Communication Officer

Pakistan was the sixth country in the world to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, less than one year after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. However, children and adolescents living in Pakistan still face acute challenges.

UNICEF supports the Government of Pakistan to accelerate progress for children, work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help children realize their rights under the Convention on the Rights of Children. This will be made through, among other things, strong partnerships with provincial authorities, teachers and health professionals, frontline workers and social mobilisers, communities and families, and of course the children and adolescents themselves. 

In particular, UNICEF will work so that:

• Every child survives and thrives — being in good health, immunized, protected from polio and accessing nutritious food.
• Every child learns.
• Every child is protected from violence and exploitation and registered at birth.
• Every child live

The Communication Officer reports to the Communication Specialist (Advocacy & Media Campaign Mgt.) for a general guidance and supervision and will work under technical guidance of the Senior Communication Manager (SBC) P5 and work within the provincial polio Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) framework and its relevant Areas of Work or/ Core Groups and Task Teams to support eradication of polio virus from Pakistan.

The Communication Officer Assists in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating an advocacy and communication strategy to get children’s and women’s issues into the public domain, strengthen political will in support of UNICEF’s mission and objectives in the country, and enhance the organization’s credibility and brand.

Within the delegated authority and the given organizational set-up, the incumbent may be accountable for all or assigned areas of the following major duties and end results.

Communication materials:

Ensure that the production of communication products and materials is timely executed and followed up to support country communication strategy, regional and global campaigns and priorities and to support resource mobilization as set out in the work plan.

Duties:

• Implement the tasks in the country communication work plan and strategy as assigned.
• Gather content and coverage of relevant country efforts to identify effective relevant country programme activities and results. Develop complementary, country specific and local community materials and activities.
• Produce advocacy and communication materials (e.g. briefing notes, images, video. Web pages etc.) that meet the country and global standards as set out in the Communication Toolkit.
• Assist in drafting and editing articles, press releases, human interest stories and other advocacy/information materials for both web-based and traditional media, as appropriate.
• Follow up on the production of advocacy and communication materials (e.g., films, videos, audio-visuals, etc.), and oversee the qualitative aspects of production, (e.g., quality control, translations, reviews of layout and graphic design etc.) to meet standards as set out in the Communication Toolkit.
• Establish or maintain an up-to-date documentation centre for communication materials including publications, press releases and clippings, photographs, audio-visual materials, web resources etc.
• Recommend appropriate information and communication materials for use in media, and other advocacy and communication activities; recommend the appropriateness, quality and dissemination of printed and audio-visual materials.
• Recommend established contacts, networks, resources and processes to support communication activities.

Media relations:

• Effective and timely professional assistance and support are provided in developing, drafting and maintaining contact information, materials and relationships with journalists and media outlets covering all media – print, TV, radio, web etc. – in the country, to communicate the story of UNICEF’s cooperation to a wider audience.

Duties :

• Maintain and update media relations contact list/database. Ensure rapid and accurate information dissemination to the media.
• Assist in developing and maintaining close collaboration with mass media, as well as with groups and organizations whose support is essential to the achievement of advocacy and communication objectives.
• Assist in drafting and editing articles, press releases, human interest stories and other advocacy/information materials in all media formats, as appropriate.
• Prepare background communication and promotional materials for briefing and visits of media and other special interest groups. Assist in the planning, logistic and administrative arrangements for them.
• Assist in collaborating with the media through activities such as organizing project site visits, facilitating photo coverage and TV footage and utilizing both web-based and traditional media as appropriate.
• Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of media materials. Maintain a library of coverage (clippings, coverage etc.)

Partnership and alliance building:

• Ensure that the NEOC has a clear Partnership and Alliance building strategy and associated work plan to support polio eradication objectives and polio eradication into the public domain and strengthen political will.

Duties:

• Develop, maintain a Partnership and Alliance building strategy and associated work plan. Strategy and work plan include: a stakeholder assessment; objectives; target audiences;, activities; monitoring and evaluation of impact; success and opportunity for improvement; ongoing refinement of the strategy..
• Develop, maintain and update partners contact list/database.
• Help establish, document, review and refine process of working collaboratively with partners, including meetings, joint projects, information sharing etc.
• Share country-specific communication materials, activities, processes and messages shared with partners.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen the capacity of partners through appropriate training.
• Monitor, evaluate and share results and findings with partners.

Monitoring and evaluation:

• Regular monitoring and evaluation activities are undertaken according to the work plan to ensure maximum impact and continuous improvement of country communication efforts. Ensure results and reports are prepared and shared on a timely basis.

Duties :

• Contribute to developing an advocacy and communication strategy by coordinating appropriate audience research and compiling and analysing relevant data.
• Monitor and evaluate the appropriate and timely dissemination of advocacy and communication materials to target audiences, and participate in the evaluation of their impact. Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of media materials. Maintain a library of coverage (clippings, coverage etc.)
• Monitor the public perception of UNICEF in the country and recommend appropriate action to maintain a positive image for the organization.
• Assist in providing feedback to DOC on the use and appropriateness of global communication materials such as publications, images and multimedia products.

Celebrities, partners and special events:

• Ensure that the Country Office’s contact list of individuals, groups, organizations and fora (including Government, UN, and bilateral counterparts), are maintained and further developed, whose support is essential to/can assist in achieving the advocacy and communication objectives and who support and are able to actively participate in special events and activities that further the country programme goals.

Duties :

• Help organize and generate public support for special events and activities to promote country programme goals.
• Assist in developing and maintaining close collaboration with mass media, as well as with groups and organizations whose support is essential to the achievement of advocacy and communication objectives.
• Maintain and update celebrity and partner contact lists/database for country office.
• Monitor/document process and effectiveness of working with these individuals/organizations.
• Prepare background communication and promotional materials for briefings and visits of media, Goodwill Ambassadors, donors, National Committee representatives and other special interest groups. The task includes preparing information materials (e.g., press releases, programme summaries, country fact sheets and media kits), and assisting in the planning, logistics and administrative arrangements.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

The following minimum requirements:

Education:

• A first university degree (equivalent to a Bachelor’s) from an accredited institution is required in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations or a related field.

Work Experience:

• At least 02 years of relevant work experience in communication, print and broadcast media, or interactive digital media.

Language:

• Knowledge of a local language.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/571379