Mission and objectivesThe Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) is based in Pretoria, South Africa, and covers Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In addition to the staff in Pretoria, OHCHR has Human Rights Advisors in Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe and has a project with staff based in Mozambique. The Regional Office provides technical support and guidance to Resident Coordinators (RCs), UN Country Teams (UNCTs), States, national human rights institutions, civil society and other stakeholders on early warning and prevention, enhancing participation and protecting civic space, strengthening rule of law, accountability and national human rights institutions, advancing equality and non-discrimination, addressing gender-based violence, integrating human rights in sustainable development and supporting States and other stakeholders to engage with and follow up to recommendations of human rights mechanisms. The work of the Regional Office includes identifying, collecting, processing and sharing data, information and analysis of human rights trends in the region, ensuring support to RCs/UNCTs as well as other OHCHR presences in the region. This work requires human rights and information management expertise to better advocate for the protection of human rights by strengthening its analysis with accurate supporting data, empowering the Office to take a more active inter-agency leadership role and to better engage key decision-makers with compelling analytical and data-driven information and preventative measures in support of early action.
ContextThe Online volunteer will support the OHCHR Regional Office for Southern Africa in fulfilling its annual workplan and strategic plan with a focus on strengthening its organizational effectiveness with respect to communications and advocacy. Working closely with the Public Information Officer (PIO), the volunteer will help ensure cohesive and effective messaging across platforms. This assignment also offers the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in internal and external communications within a UN agency and enhance communication collaboration skills across ROSA pillars. Reporting to the PIO, the selected candidate will co-create, draft and review all communication and advocacy content and strategies for ROSA events, campaigns and related projects.
Task DescriptionDraft two (2) communication products per week (e.g. concept note, key messages, human-interest or impact article, remarks, or opinion piece) for internal and external publications on the OHCHR Website, OHCHR Intranet, UNCT newsletters, social media platforms and podcasts. Support the development of communication strategies for ROSA events and campaigns, with an estimated workload of one (1) strategy or campaign framework every two (2) to three (3) weeks, depending on operational needs. Review and sub-edit reports and policy briefs to ensure alignment and consistency with the OHCHR style guide. This will include an estimated two (2) to four (4) documents per month, with an average length of 10–20 pages per document. Review and sub-edit other related communication documents (e.g. briefing notes, talking points and backgrounders), estimated at to two (2) short documents per week, averaging 3–5 pages each.
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Living conditions and remarks