Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Officer, Multiple Locations (SSA)

Organizational Setting :

Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) is an essential response component of the COVID19 pandemic response in Yemen. The country is also currently facing one of the world’s largest cholera outbreaks, while several other highly threatening infectious pathogens – chiefly, dengue and diphtheria – are also endemic in large areas of Yemen, especially coastal areas. As an integral part of any WHO emergency response. RCCE serves to inform and equip health authorities, peer agencies, partners, public health workers, journalist, community influencers and leaders, and other stakeholders to both communicate and adopt disease-safe behaviours that effectively curb disease transmission.

RCCE activities and messages should be strongly focused on most vulnerable communities and population groups who require accurate, trusted, and persuasively communicated messages to assess health risks, and to identify locally appropriate and sustainable solutions to them, for example by:
• facilitating two-way communication with accurate information that effectively counters harmful rumours and misinformation;
• applying social and behavioural insights to reduce risks and increase specific hygiene practices and health-seeking behaviours that are sustained over time; and
• strengthening community capacities and solutions to mitigate and prevent outbreaks of deadly diseases.

Assigned Duties and Responsibilities :

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Office and Communications Unit Team Lead, the incumbent has first line responsibility for planning and implementation of RCCE projects and programming as an integral component of outbreak responses by the Yemen Country Office (YCO) of WHO. S/he will undertake this work together with other WHO technical staff in Aden and Sana’a, and in collaboration with relevant WHO partner organizations and institutions including health authorities and community leaders in Aden and Sana’a. Assigned duties and responsibilities will focus on developing and utilizing community engagement plans and mechanisms that help equip communities to effectively curb the spread of deadly diseases through new and needed individual, familial and social protective measures.

These assigned duties and responsibilities are as follows:
• Plan, facilitate and implement RCCE activities in close collaboration with the YCO Communications Unit and relevant technical and health emergency teams in Aden and Sana’a.
• Plan, coordinate, co-produce and disseminate RCCE materials and locally-contextualized messages (audio-visual, written and multimedia) with close ongoing collaboration and support of the YCO Communications Unit, as well as relevant WHO-Yemen technical and health emergency teams in Aden and Sana’a, specific to disease outbreaks and responses.
• Ensure the relevance, accuracy, quality, timely dissemination, and evaluated outcomes and impact of these RCCE materials and messages.
• Work with relevant YCO teams and stakeholders to support and build trusted community networks and national/multi-stakeholder partnerships that will achieve targeted and shared impact of RCCE actions.
• Provide technical guidance to rapid assessments and KAP (Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices) surveys where undertaken with communities, at-risk populations and other stakeholders;

• Establish feedback mechanisms through social media, community surveys, and direct dialogues and consultations to ascertain community perceptions, knowledge, preferred and accessible communication channels, influencers, and barriers to their adoption of health seeking behaviors.

• Work to strengthen RCCE capacities of/with communities, including by developing training materials, guidance, templates, workshops and mentoring programmes for community leaders, journalists, health workers, and other key stakeholders from different health and governmental sectors and agencies.

• Monitor rumours, and track and respond to misinformation and disinformation, as a continual and prioritized function of RCCE work.

• Document specific challenges affecting the RCCE response and develop actions needed to address them.

• Document lessons learnt to inform future RCCE preparedness and response planning

• Serve as WHO’s coordination link/focal point on RCCE with the Ministry of Health in Aden.

• Participate in technical country missions and meetings.

• Contribute to resource mobilization and donor communications in the area of RCCE.

• Deploy to field missions on risk communication response as requested.

Educational Requirements:
Essential:
University degree in journalism, communications, social science, or international relations and or equivalent

Desirable:
Studies or experience-based knowledge of communications techniques and media relations.
WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an accredited institution.

Experience Requirements:
Essential:
At least 2 years' experience in the field of information, public relations, communications, journalism or in similar field.

Desirable:
Experience in planning and implementing media and communications projects, preferably including the development of audio and visual materials and tools for community socialization and mobilization.

Required Skills:
• Bilingual fluency in English and Arabic
• Professional writing and presentation skills; strong photographic and/or video and presentation skills are major assets
• Strategic planning and project management that is multi-sectoral and engages multiple stakeholders from government to community levels
• Excellent interpersonal skills, as demonstrated by abilities to conceptualize and communicate key ideas, persuasively message and engage audiences, and enable evidence-based and trusted consensus with them
• Advanced abilities with MS Office, Powerpoint and visual design
• Sound understanding of the impact of humanitarian and/or health emergencies and crises on social and economic development, and its burden on populations
• Ability to formulate creative and innovative proposals as related to assigned duties and responsibilities
• Ability to work under pressure while producing results
• Tact, discretion and diplomacy
• Knowledge of WHO mandate and goals in emergency and disease outbreak responses