Advisor Outreach and Public Dialogue

(Reference No. LoGo II 2021/007)

A.      Responsibilities

The Advisor Outreach and Public Dialogue is supporting the implementation of the process cluster “Citizen Engagement in Public Service Delivery” in the “Support to Local Governance Programme” of GIZ and is responsible for providing advisory services to the programme counterparts according to the objectives and work plans of the results area of the programme in the area of:

•   Provide organisational development to the Rights to Information (RTI) Commission Punjab to implement the Right to Information Act
•   Implementation of the RTI outreach and awareness campaigns in consultations with government partners
•   Capacity development for governmental counterparts in Punjab to store & provide access to data and to comply with the requirements of the Right to Information Act and development of public dialogue capacities of the counterparts
•   Implementation of support measures regarding facilitation of learning and exchange between/among local governments and the public administration on local government level according to the agreed work plan of the prorgramme
•   Providing technical advice and support to government partner organizations on exchange formats and political participation mechanisms, focusing on women and marginalized segments of society in Punjab
•   Support to governmental counterparts to develop, implement and institutionalize (IT-based) dialogue and feedback mechanisms in cooperation with media and civil society organisations.
•   Facilitate engagement of local governments, media, civil society and public entities in structured dialogue platforms

In this context the Advisor Outreach and Public Dialogue fulfils the following tasks:

B.      Tasks

1.     Advisory support

Organisational development to RTI Commission

•   Provide organisational development for RTI Commission based on sound capacity needs in the areas of human, organisational and institutional development
•   Facilitate the Punjab Information Commission (PIC) in the implementation of outreach and awareness campaigns on RTI legal framework in Punjab with governmental entities, media, civil society and citizen
•   Identify capacity development measures for counterparts to strengthen their public relations and provide them with tailor-made capacity development measures to improve capacities on public relations and dialogue

Dialogue Exchange Formats & Communication Mechanisms for Local Governments

•   Supports civil society networks and associations (Parliamentary Caucus, Academia, (ex-) elected councillors etc.) to promote regular dialogue and exchange
•   Supports initiatives aimed to promote constructive dialogue between elected and administrative entities
•   Designs formats for tailor-made interventions to inform citizens, especially women and youth, about their rights according to the existing legal frameworks
•   Supports and coordinate with Local Government and Community Development Department, local governments, and district/tehsil administrative structures on establishing coordination mechanisms for regular exchange within civil society and government

Support public dialogue and feedback mechanisms

•   Supports governmental entities to develop (IT-based) dialogue and feedback mechanisms to foster service delivery capacities according to citizen needs, especially women and youth
•   Provide advice to Punjab governmental departments, such as Local Government and Community Development Department to publish and discuss the development budget for Local Governments with citizen

2.     Networking and Cooperation

•   Co-operates and ensures regular contacts and dialogues with counterparts, cooperation partners and relevant stakeholders within the result-area as well as the programme’s environment and other projects in order to enhance and maintain good working relationships
•   Communicates objectives and indicators commissioned of the programme to all relevant stakeholders and exchanges ideas to nurture innovations for an efficient and effective implementation of the programme
•   Maintains repeated field visits to pilot Districts, Punjab Province and Islamabad in accordance with the requirements of the programme

3.     Knowledge Management

•   Compiles information on assigned area of responsibility and ensures knowledge transfer within the programme as well as with stakeholders
•   Develops strategies and technical concepts including guidelines, manuals and procedures, which are ready to be applied and/or replicated
•   Prepares reports and presentation material
•   Prepares appropriate input for various programme reports/publications including annual reports. Contributes to other reports required by superior, the Head of Programme and GIZ Headquarters
•   Supports research and studies on policy topics that benefits implementation of the overall programme and BMZ governance sector

4.     Management and Coordination

•   Supports general programme planning, including preparation, organisation and moderation of planning exercises, implementation, management, monitoring, quality management, evaluation, communication, and documentation
•   Coordinates and prioritises relevant programme activities in his/her area of responsibility in cooperation with stakeholders, this covers the organisational preparation as well as the implementation of these activities
•   Prepares the budget for relevant programme activities for assigned area of responsibility and related financial documentation
•   Monitors operational budget against funds availability for assigned area of responsibility
•   Compiles relevant information for collaborative activities with other projects and missions by external consultants

5.     Other duties/additional tasks

•   Performs other duties and tasks at the request of Team Leader and/or Head of Programme/management

C.      Required qualifications, competences and experience

Qualifications

•   Masters’ degree in journalism, mass communication, communication management or sciences, civic education, political communication

Professional experience

•   At least 5 years professional experience in a comparable position
•   Working experience in public relations (private and public sector), dialogue and exchange formats
•   Working experience in development cooperation and advisory position would be an asset
•   Proven experience to provide advisory services to governmental entities on dialogue
•   Experience with organisational development of governmental entities

Other knowledge, additional competences

•   Very good knowledge of RTI, Local Government Law, PR instruments/concepts and journalistic practices
•   Excellent understanding of governmental entities and governance in Punjab
•   Good understanding of Development Cooperation in Pakistan
•   Proven networking skills with government, media and civil society
•   Good working knowledge of ICT technologies (relevant hard- and software and ICT tools for development, such as social media and data management)
•   Very good speaking and writing skills of English and Urdu Language (Punjabi would be an asset)