Communication Associate

Under the overall guidance of the UN-Habitat Country Manager, and in close collaboration with relevant programme specialists, the Communication Associate will contribute to the development and implementation of communication strategies that align with the organization’s mandate and program objectives. The role includes producing engaging and informative content such as articles, press releases, social media updates, newsletters, and human-interest stories that effectively highlight housing and urban development initiatives.

The Communication Associate will support broader UN-Habitat initiatives in Ghana, liaising with counterparts in the regional office and headquarters, ensuring consistent messaging, visibility, and knowledge sharing across UN-Habitat’s mandate and accelerate the achievement of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Communication Associate will also support visibility and outreach during major global urban observances, including World Habitat Day, World Cities Day and Urban October, while assisting with communication needs for workshops, conferences, and field missions. Additionally, the Communication Associate will ensure consistent messaging across communication channels and contribute to resource mobilization efforts by assisting in preparing communication materials for proposals and donor engagement.

The role also involves supporting thematic experts and the broader UN-Habitat team in Ghana to effectively communicate programme results, impact and sustainability. Key among these programmes are the Smart SDG Cities Programme and the Improved Resilience of Coastal Communities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana

The Communication Associate will play a pivotal role in advancing UN-Habitat Ghana’s mandate by ensuring housing, climate resilience and sustainable urban development initiatives are effectively communicated to diverse stakeholders. Through strategic messaging, storytelling, and knowledge management, the Associate enhances visibility and understanding of key Programmes such as the Smart SDG Cities Programme and the Coastal Community Resilience Initiative, among others.

By promoting consistent and high-quality communication, the Associate strengthens stakeholder engagement, supports evidence-based decision-making, and amplifies project outcomes to local communities, government institutions, development partners, and the broader public. Their work contributes to increased awareness, adoption of best practices, and mobilization of resources, ultimately reinforcing UN-Habitat’s mandate to foster inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban development in Ghana.

The Communication Associate will provide communication and information management support to the UN-Habitat Ghana office, ensuring effective dissemination of information and promotion of UN-Habitat's work. The role involves developing communication materials, managing social media, and coordinating media relations.

Summary of functions:

• 1. Programme Delivery and Monitoring
• 2. Stakeholder engagement
• 3. Quality assurance
• 4. Knowledge management and innovation

1. Programme Delivery and Monitoring

• - Assist programme colleagues to ensure communication activities are fully integrated into project work plans and collaborate with project teams to align messaging with project goals and key milestones.
• - Track communication performance indicators, including media reach and stakeholder engagement, and provide timely inputs to project reports, donor updates, and internal performance reviews
• - Ensure all project deliverables and activities adhere to UN- Habitat’s branding and visibility requirements while maintaining consistent messaging across all communication channels.
• - Provide timely communication inputs that help achieve project deliverables and outcomes while supporting advocacy and awareness efforts to maximize the impact and sustainability of initiatives.
• - Assist in the identification of opportunities to communicate pilot initiatives, innovative approaches, and emerging solutions within projects, sharing lessons and successes across projects and with the broader UN-Habitat network.
• - Assist with periodic reports, briefs, and dashboards for programme/project teams, senior management, and donors, highlighting key communication outcomes.
• - Perform any other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

2. Stakeholder engagement

• - Support consultations, workshops, and events to enhance project outreach and participation.
• - Build and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders, including media, civil society organizations, and development partners.
• - Coordinate feedback mechanisms to capture stakeholder inputs and concerns for project improvement.
• - Promote collaboration and partnerships through targeted communication and outreach initiatives.
• - Assist in organizing stakeholder events, site visits, and field missions to enhance visibility and engagement.
• - Ensure stakeholders are informed about project objectives, progress, results, and opportunities for involvement.
• - Assist in information sharing with partners, including national and local governments, communities, UN Agencies, donors, academia, private sector, among others, across multiple channels.

3. Quality Assurance

• - Review and edit communication materials to ensure clarity, accuracy, and alignment with UN-Habitat messaging and branding guidelines.
• - Ensure all content meets quality standards for grammar, style, formatting, and visual presentation.
• - Verify technical information and data in communication outputs to maintain credibility and accuracy.
• - Maintain consistency in messaging across all communication channels and materials.
• - Conduct periodic quality checks of publications, reports, social media content, and outreach materials.
• - Support programme/project teams to produce high-quality communication materials in line with UN-Habitat guidelines, learning from best practices.
• - Ensure compliance with UN visibility, accessibility, and ethical standards in all communication products.
• - Ensure cultural and political sensitivity in all communication materials

4. Knowledge management and innovation

• - Assist in documenting and disseminating lessons learned, success stories, and best practices, producing case studies, reports, and other knowledge products that effectively highlight project impact.
• - Support the development of internal newsletters, updates, and knowledge bulletins.
• - Coordinate knowledge-sharing platforms such as Teams channels, SharePoint sites, or community-of-practice pages.
• - Support after-action reviews, learning assessments, and documentation of outcomes.
• - Support planning and communication for conferences, knowledge forums, webinars, and innovation showcases.
• - Support the packaging and communication of new tools, models, and innovations developed by the organization or partners.

Required education and experience:

a minimum of 6 years of relevant work experience with completion of secondary education, or a first-level university degree in Communication, Development Communication, Media and Journalism, International Relations with two years of relevant experience. A minimum of six years of relevant professional experience is required, including a minimum of two years of extensive working experience in climate/development finance /development cooperation and environment.

Desired experience includes proven experience in the media landscape, procedures, guidelines, manuals and templates for reporting and verification practices; proven experience and knowledge in International Development Effectiveness and cooperation, environment and climate change, gender and youth, and related issues; and experience in the usage of computers and office software packages and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling web-based management systems.

Language requirement:

English fluent required.