Communication for Development (C4D) Officer

Minimum age: 22 years old. Applicants must be nationals of or legal residents in the country of assignment.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Chief of Field Office or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UNV C4D Officer will:

1. Support to strategy design and development of C4D activities

• Research and/or participate in conducting comprehensive C4D situation analysis of social, cultural, economic, communication and political issues in the region. Collect and synthesize qualitative and quantitative information and data to support the establishment of comprehensive and evidence-based information for developing and planning C4D strategy and interventions in the region.
• Collect, draft and/or organize materials and related documentations for C4D strategies and plans to ensure optimum impact, scale and sustainability of achievements/results.
• Assess the impact of C4D activities on the CO and UNICEF goals to achieve measurable behavioral and social change resulting in the improvement of children’s rights and wellbeing. Submit qualitative report/synthesis of results for development planning and improvement.
• Support to contextualize the development, pretesting, translation and repackaging of existing as well as new Behavior Change and Communication (BCC) materials in consultation with relevant Regional Bureaus, Programme Officers, the C4D unit, and other relevant stakeholders
• In collaboration with UNICEF Programme staff and relevant government sector staff, participates in the development of evidence-based sectoral strategies and workplans (both development and emergency-related) to ensure the design and incorporation of specific Communication for Development components with objectives and activities aimed at different levels:
  
  • behavior development/change individual/household/facility levels;
  • community participation, social change and collective action at community level; and
  • social mobilization of community-based organizations and advocacy for decision makers;

2. Support to the implementation of C4D activities

• Collaborate with internal and external partners to provide operational and technical support to the design of C4D strategies, and research, develop, test, produce and use quality C4D materials and/or organize events and activities to ensure maximum outreach and impact on behavioral and social change of target audience.
• Assess and recommend potential contacts, networks, resources and tools to support the maximum impact and outreach of C4D initiatives.
• Follow up on the production of C4D materials to ensure technical quality, consistency and relevancy of communications materials that are developed, produced and disseminated to target audience (e.g. individuals, communities, government officials, partners, media etc).

3. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Build and maintain partnerships through networking and proactive collaboration with national and international civil society organizations, community groups, leaders and other critical partners in the community and civil society to reinforce cooperation through engagement, empowerment and self-determination and to pursue opportunities for greater advocacy to promote UNICEF’s mission and goals for child rights, social equity and inclusiveness.
• Collaborate with internal global/regional communication partners to harmonize, link and/or coordinate messaging to enhance C4D outreach and contribution to programmatic outcomes.
• Provide technical support to UNICEF, regional sector bureaus and partners including contributing to the adapting of or sharing relevant standards, protocols, guidelines and training materials for C4D

4. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Institutionalize/share best practices and knowledge learned/products with national/local partners and stakeholders to build capacity of practitioners/users, and disseminate lessons learned to key audiences including donors and partners.
• Support the organization, administration and implementation of capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders/partners across programme sectors in C4D planning, implementation and evaluation in support of programmes/projects. Develop training materials for training activities and revise them periodically for improvements and updates.
• Provide technical and coordination support to C4D trainings at regional, Zonal, and Woreda levels for Government counterparts, partner organizations, and their volunteer networks.
• Build the capacity of a social mobilization multi-sectoral regional platform (Health, Education, Religious groups, CSOs, medias, etc.) in terms of coordination, planning, monitoring of C4D interventions including use of emergency communication materials for creating a strategic network of social mobilization trainers

5. Monitoring and Reporting

• Undertake regular field monitoring and report based on agreed C4D indicators
• Contribute to the regular monitoring of C4D actors’ capacity according to the needs raised during rapid assessments / KAP surveys
• Compile regional C4D reports, emergency and development, from the field and update progress on key results
• Ensure multi-media materials are distributed to the intended target groups and monitor and address gaps
• Participates in regional and Zonal coordination mechanisms and follow up on C4D tasks
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.