ECOWAS Commission Recruits Consultant in Communication

ECOWAS Commission Commission de la CEDEAO Comissão da CEDEAO VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT RECRUITMENT OF A CONSULTANT IN COMMUNICATION BACKGROUND

In the framework of the 9th EDF, the ECOWAS Commission and European Commission have agreed on areas of cooperation that are mainly regional economic integration, in accordance with 2000 Cotonou Agreement, which was revised in 2005 (article 29) and the facilitation of the regional transport. During the last Steering Committee of the Regional Indicative Programme, it was outlined that communication between the two commissions ECOWAS/UEMOA and, especially between stakeholders are penalizing factors. To resolve these problems, the European Commission showed her availability to support the ECOWAS Commission, notably, while contracting with resource persons useful to accelerate the information circulation.


Besides, the important efforts deployed in the cooperation framework between ECOWAS Commission and the E.U. lack of visibility, which constitutes a constraint to deepen relations between the two parties.
The example of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) illustrates well this issue. Ignorance of the importance of European Union in the financing of development of the region and especially the content of the projects in the RIP 9th EDF did not contribute to appease the framework of negotiations of the EPA. In order to take into account the recommendations of the Enlarged Steering Committee of the Regional Indicative Program (RIP) and especially to allow a bigger visibility of the RIP 9th EDF projects, the ECOWAS Commission recruits a consultant, who is an expert in communication.

OBJECTIVE OF THE MISSION
The objective of this consultation is to improve the communication and the visibility of external partners’ projects, notably European Union, while proposing a communication plan taking into account the aforementioned preoccupations. The objectives to be followed by this consultation are to:
i. Support activities of the Communication Directorate;
ii. Propose and implement a communication plan on the projects of the technical and financial partners of the Commission;
iii. Create a communication platform between the parties involved in the projects and programmes for execution by the Commission;
iv. Produce communication tools to make more visible the activities of the RIP 9th EDF.

TASKS OF THE CONSULTANT
The following tasks are assigned to the consultant:
• Create a network between the different parties involved in the program in view of facilitating the communication between them,
• Produce communication tools on a regular basis to facilitate circulation of information,
• Take action to broadcast ECOWAS information in view of a better visibility of the RIP and projects of external partners,
• Contribute to updating the site on the part relating to the activities of development partners and especially E.U.,
• Contribute to implementation of the Communication Directorate work plan. ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK The consultant will report to the Director of Communication. He will support the directorate in accordance with the described tasks but will have to interact with the stakeholders involved in elaboration, implementation, execution and evaluation of projects of the RIP 9th EDF and of those of the other development partners.

QUALIFICATION OF THE CONSULTANT The Consultant must:
• be a holder of master’s degree in communication or of a journalism degree,
• have at least 10 years experience in the institutional communication sector, of which at least three years to a Director’s position,
• have a good knowledge of the media (TV, radio, or in a written press) of the sub region,
• have a good writing skills
• have good oral communication skills,
• have a good knowledge of development and integration issues and of political, economic and social environment of the region,
• have a good knowledge of international relations,
• have a strong knowledge of TIC,
• have a good knowledge of, at least, two of the three official languages of ECOWAS.

DURATION OF WORK AND REMUNERATION
The duration of the contract shall be for one year renewable, subject to performance.
Remuneration is highly competitive, based on experience of the consultant. Funding for this position is being provided by the European Union.

EXPECTED RESULTS
By the end of this mission, the following results should be reached:
i. The visibility of the projects of the 9th EDF and other projects managed by the ECOWAS Commission is improved,
ii. The visibility of programs and activities of ECOWAS is improved,
iii. Consistent communication tools are regularly published,
iv. The website relating to the 9th EDF is updated regularly,
v. A network of focal points works and is regularly fueled.

METHOD OF APPLICATION
The application materials should include a motivation letter, detailed curriculum vitae (CV), indicating among other things, 2 reference persons, and the candidate’s phone contacts, postal and Email addresses.

This application must be sent by Email to:

President of the ECOWAS Commission 101,
Yakubu Gowon Crescent Asokoro District
P.M.B. 401 Abuja,
Nigeria

For attention of
Prof. Lambert Bamba
Commissioner in charge of Macroeconomic policies
Email : macroeconomicpolicy@ecowas.int

Only citizens of ECOWAS Member States are qualified to apply.

The deadline for the receipt of all applications is: Monday 21 September 2009 at 9 a.m. prompt(Abuja time).

Please note that only short‐listed candidates will be contacted.