CONSULTANCY, ASIA REGION, PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT

Vacancy notice

Consultancy for

Contextualisation of KAICIID’s Training Manual “Social Media as a Space for Dialogue” for the South and Southeast Asia Region Contexts

BACKGROUND

The King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) is an international intergovernmental organization that was founded to enable, empower and encourage dialogue among followers of different religions and cultures around the world. Currently, KAICIID is implementing its interventions at both the global and national/regional levels. The Centre’s field programmes are focused on Myanmar, Nigeria, the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Arab region. In these countries and regions, the Centre aims to promote dialogue for peace and reconciliation and foster an environment where religious actors work together to build trust for reconciliation and peace. With the upcoming Strategic Cycle 2022-2026 emphasising amplified regional operations in the Africa, Arab, Asia and Europe regions, the work plan of the Asia Regional Programme in 2021 is focused at strengthening the sustainability potential of the country-level engagements as well as paving the basis for a meaningful regional engagement.

Published in 2018, the KAICIID Training Manual for the Social Media as a Space for Dialogue capacity building programme has been utilised in trainings and workshops across the KAICIID Arab Region Programme, equipping hundreds of beneficiaries with the skills necessary to use of social media to promote respectful dialogue among their communities.

Building upon the achievements of the Arab region project, the Asia Regional Programme requires contextualised and updated versions which will be utilized for trainings in the South Asia and South-East Asia contexts. The aim of the adaptation of the manual is to help diversify the capacity building content KAICIID offers in the region as well as serve an opportunity to launch a series of pilot activities with regional partners before expanding to longer-term projects focusing on countering hate speech through the responsible use of social media among target audiences including peacebuilders, policy makers, religious practitioners and youth.

The objective is to empower the young religious leaders and dialogue practitioners, including women, in the support of peace as sense of pluralism, and strengthening the capacity of youth to effectively use social media. The contextualisation is essential to meet the needs of a broad and diverse group of beneficiaries.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

Under the supervision of the Senior Programme Manager, Asia Region, the consultant is expected to produce an up-to-date English material tailored to the South and South-East Asia regional contexts drawing upon feedback and expertise of other leaders from the region. The manual must recognize the key differences between the two sub-regions and take into consideration, inter alia, the broad social differences as well as cultural and religious diversity of countries from each of the sub-regions. The content will be updated with current trends of engagement with social media platforms, expanded materials regarding the dimensions of dialogue (interreligious, intercultural, intergenerational) as well as concrete examples from countries within both sub-regions used to illustrate concepts, approaches and behaviours in social media spaces.

The Manual will focus on the following areas:

1. Dialogue dimensions of relevance to the region and (sub) region – beyond the interreligious dialogue dimension, further dimensions are to be elaborated depending on the region’s needs, such as intercultural, intrareligious, intergenerational and others.
2. Social media platforms of relevance to the (sub) region – there is a need to update and adjust the social media platforms to be illustrated in the different versions, depending on the overall user popularity in the (sub) region based on regional statistics for the past two years.
3. Examples of relevance to the (sub) region – the initial Training Manual having been developed for the Arab region, an adjustment of relevant examples is required to amplify the relatability and impact of the conveyed content.

DELIVERABLES

1. Submit inception report following the review of the relevant materials, the work plan and the participation in the online inception meeting with KAICIID.
2. Conduct research on social media trends and relevant processes in the South and South-East Asia regions.
3. Submit first draft of the contextualised content for Social Media Training Manual for the South and South-East Asia regions.
4. Implementation of Pilot Training.
5. Submit second draft of the contextualized content for Social Media Training Manual for the South and South-East Asia regions.
6. Submit third and final draft by incorporating the final feedback from KAICIID.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in social sciences, education, social research, human rights, or a related field;
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in researching, drafting, editing of capacity building materials in the intersectional field of peacebuilding and social media, with similar assignments concluded, some of which preferably at an international organization;
• Experience in working in the field of interreligious and/or intercultural dialogue and familiarity with the South and/or South East Asian regional context;
• Knowledge and experience related to issues such as countering hate speech, and building communities online in South and/or Southeast Asian contexts;
• Demonstrated track-record of experience of working on similar projects in collaboration with  inter-governmental organisations, including the United Nations, international non-governmental organisations and other relevant institutions (desirable);
• Experience using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Publisher, PowerPoint and Outlook) (required) and data management;
• Proficiency in English (verbal/written) with strong editorial skills;
• Experience with editing and layout of high-quality professional reports, manuals and other learning materials.
• Experience in leading and working with multicultural teams;
• Commitment to highest ethical standards and human rights;
• Flexibility and ability to work in a pressured environment with strict deadlines;
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to digest, analyse and synthesize information;
• Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural skills;
• KAICIID core values, core and managerial competencies.

TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT

The selected candidate is expected to start by June 2021 with the completion of the assignment on or before mid August 2021.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

6 May 2021

HOW TO APPLY

Please upload your CV along with a cover letter indicating the expected compensation/your daily rate. As part of the cover letter, applicants are invited to submit all relevant work from past experience.

KAICIID is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply.