Overseas Volunteer Opportunity: Ghana

Communication Advisor - Ghana

Contribute. Discover. Grow. Volunteer with CDF Canada.

Eligibility criteria:   Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

Location:   Salaga, Bimbilla, Kpandai

Start Date:   Exact timing will be negotiated with the successful candidate.

Duration:   3-6 months, in-country and online support

Language Requirement:   English (Mandatory)

Reporting to:   Country Program Officer

The Project – VOICE for Women and Girls

The VOICE for Women and Girls project is a seven-year initiative (2020 – 2027) aimed at strengthening the performance of developing country partner (DCP) organizations to advance gender equality and economic empowerment of 50,000 women and men from marginalised communities, in particular young women (target: 60% women and girls), in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Malawi with a focus on action areas of the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), namely:

• Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls, and
• Growth that Works for Everyone.

The Project responds to the needs identified by women and men of cooperatives and the entire members in the countries of operation and is designed to increase the capacities of individual producers and primary co-operatives to support more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth. Supporting institutions, including apex co-operatives, co-operative colleges, and government/regulatory institutions will also be engaged to increase the capacity and prioritization of vulnerable groups.

The Partner you will work with

SEND Ghana has previously implemented the ACCESS and Fostering project and in some initiatives including 4R-NSP in partnership with CDF with funding from GAC. SEND Ghana focuses on research and advocacy to increase good governance practices of accountability, transparency, equity and participation in pro-poor policies and social services as well as empowers resource poor women and men to expand their small enterprises to improve income and farmers to increase food and nutrition security.

What you will do – Activities and deliverables

The VOICE project is currently working on our communication strategy. The project has completed its preliminary engagement to determine the stakeholders, audience, the various platforms through which VOICE project could reach out to the public and enhance visibility. The VOICE project is at the point of selecting an appropriate platform and developing the needed content in a format that applies to the platform. VOICE could benefit from expertise in setting up communication systems which allows to reach the project partners, communities, stakeholders, and co-ops groups.

SEND Ghana requires support in organising their project information that allows for easy access and referencing. The partner intends to develop a system to support effective reporting, efficient information management, proper classification of information to ensure easy retrieval. The volunteer should be willing to live and work in rural communities with limited amenities.

Objectives

The Volunteer is expected to work with Community based Credit Unions to support them build the capacity of management, BOD of credit union co-ops to provide innovative services that responds to the need of their members and primary co-operatives to support more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth. Co-op development supporting institutions, including apex co-operatives, and government/regulatory institutions will also be engaged to increase their capacity to be able to prioritize vulnerable groups to provide the needed support. Furthermore, the role will support the project overall communications as well as support other North South volunteers to capture and tell their volunteer journey during their mandate in Ghana to contribute towards increasing awareness of the volunteer program and international development among Canadian population.

Deliverables

• Develop /update a comprehensive five-year communication strategy for SEND and the 4 credit unions the project is working with
• Shall lead on the communication strategy and train local partner staff and other volunteers on communication best practices
• Collect consider and integrate different feedback and comments given on the validation workshops
• Provide technical support on implementation of the project communication strategy to support other volunteer in capturing and sharing success stories
• Support the partner to classify and document all the content they have created for easy access and retrieval. Create modules to capture the stories of the project and align them to tell a project story
• Organise available data to tell a story of the current project the partner is running
• Support the partner to capture, analyse, and create story content (text, audio, video, podcast) and share them with the appropriate audience
• Developing communication tools and training staff on the various communication tools for effective use and maintenance
• Collect different feedbacks on the current communication bottlenecks of the organization from staff, stakeholders and partners as needed. Collect different inputs from SEND staff, stakeholders, co-op groups and partners on the improvement of the organization’s communication strategy,
• Conduct reviews/mini assessments on SEND existing communication strategy and major gaps as needed
• Periodically update the progress of the strategy development based on agreed schedules
• Collect, consider and integrate different feedbacks and comments given by VOICE country team and SEND staff on the drafted communication strategy,
• Prepare presentations on the communication strategy for workshop participants on the validation workshop,
• Participate in public engagement activities during and post mandate in Canada to increase awareness of the VCP and international development amongst the Canadian population

Your qualifications

Education:

• Degree in communication, journalism, media and development, media and communication, international relations, mass communication, public relation, or closely related disciplines.

Experience:

• Progressive work experience in developing and or updating communication strategies for organisation working in community development to communicate their project successes.
• Good understanding of and practical use of various communication platforms especially social media handles. Be able to create appropriate content (text, pictures, documentary, podcast,) and other multimedia content audio and video editing, host and maintain in an appropriate platform
• Knowledge and experience in the development of communication strategies specifically in developing countries.
• Experience in conducting communications needs analysis and developing communication plans.
• Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills to engage varied stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to consult with high level and range of stakeholders.
• Strong oral and written communication skills in the English language.
• Should be a proactive self-starter with the ability to work independently; need strong ability to set priorities, solve problems, and be resourceful under pressure.
• Strong knowledge and experience in developing training and resource materials as well as facilitation of trainings to various stakeholders and partners in development work

Support package

This is a voluntary assignment. CDF Canada supports volunteers through the provision of a comprehensive package designed to cover a modest and healthy lifestyle, while allowing for effectiveness in the placement:

• Monthly allowance.
• Return-trip international and/or domestic airfare.
• Visa-related costs (if needed).
• International health insurance.
• Vaccination and health-related costs (if needed).
• Interpreter and/or translator (if needed and depending on the position and duration of the assignment).
• Pre-departure support and orientation.
• Support and orientation during the assignment.
• Debriefing upon completion of the assignment.

E-volunteering

Depending on the nature of the placement, volunteers are encouraged to provide e-volunteering support to our local partners before or after their placement.

Engaging Canadians

CDF Canada provides technical and logistical support to young and experienced professionals through volunteer assignments to apply and acquire new skills and knowledge in international co-operative development. We ask each volunteer, regardless of the duration of their mandate, to share their experience during and/or at the end of their assignment either in the country of assignment or in Canada. The experience can be shared by providing stories of human interest and photographs that can be used for social media outreach; Participate in events/conferences or other public engagement activities to share their experience to motivate others.

Application Process

Please submit a cover letter and CV/resume, by applying directly on our recruitment webpage. You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Successful candidates will be required to obtain a police-check from their local police or RCMP detachment. All applicants are thanked for their interest in CDF Canada; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.