AU Values
- Respect for Diversity and Team Work
- Think Africa Above all
- Transparency and Accountability
- Integrity and Impartiality
- Efficiency and Professionalism
- Information and Knowledge Sharing
Organisation Information
Reports to: The Project Officer, Resilient African Feeds and Fodder Systems (RAFFS) Project, and the AU-IBAR Senior Knowledge Management Officer
Directorate/Department: Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development (DARBE)
Division: AU-IBAR
Number of Direct Reports: 0
Number of Indirect Reports: 0
Job Grade: P1
Number of Positions: 01
Contract Type: Short Term/Consultancy
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Purpose
The African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) is a specialized technical office of the Department Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (DARBE) of the African Union Commission (AUC). The vision of AU-IBAR is: “An Africa in which animal resources contribute significantly to integration, prosperity and peace”. Its Mission is: to provide leadership and integrated support services for the development of animal resources in Africa.
AU-IBAR’s mandate is to support and coordinate the sustainable development and utilization of animal resources (livestock, fisheries and wildlife) to enhance nutrition and food security and contribute to the wellbeing and prosperity of the people in the Member States of the AU. AU-IBAR is the main vehicle for the AU to develop appropriate and independent expertise to support and coordinate the sustainable development and utilization of animal resources to enhance food and nutrition security and contribute to the wellbeing and prosperity of the people in the AU Member States.
AU-IBAR is implementing an emergency 3-year action, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation, titled “Evidence Driven Short Term Solutions to Build Resilience and Address the Adverse Effects of Crises on African Feed and Fodder Systems”, with a short title ‘Resilient African Feed and Fodder System (RAFFS) Project’. The purpose of the RAFFS action is “to understand the impact of the Triple Global Crises (3C’s: Climate-Change, Covid-19, and the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Crisis) on feed and fodder systems, and to build systematic capacities for data analytics for evidenced based decision making; policy, regulatory and institutional reform; and promotion of viable business and partnership models and solutions to address the vulnerabilities of Africa’s feed and fodder systems.
The Project Goal is “To respond to the worsening food and nutrition security occasioned by recent crises that have negatively impacted on African feed and fodder systems and production of animal sourced foods.”
Purpose: To harness evidence driven solutions for short term interventions to enhance access to affordable and quality feed and fodder critical to ensuring sustainable production of animal sourced foods.
The Program Assistant - Communications and Visibility will support the delivery of communication and visibility on the Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems through coordination, advocacy, planning and implementation of the Project Knowledge Management, Communications, Visibility and Advocacy Strategy.
Main Functions
The position of the Program Assistant - Communications and Visibility will provide support to the Resilient Feed and Fodder Systems Project and work closely with the Senior Knowledge Management Officer AU-IBAR to undertake the following responsibilities:
Specific Responsibilities
- Develop and implement a Knowledge Management, Communications, Visibility and Advocacy Strategy and Plan for the RAFFS Project.
- Develop and roll-out mechanisms for dissemination of key messages, project activities and achievements.
- Contribute to content on feed and fodder on the Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems Project Microsite, and Online Community platform.
- Develop and maintain Media relationships with relevant media organizations, journalists and science communicators at continental, regional and national levels.
- Facilitate the usage of communication platforms and tools and conducting training activities for various internal and external stakeholders.
- Work closely with Senior Knowledge Management Officer to capture and document information and knowledge, in the form of lessons learned and best practices, success stories, and data visualisation.
- Develop communication materials, newsletters, and key messages and manage their dissemination widely among target groups through a wide array of online platforms, social media channels, multimedia productions, knowledge fairs and exhibitions, radio, television and media networks.
- Provide support to stakeholders in advancing good communication practices to enhance the visibility of feed and fodder resources development activities across the continent.
- Promote the visibility of the RAFFS Project, the project donors and implementing partners on various communication outputs and platforms, working closely with the graphics designer.
- Submit a monthly progress report on the implementation of this contract.
Requirements
Academic and Professional Qualifications
- A minimum of a university degree in either Communications, Science or Development Communications, or Journalism.
- A relevant Master’s Degree will be considered as an added advantage.
Relevant Experience
- Minimum of five (5) years’ experience working in developmental projects, with in the public and private sector;
- Experience working in development agencies beyond national level, at regional and continental levels;
- Evidence of engagement and relationships with media associations, or science media supporting agricultural or animal resources or environment and relevant cross-cutting issues. Specific experience in feed and fodder programmes will be an added advantage;
- Demonstrated experience in knowledge synthesis; content management and communication packages for target audiences;
- Demonstrated experience in use of communication and knowledge management tools, and production of reports, newsletters, and multimedia products;
- Experience in generating advocacy messages tailored to persuade target audiences; and
- Proven sector-level engagement and understanding of feed and fodder, resilience, animal resources development would be an advantage.
Required Skills
- Good networking skills and ability to maintain positive and constructive dialogue and relationships with key institutions operating in different regions;
- Self-starter with the ability to strategically plan own work and follow-up on implementation;
- Sector related project development, management and implementation of communication strategies at national, regional and continental levels;
- Very strong writing, analytical and communication skills are necessary;
- Ability to complete assignments and tasks on time; and
- Demonstrated ability to provide strong leadership and foster team environment is required.
Competences
- Strategic Perspective
- Skills Development
- Change Management
- Managing Risk
- Building Relationships
- Learning Orientation
- Communicating with Impact
Functional Competencies
- Conceptual Thinking
- Knowledge and information sharing
- Drive for Results
- Fosters Innovation
Duration of the Consultancy
The consultancy will be for a period of six (6) months renewable subject to performance and availability of funds.
Gender Mainstreaming
The AU Commission is an equal opportunity employer and qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.
Languages
Proficiency in one of the AU working languages (Arabic, English, French, Kiswahili, Portuguese, and Spanish) and fluency in another AU language is an added advantage. A strong command of spoken and written French is preferred.
Evaluation Criteria
Criteria Scores (%)
Qualifications 15
General Experience 30
Skills and Competencies 45
Language 10
Remuneration
Indicative basic salary, according to AU regulation, of US $ 34,346.1 (International Staff Salary) or US $ 26,865.6 (National Staff Salary) for Level P1 Step 5, per 6 months of contracting. Payment shall be made on a monthly basis upon approval of progress reports.
Expenses for travel outside the duty station agreed with AU-IBAR, will be covered separately in accordance with the applicable African Union Commission rules and regulations.
Medical and Travel Cover for Consultant
The consultant will be responsible for his/her medical and travel insurance cover/s during the duration of the consultancy.
Duty Station
The consultant will be stationed in AU-IBAR offices in Nairobi, Kenya. Applicants should ensure that they have the capacity (logistics, permits etc.) to undertake this assignment from Nairobi.
Travel on specific assignments will be agreed with the AU-IBAR Management.
Supervision and Reporting
The successful candidate will be under the direct supervision of the Senior Knowledge Management Officer, the Project Officer and overall supervision by the Director of AU-IBAR.
How to apply
Submission of Applications
Applications should be submitted through email to: procurement@au-ibar.org and should include the title “Program Assistant - Communications and Visibility” in the subject of the email.
Applications should include the following:
- A Letter of Interest highlighting competence and suitability for the Position
- Detailed curriculum vitae
- Copies of academic and professional qualifications
- Completed declaration on exclusion criteria in the format attached
- Copies of identification documents
A Personal Data Protection and Privacy Statement is attached as information for the applicants.
Application Deadline
Applications should be submitted to the address given above by 17:00hrs, 2nd April 2023, Nairobi Local Time.
Terms of Reference (English Version)
Terms of Reference (French Version)