Associate External Relations Officer – UNV  

Description of assignment title

Associate External Relations Officer

Assignment country

Sudan

Expected start date

30/07/2024

Sustainable Development Goal

10. Reduced inequalities

Volunteer category

International UN Volunteer Specialist

Host entity

UNHCR

Type

Onsite

Duration

12 months (with possibility of extension)

Number of assignments

1

Duty stations

Nairobi

 Details

Mission and objectives

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org). The UNHCR operation in Sudan serves different refugee groups, including people from South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, CAR, Chad, Yemen and Syria, but also internally displaced people, asylum-seekers and stateless individuals through a network of sub- and field offices as well as its Representation in Khartoum. UNHCR focuses on the protection and assistance to these groups in close coordination with national authorities and in partnership with UN and non-UN agencies as well as the civil society.

Context

The Associate External Relations Officer will be responsible for drafting sound funding proposals and reports and support the Office’s external engagement and communications strategy. The incumbent will liaise across the operation, with programme, protection and technical units to gather inputs for proposals, reports and visibility content for external use and dissemination. S/He will also have regular contacts with relevant functional units at the Regional Bureau and with Headquarters. The incumbent will help increase the visibility of UNHCR, its programmes and achievements using a variety of media platforms and support the positioning of UNHCR as the authoritative voice and agency at the forefront of humanitarian response in a mixed emergency context along the humanitarian-peace-development nexus. To this aim and based on UNHCR’s Policy to work on solutions from the onset of a crisis, s/he will advise on and help seize opportunities such as World Refugee Day, International Volunteer Day and other occasions in which civil society engagement or the work of volunteers across Sudan are showcased in reports on websites and in social media.

Task description

Under the supervision of the Senior External Relations Officer or his/her OiC, the incumbent of this position will be responsible for the following tasks: • Draft funding proposals for public and private funding sources in line with UNHCRs global and country resource mobilisation strategy. • Keep abreast all developments in operations to prepare appropriate briefings and reports. Prepare periodic reports, e.g. internal sitreps, briefing notes for senior managers, and activity-specific reports as required. • Develop and maintain working relationships with internal and external stakeholders on resource mobilization, communications and other external engagement matters. • Support the supervisor in preparation for meetings and missions, including development of background notes drafting of related notes and talking points. • Organize and accompany missions to visit the field activities of UNHCR and/or its implementing partners, if required. • Ensure drafting of situation reports, briefing notes, background material, talking points, fact sheets, press releases, social media releases and articles, as well as draft press reports, booklets, and stories as required; • Consolidate and analyse data on programme implementation, to prepare periodic reports, e.g., Sitreps and activity-specific reports as may be required; • Ensure appropriate visibility for donor contributions in compliance with UNHCR guidelines and specific donor requirements in close consultation with field offices, Communications Officer and Donor Focal Points; • Assist in organizing press events or handling interviews requests supporting the drafting of media responses relating to UNHCR and its work in consultation with the supervisor. • Assist in actively maintaining media relations for UNHCR in consultation with the Communications Officer.

 Eligibility criteria

Age

18 – 80

Nationality

Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.

 Requirements

Required experience

3 years of experience in Knowledge of Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, social media platforms, and demonstrated skills in oral and written communication using various media

Area(s) of expertise

Communication, Arts and design

Driving license

–

Languages

English, Level: Fluent, Required Arabic, Level: Working knowledge, Desirable

Required education level

Bachelor degree or equivalent in Resource mobilization, Programme and results-based management, drafting and reporting, emergency response, interagency coordination frameworks in mixed displacement situations – Mandatory

Competencies and values

• Professionalism: demonstrated understanding of operations relevant to UNHCR; technical capabilities or knowledge relevant or transferrable to UNHCR procedures and rules. • Integrity. • Teamwork and respect for diversity • Commitment to continuous learning • Planning and organizing • Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations • Flexibility. • Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement

 Other information

Living conditions and remarks

The Republic of Kenya is an equatorial nation on the coast of East Africa, neighboring Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Indian Ocean. Kenya has two levels of Government; National Government and 47 sub-national Governments called Counties. Counties are further divided into sub-counties. Kenya is a multi-party state with Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. Kenya’s population of more than 40 million is growing at an annual rate of 2.2%. The country’s GNP per capita estimated at purchasing power parity (PPP) is $975, and the GNP is growing at an average rate of 0.1% annually. More than 26% of Kenya’s people live below the international poverty line of $1 per day. Kenya’s main food crops are “maize, wheat, pulses, roots and tubers.” (FAO). Nairobi is a modern metropolitan city where most basic goods and services, health facilities, public transport, telecommunication and banking services and educational facilities are readily available. The city is widely connected through its main airport, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the smaller Wilson Airport. Air transport is also available to many up-country destinations. The city is home to some 3,000 UN personnel mainly attributed to the fact that it serves as the headquarters for both the UN HABITAT and UNEP. The socio-economic and cultural background of the immediate society the UNV would be living and working in is diverse and prevailing security conditions at the place of assignment is modest. The topographic and climatic features of the assignment location is highland cool and warm tropical climate. Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements Selected candidates for certain occupational groups may be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) in line with the applicable host entity policy

Inclusivity statement

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements

This UNV assignment is subject to proof of vaccination against Covid-19 with WHO approved vaccine, unless the UNHCR Medical Service approves an exemption from this requirement on medical grounds

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