Communications and Outreach Analyst

The formal courts in Bangladesh are slow, expensive and overburdened, with a backlog of around 3.8 million cases. This pushes most people to manage petty disputes through informal means, such as shalish. These informal solutions are often biased especially against women and minorities, they are not transparent and often ineffective as they lack enforcement powers. The Village Courts (VCs) were established by the Village Courts Ordinance, 1976 to allow petty disputes to be dealt with by Union Parishads, the lowest tier of local government in rural areas. The law was not fully implemented, later the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) enacted the Village Court Act, 2006 repealing the Village Court Ordinance, 1976. The Activating Village Courts in Bangladesh Project (AVCB) began in 2009 as a  pilot project aiming to activate VCs in 351 Union Parishads (UPs) between the Government of Bangladesh, the European Union, and UNDP Bangladesh. The positive results of the pilot led the GoB to scale-up the activation, and the second phase (AVCB-II) started in 2016, targeting a further 1,080 UPs. The tenure of AVCB-II was completed in June 2022 and a third and final phase has been approved by the GoB. The final phase will be implemented for five years (2022-2027) by the Local Government Divisions of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MoLGRD&C).

The project will work across all UPs in Bangladesh, excluding CHT (amounting to 4,457 UPs) reflecting the GoB commitment for a national scale-up. It will have three components: first to activate Village Courts in 3,041 Union Parishads in Bangladesh; second to maintain the performance of the 1,416 courts activated under AVCB-I and AVCB-II; and third to ensure the Government has the capacity, resources and ownership to take over the management and oversight of VC services so that the project gains are sustained.

The project’s Overall Objective is: Increased Access to Justice and Social Harmony for People In Rural Areas of Bangladesh, Especially Women and Disadvantaged Groups.

Specific Objective/Outcome 1:  Duty bearers in Bangladesh provide sustainable, fair and effective resolution for minor disputes in rural areas.

• Output 1.1 Duty bearers at national and local levels have improved capacity to ensure Village Courts function fairly and effectively.
• Output 1.2 Legal and policy frameworks for Village Courts are reviewed and enhanced.
• Output 1.3 Duty bearers in Bangladesh have the resources capacity and ownership to manage and administer village courts after completion of project.

Specific Objective/Outcome 2: People living in rural areas, especially women, the poor and other disadvantaged groups are empowered to access Village Courts to resolve minor disputes.

• Output 2.1 Local population are aware of their local VC and understand its role and functions
• Output 2.2 Evidence and knowledge sharing on VC functioning enhanced.

There are 5 technical components in the project named Project Coordination, Capacity Development, Advocacy & Communication, Legal Review and Gender and Planning, M&E and Knowledge Management. Involving national institutions like NILG (National Institute of Local Government), BPATC (Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center), JATI (Judicial Administration Training Institute), BPA (Bangladesh Police Academy), etc. the project has a plan to build up the capacity of the institutional stakeholders on village courts. Besides, as a part of implementation strategy NGOs/CSOs are also included to help LGD for grassroots level capacity building, social mobilization and eventually activating village courts under the technical support and supervision of Project Management Unit.

The Communication and Outreach Analyst will report and work under the guidance of National Project Coordinator and close coordination with the UNDP Democracy and Governance cluster as well as with other relevant unit. S/he will be responsible for planning and communication related support in the efficient and effective execution of project activities. In carrying out her/his responsibilities, S/he will develop the strong communication tool and provide necessary information among all the stakeholders. S/he will advocate and promote the work of UNDP in Bangladesh and will also work closely with project team and programme cluster, Government officials, private sector, non-government and civil society organizations. In Addition, S/he will supervise Communication Associate for ensuring project visibility, event management (central & district level), docudrama, video learning, IEC materials etc. Moreover, Communication Associate will report to Communication Analyst for overall activities

The Communication and Outreach Analyst will have the following duties and responsibilities:

• External communication & visibility
• Internal Communication
• Programme Support and Outreach
• Documentation, publication, reporting and influencing.
• Any other assigned or project need based.

External Communications and Visibility:

• Develop AVCB III communication and outreach strategy involving AVCB III project team, implement the AVCB III project’s communications and outreach strategy in complementarity with UNDP Country Office broader strategic priorities as well as its External Communications Action Plan; develop guideline of IEC materials and ensure effective use of IEC materials.
• Conduct periodic review and updates of the AVCB III project communications and outreach strategy in consultation with the programme team to ensure its relevance to emerging priorities and needs on the ground, identify the programme’s external communications and visibility priorities.
• Build partnerships and collaborate & engage with the media to improve programme’s external communications and visibility corresponding to its external communications and visibility strategy.
• Conduct orientation/ training sessions on external communications and visibility to programme partners where needed.
• Liaise with media outlets to ensure that the appropriate information and messages are reaching to the public in connection with the project-based news or event; Identify different means that are available /exist at national, regional and local level; networking with them and ensure dissemination of VC’s messages using those means; Communicate with stakeholders to facilitate information flow;

Internal Communications:

• Prepare knowledge products and contents of IEC materials; review and prepare promotional materials including pamphlets, posters, stickers, flipcharts, human story books and videos, etc. on the project.
• Initiatives to inform and sensitize public about the role and function of village courts, conduct motivation campaigns amongst the relevant stakeholders.
• Design and develop/prepare content material for social media platforms relevant to the project’s activities in close consultation with the project team and the Country Office Communications Team.
• Draft and prepare internal communications material including blogs, newsletters, and related activities in close consultation with the project team and the Country Office Communications Team.
• Act as the focal point for all internal communications related tasks.

