Communications Officer, MENA Program, LES 6

Organization profile

Every year, millions of people around the world go missing as a result of conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration, and other causes. This is a complex global challenge that can be tackled effectively through cross-cutting programs that address a variety of difficult, interconnected issues.

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is the only international organization tasked exclusively to work on the issue of missing persons. It works with governments and other stakeholders, including families of the missing, to help them develop and maintain successful missing persons processes. To learn more about ICMP click here.

Syria/MENA Program

ICMP Syria/MENA program aims to establish the foundations for an effective and sustainable mechanism to address the issue of the missing in a future post-conflict Syria. The program will focus on

1) contributing to increased understanding among victims, civil society and key stakeholders regarding processes, standards and rights of victims and survivors who are involved in accounting for missing persons;

2) establishing the conditions to launch a participative process of data collection that empowers and engages families of the missing; and

3) increasing the capacity of Syrian families, legal experts and other stakeholders to foster an impartial and law-based approach to accounting for missing persons in post-conflict Syria.

The primary beneficiaries of the Syria program are families, in particular women, with relatives missing from the conflict, who are currently displaced in neighboring countries and, also where possible, those who are still in Syria.

Position Background

The purpose of the Communication Officer is to manage program-specific internal and external communications, including media relations, managing press conferences, relationships with journalists, media outlets, documentary filmmakers and public relations networking to assist lCMP's efforts in locating missing persons from the MENA region.

Position Description

Reporting to the Head of Program (Syria/MENA), the duties of the Communications Officer will include, but may not be limited to:

• Managing program-specific internal and external communications, including media relations (managing press conferences, relationships with journalists, media outlets, and documentary filmmakers), public relations;
• Creating program specific publications, developing innovative public outreach campaigns and managing events in line with the global ICMP Communications Strategy and work plan;
• Maintaining the program-specific contribution to ICMP’s social media output and website;
• Contributing to the production of a range of program specific materials, including newsletters, press releases, media advisories, brochures, and flyers;
• Contributing to general writing, editing, copyediting in both English and Arabic;

• Building ICMP’s MENA media network; and
• Contributing to daily media monitoring on missing persons issues in the MENA region;
• Performing other related duties.