Freelance Advocacy Creator Consultant/coach

With immediate effect, Free Press Unlimited is looking for an advocacy creator consultant/ coach to join our Syria programme.

Free Press Unlimited based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands strongly believes that all people are entitled to have access to unbiased, reliable and timely information. This enables them to assess their own living conditions, influence these and make the right decisions. Press freedom and freedom of information are vital for gathering and spreading reliable, unbiased information. Media plays a crucial role in providing people free and unrestricted access to information that can help them develop and monitor the authorities. We want to make and keep objective news and information available to everyone, especially to people in countries without or with limited (press) freedom.

With immediate effect, Free Press Unlimited is looking for an advocacy creator consultant/ coach.
 

Objective of the assignment

To support primarily Syrian media institutions through coaching and strategic development in their role as advocates for the Syrian media sector. The consultant will help build strategic lines as well as advocacy implementation plans for advocacy related activities, such as campaigns, policy briefs, media law development, ethical and professional media practices, creating more space for independent and pluralistic media in the sector, and so on.

The focus will be on ‘advocacy for the media’, along the lines of freedom of expression, protection of the press and inclusivity in media. Not only will this position assist media institutions (and on occasion other media or CSO actors), but the expert will help implement the advocacy strategy in line with programme goals, and ensure that advocacy media activities are being implemented and monitored according to the overall programme vision.

The expert will also be involved as a coach in the Co-production Fund (short term) project which brings CSO’s and media to work collaboratively to produce content that addresses impactful human rights related topics of significant interest to the larger Syrian population(s), both in Syria and in diaspora. Your role will be to guide the development of Civil Society Organizations’ advocacy plans and send information to the media and other stakeholders in a way that is digestible and innovative.
 

Responsibilities

  • Make a needs assessment with the actors you will be working with for their experience in advocacy for the media;

  • Build on literature and resources relevant for shaping the advocacy approach;

  • Support and coach partners on the implementation of advocacy activities and where required support in design of project proposals and have evaluation meetings on their activities;

  • Monitor the impact and results achieved by activities and by partners;

  • Promote the advocacy events calendar and implement activities with partners on relevant calendar dates;

  • Facilitate and guide the advocacy task force group with team-building, common agenda, or technical (advocacy) support;

  • Engage partners and actors online (through various tools/platforms) to bring ideas, dialogue and initiate projects together;

  • Build strong and professional relations with partners and stakeholders;

  • Contribute to good information sharing, team cooperation and team communication based on set requirements and help signal bottlenecks in processes and provide input for more efficient processes and methods;

  • Help monitor and gather indicators of progress and impact for PME (this includes the correct administration of this information);

  • Give results and impact reached reports to use for donor information, based on information from advocacy (partner) activities.
     

Requirements

  • Fluency in Arabic (reading and speaking) and English;

  • Relevant degree (media, communications, journalism, advocacy, law, human rights etc);

  • 5+ years experience working with non-profit organisations including relationship-management expertise;

  • Proven experience in implementing advocacy activities programme;

  • Clear evidence of strategic analysis, campaigns won, power built, creative actions delivered, and people and projects developed;

  • Strong oral and written communication skills needed to craft strong and effective advocacy messages;

  • Experience in inspiring, motivating, and coordinating people who work in challenging conditions to advocate;

  • Experience of developing and delivering transformative training;

  • Demonstratable experience working on Syria and/or the Middle East;

  • Awareness of human rights related issues in Syria and the Middle East;

  • Experience of quantifiable project reporting;

  • Understands and consistently applies coaching ethics and standards of coaching, demonstrating cultural, systemic, and contextual awareness.
     

We offer

A freelance contract starting as soon as possible for one project year with a day fee (with the possibility to extend). We offer a dynamic international environment with an NGO fair fee based on MENA region standards. Free Press Unlimited uses fair selection criteria based on equal opportunities.
 

Interested?

If you are interested please send your motivation letter and CV (preferable in PDF-format) and examples of work, no later than 20 March 2023 to vacanciessyria@freepressunlimited.org

A screening, sharing evidence of work are part of the application process. For questions about the position you can contact Anne Haaksman de Koster (Senior Programme Coordinator) at haaksmandekoster[at]freepressunlimited.org

Please note, applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. If we appoint a suitable candidate before the given closing date, we reserve the right to close the vacancy before that date.

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