Consultant (For Capacity Building For Uas-Lcb Radio Partners) at Mercy Corps

The Consultant will report to: Program Manager, UAS-LCB
The Consultant will work closely with: Deputy Program Manager and Program Officer

Job Description

• Mercy Corps is currently implementing the UAS-LCB Using the Airwaves for Stability in the Lake Chad BasinТ program, which focuses on the use of radio as a means to generate constructive public dialogue and debate in order to inform more participatory and effective policies, practices, and communications channels related to reintegration and reconciliation for communities in northeast Nigeria. The program will run until September 2020.

The UAS-LCB program seeks to:

• Strengthen the capacity of radio partners to engage in ethical and conflict-sensitive journalism practices in a way that generates accurate, transformative, and sustainable radio programming on themes of reintegration and reconciliation
• Strengthen community awareness and understanding of dynamics, developments, and options around reintegration and reconciliation
• Promote opportunities for communities to provide feedback on reintegration and reconciliation that creates greater ownership, participation and sustainable implementation of policies and practices
• Promote localized narratives of peace coexistence aimed at establishing a foundation for effective reintegration and reconciliation

Consultant Objectives

• As part of Objective 1, Mercy Corps is seeking to build the capacity of local radio partner Dandal Kura Radio International to conduct the foundational production stages for radio programming with a high degree of quality. Trainings could include the following topics, as well as and others to be identified through a pre-training needs assessment.
• Developing program topics Formative research on audiences
• Selecting program formats On-air presentation skills
• Creating a running order Interviewing skills
• Scripting programs Editing skills
• Formative research on content Sound design and balancing
• Identifying guests Managing call-in segments
• Mapping sources Managing non-web-based interactivity (VoxPop, Roving Reporting, etc.)
• Formative research on guests Managing web-based interactivity (Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, etc.)

Mercy Corps expects that these trainings will result in Dandal Kura being able to practically apply the necessary skills for radio production in order to independently manage all stages, and thereby improve their ability to deliver quality peacebuilding programming.

Consultant Activities:

• Consult with the UAS-LCB team and review pre-training needs assessments in order to gain a strong understanding of the learning objectives and needs
• Develop training agendas and prepare training materials, including assessment tools, that address key topics related to radio production stages
• Deliver a series of three (3) three-day trainings on production stages for Dandal Kura staff members
• Prepare a Training Report detailing the content and outcomes of the training
• Provide ongoing mentorship to training participants between and after scheduled trainings

Deliverables and Timeframe:

• Training Agenda
• Training Materials (i.e. PowerPoints, handouts)
• Training Assessment Tools (i.e. pre- and post-tests)
• Three (3) three-day Production Stages Trainings
• Training Report
• Mentorship Report

Deadlines to be confirmed upon contracting.

Required Experience & Skills
The ideal consultant will have the following experience and skills:

• 8+ years of experience in radio journalism, especially in development radio
• Demonstrated technical expertise in radio production stages, including formative research, scripting, guest engagement, interviewing and presentation skills, post-production, and management of audience interactivity
• Established expertise designing and facilitating trainings for INGOs, utilizing participatory learning methodologies
• Advanced degree in journalism, communications, social sciences, or other related field
• English and Hausa fluency required
• Knowledge of the northeast Nigerian context preferred