Advocacy and Communications Consultant

[Admin]

Country: Ethiopia

Organization: Save the Children

Closing date: 26 Jul 2021

Advocacy and Communications Consultant

Background of the assignment

Addis Ababa is home to the African Union, a regional institution with global impact which plays a critical role in shaping children's lives and helping to ensure their rights are fulfilled.

The AU has a direct role in helping to safeguard the rights of children in Africa who are vulnerable, marginalized, socially excluded and affected by poverty.

Save the Children has a small global advocacy office in Addis Ababa (alongside offices in Geneva and New York) that influences the AU institutions on issues that affect children's rights and wellbeing in Africa.

The Network for the Rights of the Child in Central Africa (REDEAC), having developed their 5-year strategic plan with the support of Plan International and Save the Children International, with the ultimate goal of strengthening the Network to enable it conduct effective advocacy on children's rights at national, regional, continental and global levels; and Save the Children Africa Union Liaison and Pan-Africa Office and Plan International Africa Union Liaison Office, in fulfillment of their objective to support the strengthening of civil society organizations on the continent to enhance their capacity to conduct effective advocacy for children's rights; entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The purpose of the memorandum of understanding is to support REDEAC to implement various activities as per their strategic plan for the period between 1st November 2020 - 30th June 2021 (with the possibility of extension).

Save the Children Africa Union Liaison and Pan Africa Office shall be responsible for;

• Provision of technical capacity support to REDEAC on institutional strengthening and child rights advocacy.
• Financial support to REDEAC to implement activities as per the agreed budget and work plan.
• Financial management in relation to activities to be implemented as per the two institutions' policies and manuals.
• Provide an oversight over the agreed activities and outcomes
• Convening quarterly update sessions for the parties to this MOU.
• The Advocacy and Communications Consultant will play a central part in ensuring that REDEAC implements its obligations under the MoU, and enhances its advocacy, communications and organizational capacity

KEY DELIVERABLES OF THE CONSULTANCY:

Advocacy

• Support REDEAC in the implementation of institutional strengthening activities, with a focus on enhanced engagement between member countries and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC).
• Strengthen the REDEAC member capacity to engage with AU bodies on child rights issues
• Undertake timely and strategic advocacy and sustaining alliances with key stakeholders at the CSO Forum, the AU
• Provide monthly and quarterly updates to SCI AAO on relevant targets as per the MoU.

Advocacy and Communications Strategy

• Support the development and implementation of the Coalition 's advocacy, media and communication strategy and associated work plan in support of communication and uptake of the coalition 's products both internally and external audiences.
• Support the development of the Coalition 's brand, media relations and digital engagement.
• Develop and implement mechanisms to monitor key performance metrics and document the success of campaigns and content on the web, social media, traditional media, etc
• Help develop clear communication baselines against which the objectives of the communication strategy are evaluated.

Media and digital engagement

• Identify, develop, distribute and evaluate a variety of communication material.
• Help maintain and continually develop contact list of journalists and media outlets; develop media relations to facilitate communication of Coalition 's papers, events (workshops, conferences), Op-Eds and key messaging.
• Support the Coalition 's presence in online communications and social media; provide assistance in the maintenance of Coalition online platforms.
• Support the development and execution of communication and advocacy tools (e.g., newsletter, websites, posters, brochures, pamphlets) to increase visibility of the Coalition;

Networking and partnerships

• Help maintain contact list of individuals, groups, organizations, think-tanks and institutions whose support could assist in achieving advocacy and communication objectives of the Coalition 's communication strategy.
• Help maintain a calendar of key regional events and opportunities for advocacy and Coalition's outreach

Editorial content

• Work with the technical teams in conceptualizing and executing communication assets, including identifying appropriate formats for crafting and disseminating key messages based on analytical papers and research products, including policy briefs, presentations, short videos, and online products.

• Provide support to technical staff in close collaboration with the design team in data visualization and presentation as well as information repackaging.

  In order to be successful, you will bring/have:

Essential

• University degree in a relevant subject. A Master's degree or equivalent in human rights, law, international relations, economics, politics or a related policy field is desirable.
• At least 6 years of relevant experience in a credible organisation
• Experience of leading advocacy and communications activities in a challenging environment and a good knowledge of child rights issues in the Central Africa region.
• Evidence of excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and French.
• Experience of successfully operating in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Experience of working with networks of influence, and an ability to manage diverse professional relationships, thereby securing significant new opportunities for the organisation
• Proven project management experience.
• The ability to digest complex information, quickly, and express this crisply and clearly
• Highly organized and able to solve problems quickly
• Excellent relationship building skills within and outside of the Coalition
• Experience of delivering training, presentations and other capacity building activities to varied audiences, ideally within a country programme.
• Excellent IT skills with understanding of effective visual communications for diverse audiences

Excellent understanding of advocacy, communications, media and campaigning activities

Contract duration: 8 Months

Location: Cameroon and/or any other REDEAC Member Country

How to apply:

Please follow this link to apply: https://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=ZS5hbWIuODY5NTEuMTIxODVAc2F2ZXRoZWNoaWxkcmVuYW8uYXBsaXRyYWsuY29t

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