Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)E (most hardship)
Family Type (not applicable for home-based)
Non Family
Staff Member / Affiliate TypeUNOPS IICA1
Target Start Date2024-04-14
Job Posting End DateApril 16, 2024
Terms of ReferenceOrganizational Setting and Work Relationships
Afghanistan is experiencing a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale, exacerbated by the critical economic crisis, high levels of poverty, natural disasters (earthquakes, drought, and floods). Some 29.2 million people in Afghanistan require humanitarian assistance, of which 23 million people are likely facing acute food insecurity, and at least one million children at risk of severe acute malnutrition. Human rights have deteriorated in Afghanistan, particularly against women and girls, following the December 2022 and April 2023 bans against women and girls. In 2024, it is projected that economic instability and growing humanitarian needs, compounded by secondary displacement, natural disasters, abuses of human rights, sporadic attacks, and armed clashes may continue to displace Afghans. Internal displacement is also likely to persist.
On 3 October 2023, the Government of Pakistan announced plans to repatriate 'illegal foreigners'. In view of the ongoing humanitarian and human rights concerns for Afghans, particularly for women and girls, UNHCR and IOM issued a joint statement urging Pakistan to maintain the protection space for Afghans in need of safety. This was followed by a joint statement by UNHCR. IOM and UNICEF which appealed for the protection of children and families seeking safety in Pakistan. On 10 November, UNHCR declared an internal Level 2 emergency for Pakistan and Afghanistan for six months to scale up the humanitarian response in light of the rapidly evolving situation. Population trends during the reporting period indicated that most returns were voluntary although deportations through Torkham and Spin Boldak border crossing points were also recorded. People arriving at the border are exhausted and require urgent assistance as well as psychosocial support. Arrivals back to Afghanistan are also adding to the worsening humanitarian crisis, as winter temperatures start to dip to -4 degrees in some locations. Many Afghan returnees are vulnerable including women and children who could lose their lives in a harsh winter if left without adequate shelter. 1.3 million undocumented Afghans are estimated to reside in Pakistan. Approximately 720,000 undocumented individuals and 50,000 assisted voluntary repatriations (Proof of Registration (PoR) cardholders) are expected to require support at border points from now through July 2024. The sudden surge in returns in recent weeks is putting pressure an already strained resources, including shelter and basic services. Additional support is urgently required.
UNHCR and partners in Pakistan and Afghanistan are currently working together to ensure a harmonized and coordinated cross-border response to this new emergency. To support these efforts an interagency Border Consortium Appeal was launched on 8 November. In addition, UNHCR and partners are also stepping up their presence in and around Torkham and Chaman border crossing points and accelerating efforts to ensure protection-sensitive mechanisms are in place via regular border monitoring visits and protection screenings to identify and assist people with heightened vulnerabilities and needs.
Additionally, earthquakes in Herat this year, which killed dozens of people, demolished homes, displaced thousands, as well as Pakistan’s decision to expel some 1.3 million “illegal foreigners”, mainly Afghans, mean that the humanitarian situation in the country will only worsen in the coming year.
To support UN joint programming in the provision of basic human needs, The Special Trust Fund for Afghanistan (hereinafter referred as the Fund or STFA) was established on 20 October 2021. The Fund serves as an inter-agency mechanism to enable donors to channel their resources and coordinate their support UN joint programmes aligned with the United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA).
The Trust Fund Management Unit (TFMU) is the Fund Secretariat for STFA and is the entity responsible for the operational functioning of the Fund and provides technical and management support to the Steering Committee. Under the direct supervision of the Trust Fund Manager, housed in the TFMU, the Associate Communications Officer will lead communicating of STFA results and activities, contribute material for active and strong social media presence through multiple social platforms managed by the Fund and upload cleared communications materials to the STFA website.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.
This is an International UNOPS IICA assignment. The successful candidate will be based with the team in UNHCR’s office in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Duties
- Support the implementation of communications strategies for countries, situations and special projects; identify thematic priorities and target audiences to meet STFA’s global communications objectives.
- Monitor news and popular trends to insert STFA’s messaging into ongoing conversations; identify key moments for proactive communications.
- Forge strategic partnerships with individuals and organizations who can help produce and promote STFA content, activities and messaging as well as provide research insights to improve communications; promote the work of engaged businesses and civil society actors.
- Contribute to the development of news-driven and authoritative content to lead the narrative on forced displacement and show STFA’s impact (e.g. interviews, press releases, flagship reports, speeches), create emotive storytelling to generate empathy (e.g. stories, multimedia content) and mobilize action by signposting concrete steps people can take to help refugees (e.g. digital diplomacy, action-driven campaigns, fundraising).
- Support the supervisor in ensuring content created reaches maximum impact by developing strategies for distribution from the outset, boosting the visibility of our content on relevant STFA channels and placing it on external channels.
- Closely monitor the implementation of communications projects and adjust accordingly. Benchmark the results of communications projects against set success indicators; build on communications successes.
Additional duties for the Associate Communications Officer (STFA):
Reporting and Visibility
- Develop success stories and provide relevant inputs for the development of newsletters and website articles for the Fund.
- Undertake field visits to produce high-quality digital media content (videos and photos) with strong and impactful narratives.
- Regularly monitor all communication platforms to ensure that the latest and up-to-date information is reflected.
- Lead consistent communication of STFA results and progress to its audiences and using the most effective tools and channels including social media to build public ownership of STFA projects and programmes.
- Lead development and implementation of standardized templates with donor taglines for reporting on events, workshops, training sessions, as applicable.
Information and Knowledge Sharing
- Develop and maintain an effective stakeholder engagement approach, including an up-to-date list of STFA stakeholders, and maintain effective relations with all stakeholders to encourage their support to STFA programming activities.
- Liaise with STFA joint programme teams and respective Participating UN Organizations (PUNOs) communications teams to ensure a cooperative approach towards communications and that STFA activities are reflected in the online and mass media.
- Working closely with Data Management Specialist, promote knowledge management and knowledge sharing through maintaining the TFMU communications site with easy access to all STFA publications and knowledge resources.
Coordination of Communications Functions
- Provide support to meetings including STFA Technical Coordination Working Group (TCWG) meetings, Steering Committee meetings, and TFMU meetings with donor representatives documenting discussions and disseminating finalized minutes with respective stakeholders.
- Provide support during crisis communications and assist the MPTF communications with responses to STFA related media enquiries.
- Liaise with Human Rights Due Diligence team, Integrated Risk Management team, and joint programme teams to highlight and ensure visibility of all elements supported by the Fund.
- Support event planning to promote the Fund’s messages among partners, stakeholders, and beneficiaries.
Maintenance of STFA website
- Update and manage the contents of the website.
- Ensure that the website content is creative and easily understood by the targeted audience (in layout, texts, images, titles, headers, icons, colours, audio, and video).
- Collaborate with PUNO Communications Focal Points to ensure that the website is informative (content, relevance to the targeted audience, public).
- Examine traffic throughout the website and produce website usage reports that include user analytics and user experience reports for effective content delivery to website visitors.
- Compile, analyse, and report statistics regarding all relevant website matrix.
- Coordinate responses to questions from site visitors including donors and PUNOs.
- Perform other related duties as required.
Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
- For P2/NOB - 3 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 2 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 1 year relevant experience with Doctorate degree
Field(s) of Education
Journalism; International Relations; Political Science;
Communications; Public Information; Media
Film / Video; or other relevant field.
(Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified.
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Relevant Job Experience
Essential
- Minimum 1 year of professional experience in journalism and/or communications, mainly at international level.
- Experience in managing communications functions in an international organization is required. Proven experience in coordinating and managing inter-thematic collaborations, workflows, and processes, is an asset. Proficiency in oral and written English required. Strong communication skills both written and verbal, excellent report writing and organizational skills. Familiarity with Adobe creative cloud or other software tools in designing and creating data visualization, infographics, presentations, and reports is required.
Desirable
- Strong social media presence. Experience working on advocacy campaigns. Experience working with goodwill ambassadors and other high-profile influencers. Experience with brand management. Experience with measurement and evaluation, especially providing analysis of media coverage, social media engagement, web traffic, etc. Experience reporting, writing, editing for magazines, newspapers and websites. Experience using digital asset management systems. Experience with digital analytics and performance reporting.
- Demonstrated expertise in managing communications sites using Microsoft SharePoint Online or other online platforms is desirable. Working experience with diverse and multi-cultural teams is desirable.
Functional Skills
- Required skills will vary according to the precise nature of the role, location, etc. but may include:
- CO-Digital content production
- CO-Editing
- CO-International Media Contacts
- CO-Journalism (incl. print, broadcast, photography, video, layout & graphics)
- CO-Preparation of key messages/talking points/speeches
- CO-Public Speaking
- CO-Spokesperson skills
- CO-Video production for digital platforms (including news organizations)
- IT-Web Content Management
- MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
- Essential functional skills and cross-functional competencies
- Client Management – Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs.
- Data storytelling and communications– Skilled in building a narrative around a set of data and its accompanying visualizations to help convey the meaning of that data in a powerful and compelling fashion.
- Innovation Management – Being able to create the strategies, conditions, structures, and systems to enable innovation at an organizational level.
- Advocacy strategy and implementation - Ability to create and implement advocacy strategies which lead to impactful change.
- Brand and quality management - Ability to position a STFA brand and uphold it to a high level of quality.
- Writing and editing – Ability to create and/or edit written content in different UN languages.
- Multimedia writing/editing - Ability to create and/or edit written content for multimedia.
Language Requirements
- For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
Competency Requirements
All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.
Core Competencies:
- Accountability
- Communication
- Organizational Awareness
- Teamwork & Collaboration
- Commitment to Continuous Learning
- Client & Result Orientation
Managerial Competencies:
- Empowering and Building Trust
- Judgement and Decision Making
Cross-Functional Competencies:
- Analytical Thinking
- Innovation and Creativity
- Political Awareness
All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.
As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.
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Skills
Education
Certifications
Work Experience
Other informationThis position doesn't require a functional clearance
Home-BasedNo