REGIONAL COMMUNICATION ADVISER ON DISINFORMATION

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organisation with the exclusively humanitarian mission to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and other forms of violence and provide them with assistance. It also endeavours to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening International Humanitarian Law and universal humanitarian principles. The ICRC’s Regional Delegation in Nairobi is a hub that co-ordinates the institution’s humanitarian activities in Kenya, Tanzania and Djibouti and hosts the organizations’ regional logistics, technical and training support units serving the Horn and Great Lakes Region.

Overall Responsibility

The Regional Communication Adviser is an expert, who supports delegations preparing for and dealing with operational and reputational challenges. The Regional Communication Adviser helps delegations and headquarters manage harmful narratives such as misinformation, disinformation and hate speech as well as support delegations, units to put in place proactive and reactive strategies to tackle them internally and externally. The scope of work encompasses both strategic advice and hands-on solutions which might take the form of communication products, implementation of methodologies, or external engagement.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Train colleagues on disinformation and how it works, on its humanitarian consequences and on responding to it, both by facilitating the existing institutional training and by creating and delivering shorter needs-based trainings;
• Build a network of experts and influencers to develop knowledge and share best practices, swap experiences and learn from each other, including capturing and disseminating case studies and guidance documents;
• Provide tactical support to delegations to tackle harmful information, including improving media monitoring and social listening set-ups, drafting/executing relevant online and offline communication strategies to engage communities and provide them with factual, actionable content to shift narratives;
• Assess the level of harm of harmful narratives as well as their sources and the methods used to spread them, identify and develop responses both online and offline;
• In close coordination with a team of experienced communicators, support delegations producing and supporting the production of prebunking and debunking content for ICRC platforms;
• Ensure internal awareness of harmful narratives and their consequences in various contexts, and staff knowledge of how to react to them in close coordination with colleagues across teams, support the creation of effective detection and analysis of harmful narratives both online and offline;
• Sensitize, train and equip ICRC colleagues in the region and delegations about MDH and their responsibilities under the code of conduct and the use of social media guidelines, and equip with the information and communication skills to be ICRC ambassadors;
• Liaise with headquarters to inform on strategies as well as institutional tools and methodologies using case studies and experience from the field.

Minimum Requirements and competencies

• University degree or equivalent preferably master’s level in Communication or Journalism.
• Minimum 8 -10 years of relevant professional experience in communication with significant experience on harmful narratives, such as working for a fact-checking organization or political risk analysis firm.
• Deep understanding of the information disorder and working experience in designing and implementing policies and strategies to respond to harmful information.
• Experience in developing various communication products such as print and online.
• Knowledge of a broad range of communication and staff engagement techniques and tools (PowerPoint, infographics, video clips, podcast, print production, social media).
• Comfortable with providing training and coaching support to diverse groups of people.
• Thorough understanding of social media algorithms and their manipulation, and familiar with monitoring, verification and reporting tools.
• Proficiency in English, French and/or Arabic a key asset.
• Project management experience.