About UNFPA
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025) reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results (“three zeros”): to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030.
UNFPA’s West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO) is based in Dakar, Senegal, and covers 23 countries. In the region, UNFPA maintains its commitment to governments and partners to prioritize addressing the specific needs of women and girls, in line with the agency's goals to achieve the Three Zeros.
UNFPA WCARO’s regional communications and advocacy strategic plan provides an overarching framework and rationale to guide and support the successful implementation of the Regional Interventions Action Plan for West and Central Africa, and the Strategic Plan for 2022–2025.
Job description
The Regional Communications Intern will be located in the Communications Unit of the Regional Office. The Intern/Fellow will assist the Communications team in all aspects related to the design, implementation and roll-out of regional communications, advocacy and marketing strategic plan, initiatives and products, including the UNFPA global branding and communications strategies.
A work plan specifying learning opportunities and goals for the duration of the internship will be agreed upon.
The duration of this internship is six months, with an opportunity for extension, based on performance and availability of funds.
Tasks and responsibilities
Support all aspects of regional communications strategy, including writing, editing publications and posting text and multimedia content, feature articles and interviews, to online channels such as myUNFPA internal platform, the Voices newsmagazine, newsletters and the communication toolkit.
Support the implementation of deliverables of corporate brand and communications strategies, including research, production and management of digital and traditional products, presentation and promotion, and monitoring and evaluation.
Conduct research and brainstorm ideas related to internal communications, branding and other regional communications.
Assist the unit in developing regional communications initiatives and resources to reach partners, influencers and donors.
Help organize training and events such as retreats, conferences, webinars and develop resource materials to train staff on Regional and Country Office communications strategies, programmes and corporate branding.
Monitor, manage and report analytics for internal channels and products, including the intranet and newsletters.
Other relevant duties as assigned by the Regional Communications Advisor and relevant members of the Regional Office.
Qualifications and experience
Applicants must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements: Be enrolled in a Postgraduate Degree Programme (such as a Master’s programme, or higher); Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent); Have recently graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation;
Be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship programme and undertake the internship as part of this programme. Applicants should have some related work experience. Experience in communications, digital and social media, marketing or public relations is a plus. Applicants should have excellent writing and editing skills. Fluency in French. Knowledge of English and Other UN languages will be an asset. Strong organizational and research skills are required. Applicants should have some knowledge of web production, social media and multimedia tools. Applicants should have excellent interpersonal communications and project management skills.
Learning elements
Upon completion of the assignment, and depending on its duration, the intern will be able to: Understand the UN system Understand the mandate and policies of UNFPA Understand UNFPA programme and operations priorities Write, edit and produce multimedia coverage of issues and events for online channels Be proficient in a variety of online platforms and tools Work as a team member in a multicultural setting
Financial Aspects
Interns do not receive a salary or any other form of remuneration from UNFPA. The costs associated with an intern's participation in the programme must be assumed either by the nominating institution, which may provide the required financial assistance to its students, or by the students themselves, who will have to meet living expenses as well as make their own arrangements for accommodation, travel and other requirements. However, interns do receive a stipend to help cover basic daily expenses related to the internship, if not financially supported by any institution or programme, such as a university, government, foundation, or scholarship programme. The amount of the stipend varies according to the duty station. In addition, applicants must have medical insurance for the duration of the internship. Proof of insurance will need to be submitted before the internship begins. UNFPA does not provide medical insurance for interns.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should submit their CV and a brief cover letter outlining relevant experience at Communication at procurement.wcaro@unfpa.org. Please include "Regional Communications Intern" in the subject line.
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
