Communications Intern

Duration: 6 months

Reports to:  Head of Delegation

Start date:  January 2024

Location: Nairobi

Number of subordinate employees:
Directs :  0
Indirect : 0

Classification of the function: Intern

Activity rate % :   100

About Tdh Foundation:

Terre des hommes is the leading Swiss organisation for children’s aid. To make a difference, Tdh implements activities through three programmes focusing on health, migration and access to justice (A2J). Our programmes are underpinned by three fields of expertise that help protect the lives, well-being and rights of children and young people worldwide:

• Access to child protection services for children and young people affected by troubling situations that require individual protection services to improve their well-being.
• Access to decent quality water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) aims to enable children and their families to enjoy their right to water, being one of the basic components in an adequate standard of living.
• Information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) enable us to develop solutions to support more children and members of their communities and become more effective in a constantly changing world.

Tdh has been active in Kenya since 2011 in Dadaab refugee camp (child protection), the arid county of Garissa (nutrition) and the urban slums of Nairobi (integrated child protection). In June 2018, the organization initiated a reflection to reorient activities to also address development needs around child protection services as the gap in support is significant. Humanitarian needs are very present due to the situation at Kenya’s borders, the country’s difficulty in tackling natural disasters and the risk of terrorism.

What the intern will be doing:

The Communications Intern will support the Kenya delegation to develop and implement a communications plan for Tdh foundation in Kenya. This will include establishing and managing social media channels, writing creative human-interest stories, and gathering visual content. The purpose of the role is to support the delegation’s visibility and engagement with the public with the goal of helping improve the lives of the children we serve. In return, the intern will be part of a dynamic, professional, and positive team seeking to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in Kenya. Guidance will be provided by the team in Kenya and headquarters in Switzerland.

A few more specifics on your role:

• Support the implementation of the global communication strategy and lead on coordinating the development of a Kenya communication plan.
• Support in the development and dissemination of internal and external communication materials.
• Produce high quality visual and written content for Tdh Kenya, Tdh global, and donor publication.
• Build a social media presence by establishing channels and publishing content inline with Tdh global guidance and donor requirements.
• Provide weekly reports on user engagement and performance tracking data.
• Prepare monthly newsletter emails for internal communications within Tdh Kenya and Tdh HQ.
• Produce high-quality human-interest stories to be used for internal and external communication purposes with the support of the program team
• Support the Head of Programmes with design of external documents for visual impact.
• Generate communications content during field visits to provide internal communications and visibility.

Success and fit factors:

Knowledge and experience:

• A recent graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism or multimedia.
• Experience in social media and web content management (including working with content management software).
• Experience in writing and editing various communication products for various audiences, knowledge of graphic design (experience with Canva or Adobe) and experience with various platforms (Google Analytics, Obi4wan, Tweetdeck, Mailchimp).
• Computer literacy in working Microsoft 365 and its applications including basic skills in working with photo and video editing software.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, in fluent English.
• Photography and videography skills are a plus.
• Ability to work well with diverse teams including partners and global staff.
• Ability and willingness to travel to project locations in the region.

Skills:

• A positive attitude to teamwork and producing results.
• Excellent communication skills, interpersonal skills, and teamwork skills.
• Thorough and precise working style, with strong attention to detail.
• Dynamic, self-motivated and self-starting personality who can be proactive and take initiative.
• Basic knowledge and understanding of child protection issues in East Africa.
• Ability to plan and organise well, setting goals and achieving results in line with the goals set.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and respond flexibly to changing priorities.
• Ability to think ‘outside the box for creative communication solutions.
• Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor his/ her work.

Languages:

• Fluent in English and Swahili.
• French and Somali are useful but not required.