Communications Assistant

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French: Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime) is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations Office at Vienna, adopting the current name in 2002.

This UNV assignment is in the Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) of UNODC. The overall objective of UNODC’s engagement in South Asia is to assist the authorities of six South Asian Member States (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka) in strengthening peace, security, the rule of law and health. ROSA delivers a holistic, effective, and pragmatic response to drug use, drug trafficking, illicit trafficking, organized crime, corruption and terrorism from the national as well as regional perspectives. ROSA implements several programmes within the mandated areas and promotes the implementation of the ‘Regional Programme for South Asia’, a policy document that defines the framework of cooperation between the Member States of South Asia and UNODC in the region.

The UNV will support the communications, visibility and strategic advocacy components of ROSA’s work in the region, as well as global and national programmes aimed at youth empowerment and engagement on crime prevention, peace and the Global Goals, with education. The UNV’s work will be guided by the ROSA Communications Strategy and the candidate will be expected to ideate and execute innovative communication initiatives to enhance visibility of the Office and expand its reach.

Under the direct supervision of the UNODC Communications Officer, the UN University Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Support the Communication Officer in regularly updating the ROSA website and out-reach efforts online and offline.
• Support in development, preparation and editing of multimedia content (including videos, web stories, podcasts) on themes revolving around UNODC mandates.
• Assist in carrying out social media outreach on Twitter and Facebook.
• Support youth engagement activities and efforts in schools and Universities in close consultation with the Communications Officer and identify new avenues of collaboration with academia and civil society.
• Support in preparation and updating of contact databases (media, civil society, gov-ernments, academia, corporates and foreign missions) for effective stakeholder en-gagement.
• Support in conducting research on community engagement efforts and identification of new avenues.
• Provide writing and editorial support as may be required for knowledge products in-cluding concept notes and analytical briefs.

Within the framework of the UNODC Regional Programme for South Asia, the UN Volunteer will also support the planning, implementation and monitoring youth engagement and outreach efforts in South Asia, in particular:

• Discuss needs and opportunities of collaboration on youth engagement.
• Assist in the organization of activities, especially on UNODC International Days, training and mentoring sessions, workshops, meetings, etc.
• Perform any other duties as relevant.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by read-ing relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance 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.