Strategic Communications Consultant

Result of Service The consultant will develop guidance materials to address mis/disinformation and hate in humanitarian operations, support OCHA's Global Communications Community of Practice (CoP) on advocacy and communications, the World Humanitarian Day campaign, and other advocacy work of the organization.

Work Location remote

Expected duration 6 months

Duties and Responsibilities This consultancy will work directly for the Chief of the Public Advocacy and Campaigns section of the Strategic Communications Branch to develop guidance materials to address mis/disinformation and hate in humanitarian operations in the context of conflict and displacement.

As part of World Humanitarian Day, OCHA is asking country operations to communicate better with the communities where we work in order to be more transparent and accountable and to protect humanitarian space.

This consultant will: 1. Support the roll-out of the World Humanitarian Day campaign for 2023 and help develop materials (guidelines, toolkits, country specific strategies) to support community engagement in humanitarian action, including stakeholder mapping and information ecology assessments.

2. Work on a number of case studies to understand the harm caused by information and communications in humanitarian situations.

3. Develop advocacy and communications materials to support OCHA operations to prevent and mitigate Misinformation, Disinformation and Hate and reduce its impact on humanitarian action, the communities we serve and aid worker safety.

4. Develop training modules which will support OCHA’s efforts to improve its capacity to detect, assess and respond to the humanitarian consequences of harmful information in crises.

The desired profile is an expert or an institution relying on experts with a sound understanding of protection and communication issues in humanitarian settings and demonstrated knowledge of the risks associated with mis/disinformation and significant knowledge of current related trends, issues, and challenges in a global context, including threat actors, vulnerabilities, and effective practices in responding to the harmful effects of Misinformation, Disinformation and Hate speech.

Qualifications/special skills Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Social Sciences (Law, Sociology, Political Science, etc.) or in journalism, communication, international relations, public administration or related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in public information and advocacy campaigns or related area is required. Experience dealing with issues related to conflict, hate speech, incitement to hatred and violence, discrimination, conflict resolution, protection and/or human rights issues is required. Experience using one or more social media monitoring software tools is required.

Languages English and French are the official languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the advertised vacancy, fluency in oral and written English is required. Fluency in French is desirable.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.