Communications Officer

UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency with the mission to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA calls for the realization of reproductive rights for all and supports access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services – including voluntary family planning, maternal health care and comprehensive sexuality education.

UNFPA has been active in Bangladesh since 1974 to achieve the three transformative results - ambitions that promise to change the world for every man, woman and young person to 1) end unmet need for family planning, 2) to end preventable maternal death, and 3) to end gender-based violence and harmful practices. Currently, UNFPA is implementing 10th Country Programme (2022-2026) in Bangladesh. UNFPA’s main office is in Dhaka, while there is a sub-office in Cox’s Bazar to coordinate UNFPA’s humanitarian efforts in response to the Rohingya refugee crisis.

UNFPA Bangladesh maintains strong networks with a diverse array of donors and implementing partners, as well as a robust relationship with national and local media. This connectivity enables us to effectively promote UNFPA’s mandate, grounded in the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action, to a wide audience in Bangladesh.

UNFPA Bangladesh is seeking the services of an International UN Volunteer Specialist (IUNV) to support the Country Office’s (CO) Communications Team. The IUNV will work under the direct supervision of the Communications Specialist, and in close coordination with unit chiefs of technical teams.

The primary responsibility will be to contribute to written communications materials, including speeches, talking points, reports, and similar. In particular, the IUNV will be tasked to work closely with the Representative and Deputy Representative to draft speeches and talking points articulating key messages to support UNFPAs advocacy objectives in Bangladesh. The UNV will also contribute to the overall work of the communications team, which may include creating high-quality social media posts, human interest stories, press releases, infographics, fact sheets, and other communications materials. These materials will focus on promoting UNFPA’s operations in Bangladesh, covering sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender, adolescent and youth issues, humanitarian efforts, and population and development. The IUNV will also contribute to planning and executing communications and advocacy strategies and campaigns relevant to UNFPA’s mandate in Bangladesh.

The IUNV will be Dhaka based and will focus on UNFPA’s overall work in Bangladesh; this may include travel to, and work with, the UNFPA office in Cox’s Bazar focused on the Rohingya response.
The International Volunteer is expected to bring a collaborative mindset to work in our creative, multicultural team environment. Key skills for success in this role include outstanding writing and editorial skills, the ability to efficiently produce content within tight deadlines, respect for diversity, and the capacity to adapt to working in different cultural contexts.

Under the direct supervision of the Communications Specialist, the International UNV Specialist-Communications will undertake the following tasks

● With guidance from Representative and Deputy Representative, and in coordination across thematic teams, take the lead on compiling technical inputs for the purpose of drafting speeches, talking points and other written materials for meetings and events.

● Lead the process of compiling inputs, drafting and editing UNFPA Bangladesh’s Annual Report, and other publications

● Support the development of communications tools such as brochures, infographics, fact- sheets, multi-media assets etc.

● Support the development and implementation of the UNFPA Bangladesh communications and advocacy strategy, including identification and execution of key annual priorities and communications/advocacy objectives

● Support the communications and advocacy officer in annual tracking and reporting of communications and advocacy impact, including tracking of social media reach

● Support planning of, and participate in, field missions to collect high-quality photographs and captivating human stories that highlight UNFPA’s work in Bangladesh, in line with identified annual communications and advocacy objectives

● Support the in-production of communications campaign materials in accordance with the CO’s communications plan and requests from the UNFPA Regional Office and Headquarters

● Support the planning and execution of events and meetings

● Support media/news monitoring as and when required.

● Support communications-related priority-based work, as and when required.