Humanitarian Communications Specialist - West Bank

Job Description

Location: Ramallah, West Bank (Travel to Gaza may be required – depending on humanitarian access)

Start Date: ASAP

The Humanitarian Communications Specialist (HCS) will work to support the INTERNEWS Humanitarian Country Team by offering technical communications expertise. The HCS will be deployed with Internews for an initial period of 6 weeks (with a possible extension of another 6 to 8 weeks depending on available funding).

SCOPE OF WORK

1. Representation and Advocacy:

• Represent INTERNEWS at key coordination and inter-agency meetings and be the focal point / main liaison with other humanitarian agencies who are seeking to communicate with affected populations re humanitarian services and needs;
• Liaise with local media (especially with local radio stations) to provide humanitarian communications content that is relevant to and needed by affected populations;
• Be in regular contact with relevant staff in UN OCHA and UNRWA to facilitate access to humanitarian information by local media, produce relevant humanitarian programming that responds to the needs of those affected by the conflict, and ensure affected populations have a ways of providing feedback on the humanitarian response.

1. Humanitarian Communication Strategy Design:

• In consultation and coordination with INTERNEWS Country Team lead in the design, implementation and evaluation of a humanitarian communications strategy that ensures the establishment of two-way communication systems with affected populations via the local media;
• In order to accomplish the aforesaid, ensure community voices are taken into account during the design and implementation process and adjust strategy, if and when necessary, based on feedback from affected communities and M&E inputs.
• Promote integration of Communicating with Communities (CwC) approach with national government and local response capacity.
• Articulate overall goals, activities, budget, expected outcomes and timeframe. Integrate, if appropriate and in consultation and coordination with media assistance organizations, support to local media and other trusted sources of information in the context of the humanitarian response.
• In collaboration with a Research and M&E Specialist(s), if/when deployed, ensure that baseline, progress and impact indicators are integrated into the strategy and that a methodology for regularly collecting and examining data is in place.

1. Information Needs Assessment:

• The Humanitarian Communications Specialist, in consultation with UNRWA and UN OCHA and in coordination with relevant cluster lead(s), individual agencies, media assistance organizations, and other relevant partners will continue to contribute to the existing information and communication needs assessment, which identifies gaps and defines opportunities for intervention. This includes coordinating with Inter-Agency Needs Assessment leads, if any are in place.

1. Fundraising:

• Contribute to fundraising efforts on behalf of INTERNEWS while on assignment and at the end of the mission as part of a debrief session with relevant donors.

1. Knowledge Sharing:

• Help to produce and disseminate regular information about humanitarian communication needs, impact of interventions, lessons learned and sustainability planning in cluster meetings and with local and international media, if and when appropriate;
• Share regular feedback and updates of Internews programming (if appropriate and in consultation with the Humanitarian Country Team) via email, social media, and other knowledge sharing means to all humanitarian stakeholders, highlighting the impact such interventions have on the emergency humanitarian response.

1. Information Management:

• Maintain and update a database with all relevant contacts (i.e. spokespersons and programmatic focal points from cluster(s) or individual agencies) from the different organizations and government departments involved in the humanitarian response.
• Contribute to program reports for donors and prospective funders, as required.

1. Reporting:

• Produce regular updates, summarizing progress, achievements and identifying gaps and challenges covering all activities concerning communications with affected communities. Provide input into OCHA Situation Reports and other information products where relevant.

1. Miscellaneous:

• Perform any other job-related duty as required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Fluency in English and Arabic (highly desirable).
• Previous experience in designing and implementing communicating with communities programs and/or beneficiary communication;
• Capacity to understand and analyze information and communication flows in the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. Understand information flows within humanitarian agencies and in the emergency response sector;
• Significant experience using media and communications in humanitarian emergency responses. Excellent interpersonal and networking skills and the ability to liaise authoritatively with representatives from the humanitarian sector, local media, local government, army/peacekeepers, and other relevant actors;
• Very good working knowledge of the mandates and modalities of the international humanitarian sector including the UN cluster system.
• Interest in and familiarity with new media and new digital applications for citizen journalism and information access.
• Excellent communication and reporting skills, both written and oral.
• Willingness to work in demanding, stressful, and, at times, dangerous situations under difficult living conditions. Ability to stay calm, use sound judgment and to liaise with security officials of humanitarian agencies and embassies in crisis situations to assess risk level.
• An understanding of the vision/mission, core values and objectives of the CDAC-Network and its member agencies.
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a diverse and multicultural team. Psychological resilience and a sense of humor.
• Relevant university degree (media, journalism, communications, international relations, history, anthropology, human rights and/or law degree).

TO APPLY:

Please complete the online application form at Internews/Jobs by clicking “Apply for this Position” at the bottom of the page. In the fields provided, please upload your CV. In the space provided, please cut and paste your cover letter and answer, in a maximum of 500 words, the following questions:

• Provide examples of your experience in developing a humanitarian communication strategy and working with media and communications in the context of a humanitarian response;
• Please provide concrete examples of your experience working with local communities, identifying their information needs, training and/or engaging them in the production process, content generation and/or evaluation of the emergency response process or program intervention.