Overview
The Communications Officer fosters a dynamic and visible presence for UNFPA Sierra Leone, facilitating a narrative environment that drives advocacy and maintains high levels of stakeholder engagement to meet the strategic goals of the country office.
Tasks Summary
- Monitor and analyse the political, social, and economic landscape in Sierra Leone to identify trends relevant to UNFPA’s mission and recommend and implement high-impact interventions to enhance UNFPA’s visibility and maintain a positive corporate image.
- In liaison with programme teams, design and implement programme communication strategies aligned with corporate strategic goals and country programme milestones.
- Creating relationships with media houses, individual editors and journalists to influence their analysis of reproductive health, gender and youth issues and regular coverage in the public media.
- Planning and executing media campaigns on UNFPA mandate via electronic (radio, television, cyber), social media (Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter), or print (newspapers, newsletters, books, brochures, flyers).
- Mobilizing for paid and donated space and airtime in the media including writing and circulating press statements, generating op-eds and sharing statements related to UNFPA’s work for publication in local media, radio and TV programmes, talk-shows, news items and interviews with designated country office senior staff.
- Engaging in public events including public dialogues, public events, International UN Days commemoration in order to ensure accurate messaging and visibility of UNFPA’s mandate.
- Coordinating the drafting and editing of media articles, press releases, human interest stories and other advocacy/information materials for both the web and media, as appropriate.
- Preparing background communication and promotional materials for briefings and visits of media, celebrities, donors, international advisors and other special interest groups, and assisting in the planning arrangements.
- Maintaining an updated data base of writers, journalists and media contacts.
- Ensuring regular analysis of media reporting and media reviews in order to assess the effectiveness of the country office media activities.
- Coordinating the production and ensuring quality assurance of media materials (films, video, audiovisual), to complement media packages for communicating UNFPA’s mandate, messages for media, web, events, and campaigns.
- Carry out any other duties as may be required by the Supervisor in line with the position.
Experience Requirements
Three years of increasing responsible experience in the field of public relations and communication.
Qualification Requirements
Master’s degree in journalism, communications, public relations, or other related field.
