UNFPA hiring Communication and Media Specialist.

The Position:
The Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project (SWEDD) is a regional project encompassing Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Benin, Cameroon and Guinea, and is funded by the World Bank’s regional IDA (International Development Association) resources. The project acts on the UN-World Bank commitment and partnership to address the Demographic Dividend in the Sahel. The overall goal of the project is to accelerate the demographic transition, to spur the demographic dividend, and to reduce gender inequality in the participating countries.

The project contributes to achieving the governments of the country member’s objective to increase women and adolescent girls’ empowerment and their access to quality reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health, and nutrition (RMNCHN) services in selected areas of the participating countries and to improve regional knowledge generation and sharing, as well as, regional capacity and coordination. The project is focused on mainstreaming the dividend demographic in the development agenda of the countries and the region.

The SWEDD Project interventions are structured around 3 primary components:

Component (1) Generate demand for RMNCHN services by promoting social and behavioral change and the empowerment of women and adolescent girls;

Component (2) Reinforce the regional availability of RMNCHN commodities and qualified health workers;
Component (3) Reinforce advocacy and dialogue at high levels and promote policy development and the project’s implementation;
It is in this context, that the Communications & Media Specialist provides required co-leadership and support for Component 1. The objective of this component is to increase demand for RMNCHN services through (i) better awareness of the populations on these services, and (ii) supporting the empowerment of adolescent girls and women. This will be done by supporting regional initiatives and targeted cross-border activities with strong demonstrable effects and potential for scaling up regionally.

How you can make a difference:
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:
Specifically, the Communications & Media Specialist will contribute to the results of the SWEDD project, focusing on social behavior change. The Communications & Media Specialist will work on developing compelling institutional communications tools and materials to inform external partners about the SWEDD Project, and will focus on building media relations. Strategies may include social media, radio, newspapers, and other relevant outlets, and at the same time provide technical assistance and coordination to ensure coherence with campaigns being carried out at the national-level. The Communications & Media Specialist will also provide the required support to advocacy, outreach and mobilization activities, as well as knowledge management.

Qualifications and Experience:
Education:
Advanced university degree in communication, media, journalism, Marketing, Sociology, Anthropology and/or other related fields;

Knowledge and Experience:
A minimum of 5 years’ experience in designing and implementing international communications and SBCC campaigns, strategies or programs;
Familiarity with population issues and how this impacts sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and young people, and ability to address a range of issues related to topics of demographic dividend and women’s empowerment;
A keen understanding of culture, history and political contexts of West and Central Africa, particularly the Sahel region;
Fluent in the use of social media;
Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Adobe Design suite, Google drive, etc.;
A thorough understanding of the UN system in general, and especially the UNFPA mandate, policies and operations, is an asset;

Languages:
Fluency in English is required, and French is desirable to enable effective communication with English speaking and French speaking country coordination groups and local organizations (West and Central Africa region).
Closing date: 05 Sep 2022