Consultancy - U-Report Coordination Specialist, Office of Innovation

UNICEF is seeking for a consultant to work as part of the Global Innovation Centre U-Report Coordination team and support U-Report country offices by: ● Updating / creating guidelines and repositories of information for Country and Regional Offices to use in U-Report strategy. ● Working to fulfill requests for information from UNICEF HQ and colleagues ● Writing ToRs for partnerships and new services required. ● Work closely with the office of ICT and also the Global Innovation Centre Deployment team to help Country Offices with implementation of the system. ● Monitor and provide best practices and guidance on RapidPro, particularly when associated with a U-Report Guideline or Key Principle. ● Document and publish U-Reporters stories and case studies by working closely with regional and country offices. ● Collect lessons learned from COs and share with U-Report community. ● Support U-Report coordinated actions across multiple countries simultaneously. ● Support U-Report countries with activation of platforms for their partners. ● Create a scale up support toolkit for Country and Regional Offices. ● Update, maintain and translate U-Report guidelines and assets. ● Support management of U-Report Project Manager community communications ● Providing support on U-Report rollout and uptake of new technologies, platforms and measurement initiatives. ● Provide day to day support for the Global U-Report Lead

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

U-Report Coordination Specialist

Duty Station: Remote

Level: Individual contract (equivalent to L-2)

BACKGROUND

In 2011 UNICEF launched its flagship youth engagement tool U-Report in Uganda (www.ureport.ug). Since then, U-Report has expanded to 33 countries with over 3 million young people registered and interacting via SMS and other digital means.  The system enables young people and community members to join the system to become U-Reporters and then speak out on issues they care about.  

The project has scaled rapidly with the amount of countries launching u-report doubling in 2016.  The expansion of the U-Report program throughout Asia, Latin American and globally is a priority for 2017 and onwards. UNICEF is seeking a Global U-Report Coordination Support Specialist to support the U-Report global coordination team in its ongoing assistance provided to new and future U-Report countries, to assure they fulfill all 3 U-Report goals:

1. Scale: Ensure young people find out about the programme and can choose to opt into it.
2. Engage U-Reporters: Once U-Reporters have joined ensuring communication is relevant and U-Reporters receive feedback is key.
3. Application of crowd-sourced data from U-Report to achieve positive social change. 

About RapidPro

RapidPro is an open-source platform of applications, one of which is U-Report, that can help governments deliver rapid and vital real-time information and connect communities to lifesaving services. Its flow-based system enables administrators to quickly and intuitively create customized information and response flows to address any substantive area, or to easily reuse existing solutions. Existing solutions cover gathering real-time information and providing life-impacting content on education, immunization, and health systems strengthening, with potentially limitless solutions.   Understanding of RapidPro is essential to the role.

About U-Report

U-Report is a mature, youth engagement solution serving more than 3 million young people.  There are two models of recruiting U-Reporters: First, through the traditional model of national level deployment, where SMS and Facebook are key communication channels. Second, a global U-Report system which is accessible only through digital communication channels (e.g. the app, Facebook, Twitter, Viber & Telegram). Supporting the traditional model of country model is the focus of this consultancy.

This is how it works:

• Young people sign up through one of six channels by simply:
  • Sending an SMS to a short code exclusive to that country
  • Sending a Facebook message to U-Report through Messenger via a dedicated Facebook page
  • Follow the Twitter handle e.g. @UReportGlobal and register through Direct Message
  • Download and register via the U-Report app
  • Follow the U-Report bot on Telegram
  • Sign up through Viber chat
• Once registered U-Reporters receive three types of communications:
• Weekly  polls and results on important social/development/emergency issues
• Alerts and life saving information
• One-on-one counseling/advice services on specific issues (e.g. sexual reproductive health, entrepreneurship advice, child rights or legal advice) 
• Incoming messages are analyzed, sorted, and displayed in real-time on a dashboard.
• U-Reporters receive feedback and additional information regarding each week’s poll.
• Results are broadcast for U-Reporters and the general public via the U-Report websites (found here: www.ureport.in)

In Uganda - the first country to deploy U-Report - hundreds of thousands of youth and their government are linked through U-Report -- prompting policy changes and strengthening UNICEF programmes. In Nigeria, a rapidly growing base of U-Reporters have been voicing their thoughts on health and economic related issues--becoming a key group of social mobilizers in the effort to raise awareness about the Ebola epidemic.

There are now 36 live U-Report countries, 19 more than a year ago.  Therefore additional resource is required in the support and coordination of country offices in both setting up U-Report and existing ones achieving their primary goals outlined above. 

PURPOSE OF THE APPOINTMENT / MAIN ACTIVITIES

To work as part of the Global Innovation Centre U-Report Coordination team and support U-Report country offices by:

• Updating / creating guidelines and repositories of information for Country and Regional Offices to use in U-Report strategy.
• Working to fulfill requests for information from UNICEF HQ and colleagues
• Writing ToRs for partnerships and new services required.
• Work closely with the office of ICT and also the Global Innovation Centre Deployment team to help Country Offices with implementation of the system.
• Monitor and provide best practices and guidance on RapidPro, particularly when associated with a U-Report Guideline or Key Principle.
• Document and publish U-Reporters stories and case studies by working closely with regional and country offices.
• Collect lessons learned from COs and share with U-Report community.
• Support U-Report coordinated actions across multiple countries simultaneously.
• Support U-Report countries with activation of platforms for their partners.
• Create a scale up support toolkit for Country and Regional Offices.
• Update, maintain and translate U-Report guidelines and assets.
• Support management of U-Report Project Manager community communications
• Providing support on U-Report rollout and uptake of new technologies, platforms and measurement initiatives.
• Provide day to day support for the Global U-Report Lead

PAYMENT PLAN

• Monthly payment, based on monthly tasks and progress reports, approved upon monthly review with supervisor.
• Consultant is responsible for his own health insurance
• Consultant is eligible for standard DSA for all work-related travel
• Consultants are responsible for assuming costs for obtaining visas and travel insurance

QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION

• Minimum education required: Bachelor’s degree, ideally in international development, communications, journalism, or a related field.
• Minimum 2 years of experience working with a UN agency or similar, ideally on a U-Report project with a track record of achieving results in the core objectives.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills with experience in consensus building and in motivating cross-functional teams to meet ambitious project goals and timelines;
• Able to work independently, remotely and part of a team, has sound judgment and strong organizational skills.
• Has strong attention to detail, excellent documentation capabilities and a track record of producing high quality work for multiple audiences
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships.

 Specialized Experience and Knowledge required for the assignment

• Knowledge of RapidPro platform
• Understanding of UNICEF programmes
• Experience working with youth groups and civil society organisations
• Experience working in a team from a variety of cultures
• Experience working with a web based platforms
• Experience in creating or managing content for young people is a strong plus;
• Experience in managing websites
• Ability to travel, occasionally to remote locations;

Languages

• Fluency in written and verbal English is a must, and French or Spanish is a plus.

How to apply:

Applications must include a cover letter and CV

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above.  Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.