Mission and objectivesFor over 70 years, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has been the worldโs leading child-rights organization and a respected partner of choice for saving and improving childrenโs lives in 190 countries and territories. UNICEFโs work in Bhutan started in 1974 with support to the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation programme. Over time, our work has expanded to improve the lives of children, youth, and women in other key programmatic areas. Together with all our partners, we work to ensure that all children have access to education, health care, sanitation, clean water, protection, and other services necessary for their survival, growth, and development. We support service delivery and have a strong field presence. We also engage in policy work. Covering all the 20 dzongkhags, UNICEF works with the people at the grassroots level through which information collected on the ground is bought as knowledge for policy discussions. Currently, UNICEF Bhutan works on key programme areas with a strong focus on equity and inclusion. These include health, nutrition, and sanitation; quality education and early childhood development; child protection and adolescent participation; social policy; emergency; planning, monitoring and evaluation, and communication for development. Bhutan is a small, land-locked, and mountainous country of about 750,000 people, bordering India and China. Bhutan has a very young population: more than half of Bhutanese are below 25 years of age. Bhutanโs development process is guided by the philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), a holistic approach emphasizing sustainability and human well-being. Despite the countryโs rugged terrain and limited resources, Bhutan is progressing with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.
ContextUNICEFโs work in Bhutan started in 1974 with support to the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation programme. Over time, our work has expanded to improve the lives of children, youth, and women in other key programmatic areas. Together with our partners, we work towards ensuring that all children have access to education, health care, sanitation, clean water, protection, and other services necessary for their survival, growth, and development. We support service delivery and have a strong field presence across all 20 districts. We also engage in policy work. UNICEF and the Royal Government are addressing these challenges and marking 50 years of progress for children and young people in 2024. Going forward, UNICEF recommits to building on our shared successes and realizing a Bhutan in which every child has every opportunity. Bhutan has made impressive progress towards ensuring the well-being of children and young people, but stubborn challenges persist. The high youth unemployment rate translates to mental health issues, while violence against children continues to remain prevalent. All these challenges are exacerbated by the unrelenting march of climate change and weather-related crises, which threaten to reverse hard-won gains. This position will support UNICEF Bhutanโs strategic focus to advocate and communicate the work of UNICEF in securing the well-being of children in Bhutan through all platforms and events through the development of high-quality multimedia content, research, and knowledge management.
Task DescriptionContent production: โข Conceptualize and create engaging content for social media, donors, and programmes. Pitch new approaches and angles for content. โข Ensure communication products and materials for the country office are executed on time and followed up to support the country officeโs communication priorities and campaigns, including resource mobilization. โข Write strong copy aligned with UNICEFโs style, for social media, and long form for web. โข Assist in drafting and editing articles, press releases, human interest stories, and key messages for the Representativeโs office and other advocacy/information materials for both web-based and traditional media, as appropriate. โข Produce and post-produce multimedia content (photo and video) for digital platforms. โข Develop high-quality creative work, provide quality control over concepts and projects, and contribute creative solutions and innovations that strengthen the UNICEF brand in the country. โข Assist the communication section with additional communication and admin tasks as required, related to but not limited to media, web, social media, and admin support. Media relations: Support the communication section to: โข Coordinate, monitor, and manage direct communications on UNICEF Bhutanโs Facebook, X (former Twitter), and Instagram channels. โข Support the growth of UNICEF Bhutanโs social media channels. โข Monitor current events, public opinion, and press, identify issues and trends, and advise on appropriate digital media response. โข Work with programme sections and partners to organize communication and advocacy events. โข Support programmes to map political, government, social media, and corporate influencers and advocates in Bhutan to ensure targeted communications and have a greater impact for children. โข Assist in developing and maintaining close collaboration with the media, as well as with groups and organizations whose support is essential to the achievement of advocacy and communication objectives. External relations: โข Support in preparing background communication and promotional materials for briefings and visits of media, Goodwill Ambassadors, donors, National Committee representatives and other special interest groups and high-level visits. The task includes preparing information materials (e.g., press releases, programme summaries, country fact sheets and media kits), and assisting in the planning, logistics and administrative arrangements. โข Monitor and evaluate UNICEFโs social media performance on the Country Officeโs channels. โข Support the communication sections to update information and key messages.
Competencies and valuesโข Accountability โข Adaptability and flexibility โข Creativity โข Judgement and decision-making โข Planning and organising โข Professionalism โข Self-management
Living conditions and remarksThimphu, the capital of Bhutan, experiences a wet season, which runs from May through September and a dry season that covers the remainder of the year. Rainfall in the valley varies between 500 millimetres (20 in) and 1,000 millimetres (39 in) per year, the bulk of which is received during the monsoonal wet season. The average temperature recorded during winter varies between 5โ15 ยฐC while in summer the variation is between 15โ30 ยฐC. The coldest average (minimum) temperature in January is โ2.6 ยฐC and the average highest temperature recorded during August is 25 ยฐC. Entitlements of National UN Volunteer include Entry Lump Sum Allowance (USD400), Monthly Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) for National UN Volunteer Specialist in Thimphu, Bhutan at BTN 61,324 (*), Insurance Coverage (Comprehensive health, life, and malicious acts insurance); Annual Leave of 2.5 days per month; Access to UNVโs learning and career development resources; and Exit Lump Sum Allowance (1-month VLA/12 months) payable upon successful completion of the assignment. For further information on the full entitlements, please refer to the Unified Conditions of Service for UN Volunteers (COS) at app.unv.org/explore *VLA will be specified when the Offer of UN Volunteer assignment is issued.