Communications and Public Engagement Officer – Mogadishu, Somalia

1. INTRODUCTION

RAAGSAN is a female-led social enterprise providing strategic and analytical consulting services across Somalia. Our work spans policy down to grass-roots levels. We value both an intimate and accurate understanding of people being served by humanitarian and development investments in Somalia as well as the policy and program design of investments intended to assist those populations. Our aim is to connect communities and policymakers by working through a network of young and middle-aged professionals based across Somalia supported by senior consultants with strong post-conflict environment experience.

RAAGSAN works in fragile and conflict-affected states to develop and strengthen policies and systems that focus on Public Social Service Delivery, Disaster Risk Resilience, and Climate Change Adaptation. We also provide independent M&E services for National and International Organizations to measure the real-time performance of their projects, evaluate results and impact, and inform strategic future programming. Our operations have served a wide range of clients from the government, UN agencies, NGOs, and private companies.

1. BACKGROUND OF THE POSITION

After nearly three decades of civil war, the Somali community is struggling with a high level of poverty and dangerously escalating levels of drought due to climate-induced shocks disrupting the livelihoods of communities. This is exacerbated by limited access to critical services such as health, education, water, sanitation, energy, and financial services. High levels of poverty, unemployment, and increased inequality are also leading to a vicious cycle of exclusion and marginalization.

Since 2012, the government institutions with support from key development partners have been trying to address service delivery challenges through a set of national policies and programs. However, the participation of citizens in policymaking and service design has been very limited in Somalia and certain marginalized groups within the population are often disengaged from the few existing forums for public engagement.

RAAGSAN is launching a citizen engagement program with a set of interconnected activities that will help us connect communities and policymakers. We are adopting an all-inclusive approach by providing channels to harness diverse views and ideas from communities, aggregate them and engage with

stakeholders to discuss challenges identified and forge a way forward for communities. We are using diverse channels to reach both communities and stakeholders in the citizen engagement process. We will also utilize an interactive educational approach to engage the traditionally “hard to reach” population.

We are looking for a Communication and Community Engagement Officer to lead the citizen engagement and communication work of RAAGSAN. The person will join our exceptional team of researchers driven by a keen desire to deliver social impact. In return, we offer a strong exceptional growth possibility within an expanding team. The person will work under the guidance of the RAAGSAN’s Research Coordinator and will work closely with a team of researchers based across Somalia.

1. RESPONSIBILITIES

The purpose of the position is as follows:

• To support and build RAAGSAN’s reputation through external and internal communications, and community engagement by connecting and managing various public engagement audiences on various platforms and channels.
• To support, partner, grow and monitor communications content and public engagement deliverables;

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Research, Monitoring, and Learning Coordinator, the Communication and Community Engagement Officer is responsible for performing the following duties:

3.1.         Communication, Community Engagement, and Outreach Roles

• Support the drafting and maintaining of a communication, outreach, and community engagement strategy and implementation plan; ensure that participatory methods are used to include the community in planning and design;

• Identify potential audiences; generate a profile of the audiences, both individual and group profiles;

• Maintain awareness among the communities and stakeholders on RAAGSAN’s work through various activities in liaison with the Project Manager and other stakeholders;

• Engage with the RAAGSAN research team to plan for learning and communication activities and gather content for dissemination;

• Conduct field visits to document RAAGSAN’s work and engage with communities

• Develop and oversee work plan implementation for RAAGSAN’s learning dissemination activities, develop progress reports, and flag challenges, delays, and possible risk factors.

3.2.       Knowledge Management and Research Activities

• Lead the dissemination of research findings through presentations, participation in workshops and conferences, and scientific papers as appropriate;

• Support the development of learning products/materials and help organize regular learning events/workshops to garner insights from the target audience, social influencers, policymakers, and international stakeholders;
• Support RAAGSAN’s research, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (RMEL) activities as directed by your line manager, including contributing to drafting proposals, fieldwork, reporting, research papers, and other outputs expected from RAAGSAN;
• Support the field data collection, prepare the field data collection plans and ensure quality monitoring of ongoing field research activities, as well as generate regular updates on project progress;
• Support the administration of projects in the field, helping ensure compliance with good practice in relation to the conduct of research, the RAAGSAN’s field research protocol policy, and other relevant policies.

3.3.       Representation and Advocacy Roles

• Represent RAAGSAN at key external events, coordination meetings, and forums.

Support the Management team on advocacy and policy issues related to RAAGSAN’s work as requested

• Liaison with relevant actors and act as RAAGSAN’s focal point for developing a professional working relationship with partner/s as needed
• Organize community engagement sessions and discussions

And finally, passionately contribute to the growth and success of RAAGSAN!