Programme Support and outreach:

• Design billboard, signboards and other visible materials and finalize with government counterpart for wider dissemination and visibility; ensure installation of billboards and sign boards in the project selected area; develop distribution plan of IEC materials and ensure distribution using cost effective means.
• Organize policy reform dialogue, seminars, conference, workshops in close coordination with concerned program component.
• Organize informative seminars for journalists’ district and national level; develop distribution plan and guideline of IEC materials and ensure effective use of materials to promote Village Courts through social media and the VC website
• Provide constructive feedback to programme’s progress reporting and related activities on lessons learned and best practices resulting from external communications and visibility.
• Develop and implement the project’s Communications and Outreach Strategy and advocacy approach incorporating plan to facilitate coordination and coherence among other similar/social development means of social mobilization existing in the project areas.
• Ensure conduction of Village Courts Campaign in each activation UP in coordination with UPs, Upazila and district administration, field offices, partners and other relevant stakeholders.
• Ensure coordination with UNOs, DDLGs for facilitating social mobilization interventions are carried out in line with the Outreach Strategy, networked with other social development projects/NGOs working in project areas, to incorporate information about village courts into their community mobilization interventions.

Documentation, publication, reporting and influencing.

• Prepare concept note including budget of different events to be organized to advocate and sensitize different stakeholders.
• Design and Develop advocacy, visibility and promotional material for communication and awareness raising that are necessary for sharing and influencing in cooperation and coordination with Project team, partners and beneficiaries’ complaint UNDP guidelines and donor visibility policies and procedures where appropriate.
• Draft press- releases, case studies/ human stories, policy briefs, video/ documentary scripts to highlight and improve project’s visibility on its achievements/ activities.  Maintain and regularly update the programme repository/archive of all communications material including photos videos and audios.
• Coordinate stakeholders, identify and document case studies, snapshots and outcome harvesting; prepare event plan and initiate report drafting coordinating programme, operation, and Finance strong cooperation with   Planning, M & E
• Assist team in the drafting of programme updates, design and implement baseline surveys, public perception surveys, impact assessments/ tracker surveys including in the development of survey report templates, design and layout of reports and related tasks.
• Coordinating comments/ feedback to prepare donor progress reports, donor review meeting presentations, meeting minutes and related documentation maintaining strong relations with team.
• Design, develop and drafted the project documents for publication.

Others

• Lead role in mapping the NGOs working on legal/ social issues in the project area; provide technical supports to Local administration, District Facilitators and partner NGOs to implement the strategy.
• Keep strong relationships with LGD, the local government representatives especially Upazilla & Union Parishads disseminating relevant information.
• Ensure coordination with UNOs, DDLGs for facilitating social mobilization interventions are carried out in line with the Outreach Strategy, networked with other social development projects/NGOs working in project areas, periodic follow up is made and project management is consulted for trouble shooting if there is need.
• Maintain the project website, Facebook, twitter and other social media outlets for information dissemination.
• Project focal person in external communications in close coordination with UNDP CO Communication leaders.
• Prepare and maintain a database on the list of the national and local level print and electronic journalist.
• Maintain project related media coverage, analyse and report; accordingly, strong relations, liaison and coordination with govt counterpart and related functionaries
• Coordinate with GoB’s platforms such as Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar, and the Department of Mass Communication under the Ministry of Information to disseminate VC messages.
• Coordinate with Ministry of Information on using their information dissemination mechanism (mobile van, video show, state-owned TV, radio etc.) to broadcast village courts messages at the community level.
• Provide technical supports to Local administration, District Facilitators and partner NGOs to implement the strategy mentioned above.
• Liaise with national and regional media houses to ensure the airing in the TV and Radio on village courts.
• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

Core competencies:

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work.
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking.
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning.
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process.
• Act with Determination:  LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously.
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships.
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making.

People Management competencies:

• UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:

Business Direction and Strategy

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions.

Business Management

• Communications: Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience; Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.

Partnership Management

• Multi-stakeholder engagement and funding: Knowledge and ability to forge multi-stakeholder partnerships and remove any obstacles to resource mobilization and multi-stakeholder funding platforms.

Communication

• Advocacy strategy and implementation: Ability to create and implement advocacy strategies which lead to impactful change.

Communications

• Campaign Management : Ability to produce and implement communications and advocacy campaigns which lead to impactful change.
• Graphic design: Ability to communicate visually and create appealing UNDP graphic products
• Media Relations: Ability to develop media relations across all aspects of media work including relations with media and preparing media materials such as messages.