Short Term Consultant, Creative Writing, Copywriting and Copyediting, Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Support Activity (YES Activity).

Job Description

Location: Remote/home office

Duration: 1 March-30 May 2021

Reports to: Program Manager, YES Activity (Located in Bangladesh)

BACKGROUND

Relief International is an international humanitarian non-profit agency that provides emergency relief, rehabilitation, development assistance, and program services to vulnerable communities worldwide. Relief International is dedicated to reducing human suffering and is non-political and non-sectarian in its mission.

RI has over 15 years of operational experience in Bangladesh. Using local expertise and resources, RI has worked to build the capacity of communities through the use of innovative education and health programs, human rights and preventing human trafficking work, livelihood training, small business development, environment and climate change initiatives, and eco-tourism services. Through our activities, RI has forged lasting partnerships with national organizations, which allow for marginalized communities to have access to sustainable support.

In collaboration with 3 local partners, Relief International is currently implementing a ‘Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Support (YES) Program’. The project, started in 2020 and will continue till 2022) seeks to increase market-oriented Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for youth within a conflict sensitive, peacebuilding framework. YES employs a two-pronged approach, addressing grievances related to competition over economic opportunities, while also investing in host community youth’s ability to create an enabling environment for social cohesion. Targeted female and male youth receive market-relevant and conflict-sensitive vocational training, and be linked to employment opportunities. These youth are also teamed up with community leaders who coach youth to lead their own initiatives that promote social cohesion in their communities. As such, YES layers its interventions around vocational training and employment opportunities with the opportunity to learn and apply these softer skills for the benefit of their communities. YES focus on youth and communities in four upazilas in Cox’s Bazar District: Ramu, Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Ukhiya, and Teknaf. These upazilas have been selected due the high numbers of unemployed youth.

Under YES Activity, Relief International and its project partners are implementing the following activities:

• Labor Market Needs Assessment – An in-depth look at the evolving economy in and beyond Cox’s Bazar from an employment and entrepreneurial perspective, which will serve to identify the types of skills and jobs industry needs. Gender, inclusion and protection mainstreaming will be especially important considerations, looking at issues of access, dignity, and safety. This activity will also make use of existing resources, such as those available through local TVET institutions, private sectors and nonprofit sector;
• Youth Interests and Skill Levels – YES will directly consult female and male youth through gender-responsive surveys, gender-segregated focus group discussions and key informant interviews to establish a thorough understanding of their ambitions and how the program can help them overcome the barriers they feel stand in their way. It will also look at existing data on basic education and skill levels among the targeted youth, and assess capacity critical thinking and problem solving.
• Vocational Training Sector Assessment – This activity will assess current training curricula and capacity for delivery among the variety of government and CSO training providers active in Cox’s Bazar. This will assist in the analysis of how existing training programs match with current market needs and opportunities, as well as to assess the local capacity

DUTIES AND R E S PON S I B I L I T I E S

To support the YES program activities, RI Bangladesh office seeks to recruit an Individual Consultant for Creative Writing, Copywriting and Copyediting for 3 (three) months with a possibility of extension.

The consultant is expected to support Relief International and its project partners to successfully complete the above mentioned assessments. The consultant will directly work with Relief International and its partners to provide high quality inputs and feedback on preparation (including development of an outline in consultation with project team and the partners), editing and finalization of the assessment reports following inputs and feedback received from project stakeholders. The consultant will also assist in overall presentation of the draft and final reports and any other annexes/appendixes related to the assessments for submission to the external parties.

The consultant will collect and review/study relevant project documents, discuss with the relevant YES activity program personnel of RI and the project partners to have the best understanding of standard and quality required for the assessment reports. The consultant will also interact with relevant project stakeholders as well as identified external interlocutors to gain additional input.

Additionally, the consultant will support communications and public outreach and develop creative content at the country and global level, with the main objective of increasing the visibility and understanding of the YES Activity project in Bangladesh among national counterparts, the global stakeholders, and the general public through the drafting of creative content, copywriting and copy-editing communications materials.

The consultant will extend her/his services in development and finalization of creative content for RI’s internal use ( such as, RI websites, blogs, social media platforms, success stories, feature stories etc.) and other information outlets related to the YES Activity.

TIMELINE

The consultancy is expected to start on the 7 March 2021. The assignment will be completed by end of May 2021 with possibility of extension.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE

• Prior experience producing creative contents, programs reports, assessment/research report;

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural team;
• Analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
• Good understanding of content for assessment, studies, research;
• Ability to produce writing pieces with a clear understanding of audience, stakeholders and goals;
• Relevant IT skills in using word processing applications.

Corporate Competencies:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Demonstration of active values of integrity, ethics and cultural sensitivity;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Academic Qualifications:

• Have completed Bachelor’s degree in relevant disciplines such as, International Development, Development Studies, Journalism, Communications, Creative Writing, Social science etc.

Experience

• Experience of working in reporting writing, creative writing, producing communication and collateral materials;
• Experience and demonstrable track record of preparation of high-quality reports, creative writing and copywriting work;
• Experience in conducting research, collating and synthesizing information from a variety of sources to support development projects;
• Experience in writing and editing skills in a professional and working environment ( such as contents for website, social media success stories and feature stories etc);
• Ability to use good political judgement , an understanding of local context, cultural sensitivity;

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS:

• Fluent in written and spoken English with full working level proficiency;
• Excellent editing skills in English with full working level proficiency.

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION

• A curriculum vitae with a max. 2 page cover letter detailing past experience in similar assignments, qualifications, reference of past works should be submitted; 2 samples of relevant work should be attached and a detailed budget

• Incomplete applications or applications received after the closing date will not be given consideration. Please note that only applicants who are shorted-listed will be contacted.
• RI will cross check previous work experience and expertise through professional and terrorist checks

About the Organization

About Relief International.

Relief International (RI) is a leading nonprofit organization working in 16 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

Relief International includes the four members of the RI Alliance in the USA, UK, France, and Belgium. Under our alliance agreement, we operate under a single, shared management structure with one CEO and one Board of Directors.

About our Programs.

RI is active in 16 countries around the world, including some of the most fragile: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. Often, RI is the only organization providing assistance to highly vulnerable communities.

• RI employs 7,000+ staff and auxiliary workers

• 97% of staff are in-country nationals

• We only have some 90 ex-pat staff out of 7,000+

• RI spent $125 million in 2019 on our programs.

RI invests in four broad program sectors: Economic Opportunity, Education, Health, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). We design our programs to incorporate The RI Way: local participation, integrated programming, the development of civic skills, and partnerships including with local NGOs, governments, and the private sector.

RI supports solutions that reinforce and improve upon existing in-country systems. Where such systems do not exist or are chronically underperforming, RI’s crisis response lays the foundation for long-term, sustainable change.