Communications Officer/ Storytelling and multimedia

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work to translate that commitment into practical action, especially for the most disadvantaged children.

In the Pacific we work in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu: These 14 Pacific island countries are home to 2.3 million people, including 1.2 million children and youth, living on more than 660 islands and atolls stretching across 17.2 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean, an area comparable to the combined size of the United States of America and Canada.

Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu are classified as Fragile States according to World Bank/OECD criteria. All 14 Pacific island countries have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, but only a third are on track with reporting obligations.

The Communications section is cross-cutting, providing support to all programmatic areas in advocacy, branding, media, and social media outreach. Although the section supports all programmatic work, across all countries, in line with the new multi-country programme, the office has selected four advocacy priorities: Violence against children, Climate, Water security and Nutrition.

The section plays a role in:

- mobilizing political will and public awareness to prioritize children's and women‘s rights in policies programmes as a result of strategic partnerships and improved knowledge management;
- creating space for children and young people to express their concerns and ideas and participate in decisions affecting their lives.
- Partnerships with the media and outreach through social media platforms play important roles in the office's advocacy strategy.

The UNV will work in the Communication Section alongside the Communications Officers under the direct supervision of the Chief of Communication.

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Communication, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Develop simple multimedia products for social media use, including videos, photos, and tiles.
• Support programme staff with simple branded designs for posters, powerpoint presentations, certificates and ad hoc requests.
• Photograph/video events for social media coverage.
• Coordination of human-interest stories: working alongside the communications team and programme officers to identify potential stories that illustrate the situation of children and inform the broad public about UNICEF’s work.
• Manage a live spreadsheet/database of these planned stories, ensuring balanced coverage of themes and countries and identifying key details and resources (focal points, angles, potential interviewees, content collectors, authors, etc.).
• Coordinate the publication and dissemination schedule for stories in collaboration with the rest of the team, adhering to any key dates, advocacy campaigns, or donor requirements.
• Support the communications section as needed in managing events, developing communication packages for advocacy campaigns, producing communications materials, and contributing to media and social media packages.
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

13. Results/expected outputs:

The assignment will have had provided the UN Volunteer with the opportunity to play a key role in the dissemination of evidence and knowledge on the actual situation of children in the Pacific through a variety of communication channels for different purposes. This includes:

• The dissemination of knowledge on social norms and practices that are detrimental to children’s development through stories and communications products published on UNICEF’s platforms.

• Advocacy to strengthen the realization of children’s rights through contribution of information material for campaigns, particularly on UNICEF Pacific’s key advocacy priorities.

• Traditional media and digital media outreach to raise awareness about the situation of children. This involves the coordination and production of human-interest stories and other communication material.