Communications Specialist

Details

Mission and objectives

UNDP supports strategic capacity development initiatives to promote inclusive growth and sustainable human development. Together with national, regional and local authorities, civil societies, private sector, UNDP strives to support Ukraine in its efforts to eliminate poverty, develop people’s capacity, achieve equitable results, sustain the environment, and advance democratic governance. UNDP is in line with 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to achieve national strategic capacity development.

Context

The economic impact of the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, launched on 24 February 2022, will be significant at national, regional and global levels as per initial analysis and forecasts from the IMF and OECD. UNDP early projections suggest that 18 years of development gains could be wiped out in the next 12 to 18 months with 90% of the Ukrainian population potentially facing poverty and extreme economic vulnerability should the war deepen. Destroyed infrastructure, disrupted supply chains, large-scale displacement and migration and falling demand have had dire economic consequences. Industries suffer from the shut-down of enterprises in combat zones, threatening about two-thirds of Ukraine's annual com-modity exports. Supporting businesses has a positive impact on social cohesion, since it allows the interaction between host communities and internally displaced populations, who will develop networks that could ultimately become support and integration mechanisms. Business support, consist-ing of both (i) business relocation (not only equipment, but also personnel, their families), and (ii) active engagement of internally displaced persons in the work of local enterprises in the region will strengthen social cohesion in the city through the constant interaction of IDPs and the local population, the need for IDPs of leaving the places of their compact (and often physi-cally isolated) temporary residence, forming a sense of belonging to the region and returning to a normal way of life, which will also have the effect of psychological relief for the men and women affected by the war, which, in turn, should lead to reducing the risk of tensions and conflicts in the country. Entrepreneurs from the east and south parts of Ukraine face three main challenges: dis-placement, loss of assets and need for integration into the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Both the City and the Oblast Administration have structured economic support and recovery inter-ventions, focusing on supporting local businesses and businesses looking to relocate in the Region. To address those challenges, and in alignment with national and local plans and strategies, UNDP has structured support interventions to: • Support local economies by boosting the capacities of local MSMEs, equitably target-ing women- and men-led businesses; • Support relocation processes of businesses from the eastern, southern and central regions of Ukraine. These interventions aimed in the short and medium term will build up on the incentives set by local authorities, as well as in the subsequent phases of recovery, where support will focus on strengthening businesses to become export-oriented with the aim of continuing the internationalization of Ukraine’s economy. Businesses in the cities and oblasts will benefit from the interventions since the projects will be also open to local businesses. Interventions like matching businesses for shared facilities will benefit host businesses with consultants. The UNV will work on supporting the efficient functioning of the Business Support Center together with the UNDP team and in close cooperation with the relevant local authorities.

Task description

Under the overall supervision of the Project Manager, UNDP Ukraine, and in close cooperation with the relevant local authorities to support the efficient functioning of the Business Support Center in Ivano-Frankivsk, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: • Develop and coordinate the implementation of the Business Support Center communi-cation strategy. • Develop event-focused communication strategies and plans; • In close cooperation with the designer and SMM specialist, promote Business Support Center activities to enhance the Center’s visibility, reputation and credibility through di-verse and effective channels and tools. • Engage proactively with media representatives, and respond to communications in-quiries. • Perform any other duties connected directly with the implementation of Business Sup-port Center activities as required. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities; • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publica-tions/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible. Results/Expected Outputs • Communications strategy developed and implemented. • Event-focused communications strategies and plans are developed and implemented. • Diverse and effective strategies, channels and tools for the promotion of Business Sup-port Center activities are utilised. • Support in enhancing Business Support Center visibility provided. • Engagement with media representatives is ensured and communication inquiries are ad-dressed. • Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated, and documented in all activities throughout the assignment. • A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development dur-ing the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed.