Regional Communications Specialist

L’UNCDF est présent au Sénégal depuis 1981, promouvant la décentralisation et l’élargissement de l’accès aux services financiers pour les populations rurales à faible revenu, à travers deux domaines d’intervention : l’inclusion financière et le financement du développement local. Aujourd’hui, Les Pays les Moins Avancés ont des mécanismes de financement peu adaptés à leurs besoins. Afin qu’ils puissent réellement accomplir une transformation structurelle, les financements de long terme, de prise de participation à risque, de financements adaptés aux besoins des PME et des PPPs de taille intermédiaire sont indispensables. Qu’il s’agisse d’accompagner des collectivités locales à fournir des services de base, des populations et des PMEs à financer leurs projets économiques, de fournir des mécanismes de prêts, de garantie ou de créer des fonds répondant aux besoins des économies en transformation, UNCDF propose son expertise et ses outils aux gouvernements, aux institutions financières et à leurs partenaires. Son mandat unique dans le système des Nations Unies lui permet de mettre à la disposition de ses partenaires des systèmes de subvention (simples, basées sur la performance et subventions remboursables), des prêts et des garanties en prenant des risques que des partenaires plus traditionnels ne peuvent pas prendre.

The mission of the UNCDF is to serve as the United Nations flagship catalytic financing entity for the LDCs to strengthen financing mechanisms and systems for structural transformation. As the only UN agency with a mandate to deploy financial instruments in both the public and private sectors and across all sectors of the economy, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has an increasing track record of offering and supporting establishment of guarantees to unlock commercial investments in LDCs.
In partnership with UN entities and development partners, UNCDF delivers scalable, blended finance solutions to drive systemic change, pave the way for commercial finance, and contribute to the SDGs.
Assignment context.

UNCDF has undergone an organizational restructuring, shifting towards an investment-oriented structure to strengthen its identity as a ‘development fund.’ This transformation aims to enhance its ability to mobilize resources, engage with stakeholders, and drive impactful investments that promote sustainable development at the local and national levels.

In this context, the UNV will support the Regional Investment Team Lead, based in Dakar, as well as the global Strategic Communications Advisor, in the communications functions across West and Central Africa and the Caribbean Region. The Communications Specialist will support country teams in West and Central Africa and the Caribbean in the implementation of UNCDF communication strategy. The role will depend from the Strategic Communication Advisor at UNCDF Head Quarters in New York and will work closely with the Regional Investment Team lead. Through this role, the volunteer will gain valuable experience in development finance while supporting UNCDF’s mission to expand access to capital for inclusive and sustainable growth.

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Investment Team Lead for West and Central Africa and the Caribbean Region, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Summary of key functions:
-Assist in UNCDF Knowledge Management and Communications;
-Support development of a communication and dissemination plan;
-Support learning gathering and inputs to programming;
-Support in drafting concept notes, project proposals.


Examples of tasks include:
-Serve as communication focal point for the region and coordinate with countries, programmes and Head Quarters;
-Support the training of UNCDF teams at the regional and country level on UNCDF communication strategy;
-Support the development of communication methods and materials for social media, blog, articles;
-Support the drafting and overseeing of any communication piece in the region;
-Contribute to the gathering of insights and learnings from UNCDF interventions in the region to identify best practices and inform UNCDF programming;
-Contribute to the design of new initiatives and proposals for funders, support drafting concept notes and proposals.