Empowering Livestock Keepers: How and why VWB/VSF is combating Antimicrobial Resistance
VWB/VSF is actively working to mitigate the risks associated with AMR. Our primary focus is on training Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs).
Vets Without Borders has an open Communication and Media Specialist position at Ghana Poultry Network (GAPNET) based in Accra.
Download Job OverviewJob Details
Job Title: Communication and Media Specialist
Country: Ghana
Location: Accra
Partner Organization: GAPNET
Duration: 6 - 12 months
Start Date: As soon as possible
Pre-departure Training: VWB/VSF will provide training orientation.
Eligibility: Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents of Canada only
Language: English (essential)
Academic Requirements: Postsecondary degree in communications and/or media
Fundraising: VWB/VSF encourages each volunteer to raise funds towards the organization’s operations.
Volunteer Terms & Conditions
VWB/VSF covers most of the costs of being an overseas volunteer, including:
- Return airfare to placement country
- Visa/permit costs
- The cost of required vaccinations, anti-malarial medication, and overseas emergency travel health insurance
- A monthly living allowance (MLA) that will be paid into the volunteer’s bank account in Canada. The MLA is designed to be sufficient to cover simple housing, basic food requirements, and other typical monthly living expenses.
Our Commitment
Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontière is an equal opportunity employer and values the diversity of our team.
We are committed to inclusive and equitable employment practices and strive to create a workplace that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion. VWB/VSF Canada welcomes applications from all qualified candidates, including members of racialized groups, Indigenous peoples, women, persons with disabilities, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity.
Please let us know if you require an accommodation and we will work with you to ensure an equitable hiring process. Thank you for your interest in VWB/VSF Canada.
Overall Goal
The primary purpose of the Communication and Media Specialist volunteer is to support GAPNET to develop communications strategies and tools, including content design and management, and other communications needs related to project impact.
Objectives
- Lead GAPNET team in the development of communication materials.
- Train GAPNET staff in communication strategies and techniques, including graphic design, press releases, newsletters, social media, and more.
- Support the design and implementation of communications plan.
- Improve external communications for GAPNET, including enhancing the logo and letterhead, and strengthening social media presence (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.).
- Train GAPNET team and partners on the use of social media account management to disseminate information.
- Develop, review, and enhance content for print, electronic, and social media to communicate information to clients, volunteers,
and donors. - Train GAPNET staff on lessons documentation and writing of success stories for newsletters.
All volunteers are expected to promote gender equality, environmental sustainability, and good governance within their placement responsibilities.
Skills
Essential
- Proficient in Microsoft Office, Adobe Suite, and other media tools
- Strong English communication skills, including writing, editing, and verbal communications
- Ability to develop a newsletter, social media content and manage social media accounts
- Effective cross-cultural communication skills
- Commitment to the principles of volunteer cooperation and familiarity with participatory approaches to development, including the promotion of gender equality, good governance, and environmental sustainability
Desirable
- Understanding of the poultry value chain, poultry production, and animal health management
- Strong knowledge of Ghanaian poultry sector is an asset
- Previous international work/volunteer experience in Ghana or another developing country
About the Project: VETS
Volunteers Engaged in Gender Responsive Technical Solutions (VETS), funded through the Volunteer Cooperation Program at Global Affairs Canada, will engage 190 volunteers to work with local partner organizations in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Volunteers will help create integrated animal health systems to increase the livelihoods and household nutrition of small-scale farmers. The VETS program utilizes the skills of volunteers to build local partner capacity to support community members, primarily women, to reduce poverty. Through improved production of livestock and crops, volunteers help improve family income and nutrition.
The VETS program is built around the One Health concept, which recognizes that the health of people, animals, and the natural environment are interconnected. This project promotes the production of more and better food and increased incomes from livestock, all the while promoting land rehabilitation and conservation for sustainable development.
About Veterinarians Without Borders
In the global south, more than 90 percent of food animals are raised by subsistence farmers. However, small-scale livestock producers, the majority of whom are women, have very limited access to quality and affordable animal health services.
Aside from the risks associated with the loss of valuable livestock that provides important protein and/or income for low-income households, zoonotic diseases that can be passed from animals to humans offer a very real threat to human health on a wider scale.
Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires sans frontières (VWB/VSF) works for and with communities in need to foster the health of animals, people, and the environments that sustain us. VWB/VSF works nationally and internationally to train animal health workers, increase food security, and improve animal and public health.
VWB/VSF provides overseas volunteer placements for veterinarians and other animal and public health professionals.
