UNV Communications Specialist

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UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund

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Application deadline 2 years ago: Tuesday 21 Sep 2021 at 23:59 UTC

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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.

Description of task

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Communication Specialist based in Goma and in close collaboration with all programme sections, the UN Volunteer Communications Specialist will undertake the following tasks:

General public communications activities:

  • Produce high-quality communication documents in French and English;
  • Research, draft and edit communication materials (articles, press releases, human interest stories, fact sheets and others) for both traditional and modern media for advocacy, social mobilization and resource mobilization activities; contribute to the qualitative aspects of production (e.g. translation, graphic design);
  • Work on the appropriate and timely dissemination of advocacy and communication materials to target audiences, and participate in the evaluation of their impact;
  • Help in the planning and organizing as well as generating public support for special events and activities to promote country programme goals;
  • Monitor the public perception of UNICEF in the country; recommend appropriate action to maintain a positive image for the organization; evaluate the appropriate and timely dissemination of advocacy and communication materials to target audiences; and participate in the evaluation of their impact;
  • Develop close collaboration with mass media through activities such as organizing visits to project sites, facilitating photo coverage and TV footage, and utilizing both web-based and traditional media as appropriate to generate and maintain public interest in children's issues and tell the story of UNICEF's cooperation to a wider audience;
  • Assist in identifying and obtaining feature stories and other material to facilitate advocacy and fund-raising activities;
  • Assist in the development of work plans that are consistent with UNICEF communications strategies, goals, objectives and activities; monitor compliance and provide support and guidance to ensure objectives are met, including performance planning, monitoring and appraisal; plan and monitor the use of communication budgetary resources;

Advocacy support:

  • Provide internal office support to programme staff on the production of quality advocacy, information and communication materials to strengthen programme visibility;
  • Participate in global advocacy activities by planning visits of goodwill ambassadors, National Committee representatives and Executive Board members, including preparation of information materials (e.g. press releases, programme summaries, country fact sheets and media kits) and necessary logistic arrangements;
  • Take responsibility where required to adapt and disseminate advocacy materials from the Country Office, NY HQ, Geneva HQ and the respective Regional Office to identified target audiences, arranging translation into local language(s) as necessary; identify the need for additional materials/activities, such as radio and television programmes, publications, photographs, websites, etc., to advocate and promote organizational goals within the country, and manage their production and distribution to the target audiences;
  • Develop partnerships with individuals, groups and organizations whose support is essential to the achievement of advocacy and communication objectives (i.e. media), and strengthen their capacity through appropriate advocacy and communication training, access to updated information, supplies and equipment and through experience-sharing.

Communication support:

  • Support the Communication team in its day-to-day activities, including but not limited to, contributing to outreach through organizing events and setting up activities (retreats, meetings and task forces);
  • As required, prepare background communication and advocacy materials for briefings and visits of media, goodwill ambassadors, donors, national committee representatives and other special interest groups;
  • Ensure quality, consistency, accuracy and ethics of all communication tools and materials (press releases, videos, social media posts, Human Interest Stories, SitRep, Blog articles, Reports, etc.);
  • Ensure language quality in English and French of all communication tools and materials.

Children’s engagement support

  • Accompany the Child Reporters and members of the Goma Children's Committee in their work of producing written and audio materials, and in organizing advocacy activities;

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

  • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
  • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
  • Provide annual and end of assignment self- reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
  • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/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.

Educational additional comments

Communications, Journalism, Public Relations, or similar field; a first-level university degree or equivalent in combination with relevant training and/or professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree

Experience remark

minimum 3 years of professional work experience at the national and/or international level in communication, print and broadcast media, interactive digital media, public information, or other relevant programmes; experience with peacebuilding or child-focused programming in conflict-affected countries is an asset, as is experience working in the UN or other international development organization;

Language skills

  • French(Mandatory), Level - Fluent
  • English(Mandatory), Level - Fluent

Area of expertise details

  • Communication strategy implementation and monitoring;
  • Excellent writing abilities in French;
  • Media liaison.

The incumbent must be a dynamic, multi-functional person, who supports UNICEF with professionalism, dedication and client orientation, and who must be willing both to work on programmatic/substantive aspects and to provide operational/logistical services. The following qualifications are required:

  • Excellent writing skills in French and proven experience in writing for different target audiences;
  • Good level of written and spoken English;
  • Ability to work under tight deadlines, multi-task and work effectively under pressure and in a proactive manner;
  • Ability to work in an international and multicultural environment;
  • Ability to build and maintain partnerships with UNICEF’s partners (government, implementing partners, private sector, other UN agencies, etc) and excellent working relationships with colleagues across all UNICEF’s sections in the DRC;
  • Willingness to travel within Eastern DRC, often in uncomfortable conditions;
  • Experience of working in emergency settings is an asset.

Application procedure

  • Not yet registered in the UNV Talent Pool? Please first register your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/signup. Important: After creating your account, complete all sections of your profile and submit it. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink. Lastly, select the special call to which you would like to apply. * Already registered in the UNV Talent Pool? Please first update your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/profile. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink to select the special call to which you would like to apply. Application deadline: 21-09-2021
Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unv.org