Communications Operations Consultant

Programme Background

The Strengthening Resilience - MENA II (SR2) programme is funded by the European Union and delivered by a consortium led by the British Council. It began with a pilot in 2015 and its current phase will continue until January 2021. It is under implementation in Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan. 

In Lebanon the programme includes two components:

Component 1: Supporting the preventing violent extremism unit through  advising, building the capacity and supporting the delivery of the National Consultation phase that aims at developing the Action Plan of the National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism that was ratified in March 2018 and at contributing to the formation of a National PVE Network as well as conducting national youth consultation using as structured consultative and participatory process with Lebanese youth at the age group of (16-23) which is mainly concentrated in high school students at the third year and universities students as well as with youth outside institutions through CSO.
 
Component 2: involves building individual resilience and sense of citizenship of youth, engaging them in community development and enhancing their role in political participation for the objective of strengthening the resilience of individuals and communities against extremist narratives and reduce the appeal of violent extremist groups through working with Universities and Civil society organisations

The PVE strategy seeks to develop a “culture of prevention” through an ambitious programme of work that engages a wide array of Lebanese government and society in a national effort to regain social trust, promote citizenship and achieve social justice.  

The strategy was developed through an extensive process of dialogue and engagement involving all twenty-nine government ministries. The following phase of development means running a similar engagement and consultation exercise across Lebanese society as a whole. 
This national consultation process started in January 2019 and run for approximately one year.  

It is a vital opportunity to communicate and promote the strategy’s purpose and the National PVE Action plan to both governmental and public stakeholders - providing them with a sense of equity and ownership and ensuring the strategy secures a license to operate. 

The national consultation process will therefore be accompanied by a communications campaign to engage the public, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the private sector with two objectives in mind: 

The primary objective is to raise awareness of, and encourage engagement with, the national consultation exercise around Lebanon’s National Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism. 

The secondary objective is to help deliver the National Strategy’s wider objectives to regain social trust, promote citizenship and achieve social justice.

Responsibilities

The main responsibilities of the Communications Operations Consultant will be:

1-    To advise and support in implementing the communications component of the National Conference and the campaign following the launch of the Exchange platform. 
2-    To co-ordinate and implement approved communication campaigns 

Services and Deliverables

•    Co-ordination and implementation of approved communication campaigns, and ensure that these are efficiently and effectively delivered to agreed standards, in-line with the British Council and the Exchange brand guidelines;

•    Plan and prioritises activities, and draws on support of wider project teams to ensure the effective delivery of the communications component of the National Conference and the campaign following the launch of the Exchange platform;

•    Drawing-on communications experience provide proactive support to colleagues, to ensure campaigns are delivered to a high standard, cost effectively and with a good understanding of the key communications priorities;

•    Plans and prioritises communications activities, and draw on support from the wider project team to ensure effective delivery of campaigns; 

•    Identify the solutions needed to improve ways of working more effectively;

•    Work closely with British Council SR2 team, Consultants, suppliers and PVE Unit to ensure an effective, integrated and joined-up delivery of campaigns in a complex environment;

•    Willingness to suggest ideas and share knowledge to support senior team members, external stakeholders and peers (Network Manager and Content and Editorial Manager