COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER FOR RECOVER AFRICA PROJECT

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Organization: Fairtrade Africa

Closing date: 30 Sep 2020

INTRODUCTION

Established in 2005, Fairtrade Africa is the independent non-profit umbrella organization representing all Fairtrade certified producers in Africa. Fairtrade Africa is owned by its members, who are African producer organizations certified against international Fairtrade standards producing traditional export commodities such as coffee, cocoa, tea, cotton, bananas, mango, and non- traditional commodities including shea butter and rooibos tea. Currently, the organization represents over 1.18 million smallholder farmers and workers across 28 countries in Africa.

ABOUT RECOVER AFRICA PROJECT

To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Fair Trade producers’ health, well-being and economic sustainability, this project on RECOVER AFRICA: A COVID-19 Fair Trade Emergency Initiative, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is implemented by Fairtrade Africa from October 2020 to April 2022. The project aims to provide immediate relief to and support prevention of the further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic on at-risk producers in nine countries in Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi and South Africa); as well as help producers recover from economic losses due to COVID-19, maintain and diversify their supply chain relations, and ensure business continuity, food security and income generation for their member -– thereby building producers’ resilience to future shocks and stresses.

SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

FTA wishes to engage the services of a qualified individual to carry out to engage with strategic stakeholders and partners in the preparation and dissemination of relevant project advocacy, information and education materials across a mix of channels and platforms.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Project Communication Strategy

• Work with the RECOVER AFRICA project team and the External Communication Coordinator to develop, implement and evaluate the project communications strategy.
• Support advocacy initiatives with key stakeholders, including government, NFO bodies,

service providers, and media.

• Manage the implementation of RECOVER AFRICA project engagement and communications plan.
• Provide oversight to the outputs produced by external consultants such as radio scripts and programmes, graphic designs, video documentaries, visual designs and products and digital placements concerning RECOVER AFRICA project.

External Relations and Media

• Develop press materials including press statements and releases, and information kits/fact sheets about the project.
• Implement a robust media management strategy that includes establishing and sustaining links and contact with relevant journalists within the region and the nine countries covered by the project to increase awareness of the project.
• Organise and management of media briefing engagements to convey information on ongoing stories and project developments
• Respond to media inquiries, arrange interviews, and act as a spokesperson for the project.
• Maintain records of media coverage and collate analytics and metrics.
• Manage crisis communication as it arises and escalate to management.
• Analyse M&E reports and generate impact stories for publication on newsletters, website and social media.
• Manage the development and production of project content for the website, social media and print publications.
• Develop effective internal communications mechanisms to ensure that news and events are known internally and publicised externally as appropriate.
• Plan events, workshops and press conferences and oversee the production of merchandising and branding materials.
• Undertake an evaluation of each event, maintaining accurate data, including reviewing and reporting against the objectives of the various events.
• Contribute to the production of written materials for web site and promotional documentation

DELIVERABLES

1. The consultant t is expected to work in close consultation with the Program Manager, FTA’s Communications Team as well as a report of the project's update to the COVID-19 Technical Committee to deliver the following outputs:

· Communications plan

· Progress reports on the website, social media, print publications that are relevant to the project

· Oversight reports on the following areas: radio scripts, flyers, photobook, blog page, best practices dedicated to the project

1. Online meetings with regional communication focal points and country senior officers will be necessary for the production and dissemination of communication outputs

2. Any other related report or outputs that may be required

DESIRED EXPERIENCE/EXPERTISE

FTA is looking for an individual consultant with the following qualifications, skills and competence:

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree or diploma in Communications, media or related field
• Be a member of a professional PR or Communications body

Experience and Knowledge

• At least 3 - 5years work experience in communications, writing and content creations, in an NGO setting
• Experience in using social media channels and extending their reach
• Knowledge of desktop publishing software **

Skills

• Strong writing skills
• Ability to create engaging news stories and content for external audiences
• Technical skills in publications production and design to include photography and digitizing
• Good interpersonal and team working skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, content management systems and social media platforms.
• Problem-solving and analytical skills

DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The successful individual consultant is expected to carry out the assignment in 4 months (October 2020 to January 2021) from the date of signing the contract.

How to apply:

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested and qualified consultants should submit their applications, which should include the following:

· Individual consultant’s profile;

· Detailed Curriculum Vitae;

· 2 References and samples of similar assignment conducted in the past.

The closing date for receiving the application is 30^th September 2020.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Please send the applications to recruitment@fairtradeafrica.net

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