CONSULTANCY FOR PHILIPPINE NATIONALS ONLY: Communications Consultant for BARMM Ministry of Health (MoH), 11.5 months, Cotabato City

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. UNICEF Philippines is looking for a Communications Professional who would provide continuing risk communications and community engagement work in the Region

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a fair chance

UNICEF has been an active partner of the Government of the Philippines and civil society in realizing the rights of every Filipino child, in line with priorities to achieve the SDGs. UNICEF efforts have been focused on the most vulnerable regions identified by the Government of the Philippines Development Plan, particularly in the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. To ensure that interventions are sustainable and scaled up, UNICEF will support both the national and local government units (LGUs) as the main instruments of delivering services and building systems. The level of engagement with government institutions will consider capacities, economies of scale and sector issues.

UNICEF Philippines has two offices. One office is based in Manila and a field office in Cotabato City, the second largest city in Mindanao, Southern Philippines, with some 300,000 population. The city is the regional administrative centre of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and over 80 percent of the population is Muslim. Mindanao is both conflict-affected and prone to frequent earthquakes and typhoons. 

Visit this link for more information on Philippine Country Office: https://www.unicef.org/philippines/

How can you make a difference?

Background:

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the poorest region in the country with 63.1% of families living below the basic needs poverty, has consistently been one of the regions in the Philippines with lowest indicators for education, immunization, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and protection. The COVID-19 pandemic and the quarantine measures have worsened the BARMM’s situation, increasing the risks of death and illness, child malnutrition, resurgence of vaccine preventable diseases, increased school dropouts, violence and abuse, all disproportionately affecting the poorest and further exacerbating disparities.

UNICEF works with BARMM’s Ministry of Health (MoH) in strengthening capacities on risk communication and community engagement (RCCE), which has been identified as one of the key pillars of the COVID-19 response. RCCE is an essential component of a health emergency preparedness and response action plan against COVID-19 to help slow transmission of the virus in communities. This includes communicating effectively with the public, engaging with children, youth, communities, local partners and other stakeholders to help prepare and protect individuals, families and the public's health during response to COVID-19, and COVID-19 vaccination as well as managing rumors and misinformation.

Building on the previous partnership and moving forward, UNICEF is looking for a competent Communications professional that would provide technical assistance and in developing and rapidly scaling up evidenced-based communication and community engagement activities to prepare for the COVID-19 Vaccination Program in the Region.

Scope of Work: 

The consultant will provide technical assistance in developing and scaling up risk communications and community engagement in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao through the Ministry of Health, preparing the Ministry for the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in the region, thereby contributing to the increase in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and supporting the COVID-19 response in BARMM. The engagement will be for 11.5 months (June 2021 to May 2022).

The incumbent will have the following Tasks, Responsibilities and Deliverables:

Tasks and Responsibilities

1. Assist the Ministry of Health in developing communications plans, messaging strategy and press releases regarding COVID-19 Vaccination Program. This includes technical advice on MoH’s communication plan, production of at least two human-interest stories, one video, and at least five social media materials, and other IEC materials on BARMM’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program, COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine safety and efficacy, and debunking myths and misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines (July 2021).
2. Support the Ministry of Health in capacitating health care workers on RCCE, and COVID-19 Vaccination Program
3. Monitoring and Reporting

Deliverables

1) Terms of Reference (ToR) for the BARMM Demand Generation Task Force (draft and endorsed to BIO).

2) Monthly report on meetings of key stakeholders involved in the Demand Generation Task Force.

3) Draft strategic COVID-19 communications plan with specific activities to reach priority populations, IPs and IDPs in hard to reach communities (including crisis communications) for BARMM (endorsed to MoH).

4) Report on pre-testing results and copies of revised IEC materials related to COVID-19 vaccination campaign to fit the BARMM context. 

5) Report on the best strategies and response to communicate COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign in communities based on the results of collection and use of behavior and social data (FGDs/KIIs/NPO, etc.)

6) How-to/Guide on establishing or activating social listening, social media analytics and misinformation management mechanism (endorsed and accepted by MoH)

7) Monthly report on COVID-19 communication, social and partner mobilization Vaccination Campaigns in coordination with BIO and the SSA C4D deployed in BIO

8) Support MOH in identifying and mobilizing key stakeholders and partners who can support the vaccine roll-out

9) Monthly progress reports on progress and challenges in implementation of the MoH communications action plan for June 2021 to May 2022.

10) Production of:

• at least two human-interest stories
• one video
• at least five social media materials, and other IEC materials on BARMM’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program, COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine safety and efficacy, and debunking myths and misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines 8) Monthly reports on progress and challenges in implementation of the BIO communications action plan for June 2021 to May 2022.

11) Report/Documentation of training/orientation of health workers and other identified partners on:

• COVID-19 Vaccination Deployment Plan
• COVID-19 Vaccination
• Interpersonal Communications
• Demand Generation

12) Monthly monitoring reports/ updates on community feedback and on population reached per channel for each message as inputs for UNICEF progress reporting against relevant Risk Communications Indicators with target 4.3 million reached.

13) Report/Documentation of best practices and lessons learned from this engagement.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in journalism, development communications, communications, or related field.
• Minimum of 4-7 years or more of relevant experience in C4D, risk communication and community engagement
• Experience in developing and implementing crisis communication plan.
• A good track record in working with the government and implementation of social and behavior change strategies.
• Proven ability to convene highly influential groups and individuals around an issue and leverage on their networks and influence to reach a broad base of stakeholders.
• Expertise in the development and design of knowledge products for various audiences.
• Ability to work in a low to medium security threat environment. Work flexibly and independently with limited supervision in a multicultural team environment and deliver quality results against tight deadlines; and handle multiple tasks and deliver quality outputs even under pressure, is required.
• Strong organizational and project management skills essential.
• Strong relationships with major local, regional and national reporters and bloggers are a plus.-Proven record of securing placements with traditional and digital media.
• Strong social media skills/understanding.
• Thorough knowledge of social media tools, including Twitter and Facebook.
• Local language skills are a plus.
• Strong computer skill (word, excel, power point, outlook) is required.
• Proactive coordination and networking skills required.
• Supported by strong references preferred.

How to apply

Qualified candidates are requested to complete an online candidate profile in http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/ by  18 June 2021. Only applications sent through the e-recruitment portal will be considered.

All candidates are requested to submit a COVER LETTER, and the duly filled P 11 form which can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc indicating three (3) previous supervisors. Please indicate your area of assignment, ability, availability and daily/monthly rate to undertake the terms of reference above.  Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

By applying through our Talent Management System (TMS) you agree to our privacy statement which is in line with the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act. You are strongly advised to read carefully through the privacy statement before submitting your application.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

• Builds and maintains partnerships (Level 1)
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (Level 1)
• Drive to achieve results for impact (Level 1)
• Innovates and embraces change (Level 1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (Level 1)
• Thinks and acts strategically (Level 1)
• Works collaboratively with others (Level 1)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.