Background Information - Job-specific

The Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT) is a multi-donor fund set up in 2009, marking its ten-year anniversary this year. LIFT aims to strengthen the resilience and sustainable livelihoods of poor households by helping people to reach their full economic potential. This is achieved through increasing incomes, improving the nutrition of women and children, and decreasing vulnerabilities to shocks, stresses and adverse trends.

LIFT is a significant actor in Myanmar’s development. To date, over 11.6 million people in 75 per cent of Myanmar’s townships have benefitted from LIFT’s programmes. From January 2019, LIFT’s four thematic areas are Agriculture, Markets and Food Systems; Financial Inclusion; Decent Work and Labour Mobility and Nutrition. LIFT is guided by a five-year strategy that puts ‘leaving no one behind’ at the centre of its work, and will in particular focus on social inclusion and cohesion, increased support to areas affected by conflict, bringing displaced people into LIFT’s development programmes and working with Government at all levels on targeted policies that achieve gains in these areas.

LIFT has received funding from altogether 15 international donors since it was established. The current donors are the UK, the EU, Australia, Switzerland, the US, Canada and Ireland.

Under the direct supervision of the Livelihoods and Food Security Specialist (Rakhine), the Communications Specialist will lead a small Rakhine communications team with the aim of building, developing, fostering and maintaining excellent communication & collaboration channels between LIFT’s partners, the international development and humanitarian actors and local media in Rakhine State. The Communication Hub will support LIFT implementing partners and the international community in understanding the local context better, improving communication and laying the foundation for better outreach to the Rakhine population.

Functional Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Livelihoods and Food Security Specialist (Rakhine), and in accordance with UNOPS policies, the Communications Specialist (Rakhine) will be responsible for:

Developing and implementing a communications strategy for the international community’s work in Rakhine. The strategy will set out the communications challenges faced by LIFT and LIFT-funded projects in Rakhine and how communication work will address these. This will include:

• An ongoing analysis of the communication issues that LIFT-funded programme and the international community experience in Rakhine. The Communications Specialist (Rakhine) will ensure that this analysis is regularly and appropriately updated. This area will include a crisis communications strategy.
• Key messages that will address the international community’s communications challenges and opportunities.
• Relevant channels of communication to reach various Rakhine stakeholders (local population, civil society organisations, local authorities, local media etc.).
• A list of key stakeholders and target audiences and how the Rakhine Communications Team will work with them.
• Resource needs for implementing the Rakhine communications strategy and the required activities.
• Designing a monitoring and evaluation framework for the Rakhine Communications Team activities.

As part of implementing the communications strategy, the Communications Specialist (Rakhine) will:

• Provide capacity-building opportunities for LIFT IPs and stakeholders of interest in Rakhine, e.g. through capacity-building events (training, technical workshops, on-the-job support etc.).
• Prepare communications products and materials (success stories, project videos, press articles etc.) on LIFT Implementing Partners’ (IPs) work, LIFT projects and programmes in Rakhine for use by donors, the local media and other stakeholders (e.g. local authorities), ensuring appropriate dissemination within Rakhine. This will also extend to non-LIFT-funded partners, with an emphasis on work that demonstrates synergies and/or replication for LIFT.
• Creating, proof-reading and editing reports as needed.
• Leading the organisation of (annual) learning events in Rakhine to showcase the LIFT Rakhine Programme and its partners.
• Supporting relevant international days to be held in Rakhine with events and materials.
• Ensuring that LIFT FMO communications products (media releases, LIFT Facebook page posts, publications, etc.) reach relevant stakeholders in Rakhine.
• Supporting the LIFT Fund Board and FMO in key communication aspects related to visits to Rakhine. This may include the organisation of appropriate events with local media and civil society organisations and other media relations and content creation activities, as required.

Ensuring appropriate visibility for LIFT and its partners’ work in Rakhine, in particular through:

• Ensuring adherence to the LIFT visibility guidelines by the LIFT Implementing Partners.
• Assessing communications materials used to ensure they are appropriate and relevant to the stakeholders.
• Other duties as assigned by the Supervisor, including support to other UNOPS offices.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education

• Master’s degree in communications, media studies, journalism, development studies, international or public relations is required.
• A Bachelor’s degree in the above fields with an additional two years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree..
• Experience
• Minimum seven years with a Bachelor’s degree, or five years with a Master’s degree, of relevant working experience in communication, preferably in a developing country is required.
• Significant experience in South-East Asia would be an asset.
• Knowledge of the political, economic and social situation in Myanmar is desirable.
• Experience of working in Rakhine is an asset.
• Proven ability to write excellent technical reports and policy briefs in the area of agriculture and/or rural or other development areas is essential.
• Computer literacy in Microsoft packages (MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access) is required. Experience with Google Suite is highly preferred.

Language

• Fluency in both written and spoken English is required.

Source: https://jobs.unops.org/Pages/ViewVacancy/VADetails.aspx?id=19174#3