National Communication Consultant.Vacancy Number: UN21/02266
Background
Organizational Setting Covid-19 lockdown measures adopted in 2020 in countries of destination pushed many Moldovan migrant workers (particularly seasonal/temporary ones) to return to their homeland, with some 55,000 of the approximately 350,000 managing to do so before the declaration of national emergency in Moldova in March 2020. According to the same reference IOM report, 32% of respondents planned to remain in Moldova for a longer period of time, with the intention to get employed and/or to launch own business. From those, 26% said they would need financial and consultancy support to open or relaunch their own business at home, including in the agricultural sector. The returned migrant workers and those who couldn’t make the journey abroad, as well as their households could consider the agricultural sector as an alternative medium or even long-term livelihood solution, taking into account that 43.4% of migrant workers were previously employed in agriculture before migrating for work abroad. Among the multitude of reintegration solutions proposed by the surveyed Moldovan migrants in 2020, were support to small entrepreneurs, promotion of local agriculture and support for the development of local markets for agri-food products. The Governmental Program Pare 1+1 supports business development at home through valuing remittances. It supported 1360 beneficiaries during 2010-2018, out of which 85,4% outside Chisinau or Balti and the largest share of business investments were in agriculture - 55% of beneficiaries. The efforts already in place need to be complemented by additional support to small agri-food producers, such as improvement in access to markets. Covid-19 highly affected the agricultural sector, the sale of agri-food produce in local markets being tremendously impacted by the containment measures that called for the shutdown of open-space retail and whole-sale agri-food markets and application of export restrictions. Digital solutions can be applied to mitigate and eliminate disruptions linked to smallholders’ access to markets, such as the disruption caused by the pandemic related restrictions, ensure constant supply-demand flow of agri-food produce and efficiently contribute to building back efforts and the economic recovery of vulnerable rural households’ livelihoods. The recent FAO Moldova study “Digital Agriculture in Republic of Moldova: Context Assessment, Mapping of the Existing Infrastructure and Needs Assessment” highlighted the importance of increasing the level of digital literacy among smallholder farmers, who continue practicing old agricultural methods and are little aware of the existence of innovative digital farming solutions, nor of the potential benefits thereof. In the abovementioned context, FAO Moldova is looking for the possibility to support local smallholder farmers to enhance their access to markets and increase their sales through the adoption of digital tools and technologies. For this purpose, the Multi-Disciplinary Fund (MDF) initiative in Moldova will support the development of several research studies and delivery of trainings to the target group. One study will be focused on assessing the feasibility of developing and deploying an online platform to support farmers (including returned migrant workers and/or their dependents involved in agri-business) to market their products, increase their presence and visibility at home and abroad. Another study will assess the digital skills of the target group and their needs in terms of digital tools applied for online marketing. The training component will aim at increasing the digital literacy of the target group, as well as the knowledge of innovative practices applied in the agriculture sector. To ensure the outreach, communication and visibility under current initiative, FAO Moldova is looking to hire a National Communication Consultant to work on a part time basis. Objectives The Communication Consultant is expected to ensure communication-related efforts within the framework of the MDF initiative in Moldova on supporting reintegration of returning migrants in rural areas, through planning, development, implementation, and monitoring of communication, visibility and outreach activities. The communication related objectives, reflected in the draft communication plan, are the following:
The communication, outreach and visibility efforts are to be ensured through, but not limited to, the following instruments: events (presentation events, TV program participation, webinars/trainings, etc.), digital communication products (infographics, web banners, etc), articles, interviews, media relations/partnerships
Tasks and responsibilities Under the overall supervision of the FAO Technical Focal Point for Migration (ESP), the direct supervision of the Assistant FAOR for Moldova, the technical guidance of the National Project Coordinator and the Rural Migration Consultant (ESP), in coordination with FAO Moldova Office Communication Specialist, the National Communication Consultant, under the present Terms of Reference, will undertake and complete the tasks described below. The major responsibility is to provide support in the development, implementation and monitoring of the communication plan for the whole initiative. A draft communication plan is in place. The communication effort will ensure presence on top national media channels, increasing visibility around the project activities and outputs. Specific responsibilities of the Communication Consultant, to ensure media presence, are as follow:
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