme’s total budget is $72.2 million. Given the mandate of the programme, size of resources and the imperative of fast-tracking implementation, UNDP has decided to establish a dedicated Programme Management Unit based in Beira.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Programme Manager of Recovery Facility based in Beira and in close collaboration with all programme sections, the UN Volunteer Communication and Reporting Officer (C&R) will undertake the following tasks:

A. Leading all outreach efforts of the Recovery Facility Programme including the design and implementation of communication strategy and plan in collaboration with CO:

• Design and implementation of the communications and outreach strategy based on the corporate communications strategy. This strategy will be gender-responsive and may include tailor-made messages and specific activities targeting women. • Identification, coordination and development of storylines for outreach material such as web stories, social media updates and blogs contributing to communication objectives. • Ensures the overall Recovery Facility programme implementation aligns with communication objectives and that reputational risks are managed during the planning of activities. • Communications to mitigate reputational risks, including provision of training, strategic and technical guidance on internal and external communications to the Recovery Facility team and staff of implementing partners. • Develop internal guidance and media Q&As for sensitive issues in collaboration with CO and Regional Communication Advisor and HQ Communication Group focal point. • Monitoring and evaluation of communication activities through daily/weekly media clippings and measuring of reach of digital products; disseminating to respective managers, CO Communication Specialist and Regional Communication Advisor.

B. Carries out communication activities to position and highlight UNDP’s Recovery Facility achievements, increase visibility and understanding of UNDP’s recovery efforts:
• Drafting, updating and disseminating high quality communication material following UNDP’s quality assurance and clearance procedures. including success stories, media releases, social media updates, blogs, fact sheets, features as well as media briefs for senior UN officials in close collaboration with CO communication focal points. • Increasing national, regional and global media coverage and visibility of UNDP senior staff through development and maintenance of media contacts, preparation of media packages, pro-active media outreach and promotion of UNDP presence in media, through op-eds, press briefings and media interviews. • Preparation and dissemination of regular updates for media, partners, donors, civic education and community awareness to support the recovery efforts. • Supervision, coordination and preparation of content for social media and website. • Ensure high quality video and photo content from the ground, highlighting the impact of crisis on affected populations, relying on existing resources or involving or managing external media. • Soliciting and editing of blog posts/op-eds/written interviews from UNDP experts on the ground. • Planning, executing and promoting visits of UNDP senior officials related to the recovery. • Creation, promotion and maintenance of public information campaigns on UNDP Recovery Facility activities.

C. Enhancing internal as well as inter-agnecy collaboration and coordination to ensure coherent and consistent messaging, including knowledge sharing . This includes:

• Feed communication material to CO and regional bureau and liaison offices. • Provide guidance and information to other staff dealing with media. • Participate in regular Resource Mobilization and Communication, Country Office Programme and Team Meetings. • Close collaboration with programme manager, monitoring and reporting focal point and resource mobilization focal point to ensure coherent messaging and formatting of reports and RM material. • Building strong rapport with stakeholders through development and maintenance of close contacts with UN Common System colleagues, government officials, multilateral and bilateral donors, civil society and private sector for implementation of the communications strategy, organization of roundtable discussions, press conferences, briefing sessions, interviews, launches, etc. • Coordinate with other UN agency communication teams to highlight UN system messaging and UNDP within it. • Participation in the UN Communication Groups meetings

D. Building communication capacity of Beira Project Office and UNDP Mozambique, including mentoring and training of communication focal points as well as ensuring sustainability of communication efforts:

• Effective management of the Communications unit, including preparation of the work plan, management of translations and contractual matters as well as establishing continuity plan. • Mentor and train communications staff members to ensure stable and ongoing communications capacity in-country • Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned directly linked to Recovery Facility goals, including handover note. • Monitor practices, and project-specific news and developments in order to ensure guidance to the office that reflects the best and most current available information. • Organization and provision of training, consultancy and advice to Project Office and CO staff on communications

• Professionalism • Integrity • Teamwork and respect for diversity • Commitment to continuous learning • Planning and organizing • Communication: proven interpersonal skills • Flexibility • Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards UNDP’s mission and vision, as well as to the UN Core Values.

    public relations, communications, or advocacy at the national or international levels. 

• Experience in web and social media publishing as well as photography, videography and infographic editing desirable. • Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills.

Other desired/mandatory required technical knowledge • Previous experience with a multilateral or international organization and crisis communication experience is helpful but not mandatory. • Strong communication skills and ability to engage with different types and levels of stakeholders; • Knowledge of and experience in crisis and post-conflict contexts; • Strong diplomatic skills in handling counterpart relations; • Previous experience with UN is an added advantage and good knowledge of UNDP rules and procedures is desirable; • Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.)

Mozambique has a total population of about 29 million people and is located on the southeast coast of Africa. To the East, is the Indian Ocean, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia is to the north, to the west is Zimbabwe and South Africa and to the South, Swaziland and South Africa. The total area of Mozambique is 799 380 Km square from North to South. It is tropical hot and humid. The hottest and wettest months in Maputo are December to February, when the average daily minimum temperatures are around 22°c and the average daily highs of 30°c. The rain season is between October and April. Winters (June to August) are mild with the average daily temperature ranging from 13°c to 24°c. Basic health facilities and food are available everywhere. The security situation is reliable, but some precaution is needed at the same time. Communication and transport services are available at various costs. Regarding accommodation and food, houses and apartments can be rented from US$ 600 to US$ 1,000 per month and meals at the restaurant cost between US$ 10 and US$ 30. Food, household commodities and clothing can be found in shops and local markets at reasonable prices. An entry visa is required for all travelers and must be obtained from Mozambican Embassy prior to travelling. The metical is the local currency and exchange rate stands at USD 1 equivalent to about 58 meticais (MZM) as per August 2018. Commercial banks are operational in the country and Visa cards are accepted in very limited hotels. Beira is categorized as a family duty station offering a limited variety of accommodation options. It has a vibrant international community whilst also providing excellent opportunities to work in a national, Mozambican context.

As this is a UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials UN Volunteers are part of the malicious insurance plan.