Country: United States of America
Closing date: 29 Dec 2016
Global Health Fellows Program II
Youth Communications Intern
Service Delivery Improvement Division, Office of Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global Health, United States Agency for International Development
Anticipated timeframe: January 2017 – March 2017: Compensated 12 week internship
Location: Washington, DC/Arlington, VA
INT-P6-005
The Global Health Fellows Program (GHFP-II) is a five year cooperative agreement implemented and managed by the Public Health Institute in partnership with Global Health Corps, GlobeMed, Management Systems International and PYXERA Global. GHFP-II is supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
GHFP-II’s goal is to improve the effectiveness of USAID health programs by addressing the Agency’s immediate and emerging human capacity needs. The program seeks to accomplish this goal first through the recruitment, placement and support of diverse health professionals at the junior, mid and senior levels. These program participants include fellows, interns, corporate volunteers and Foreign Service National professionals. The program then provides substantial performance management and career development support to participants, including annual working planning assistance, and ensures that professional development opportunities are available.
Looking to the future, GHFP-II also seeks to establish a pool of highly-qualified global health professionals that will ensure the Agency’s ongoing technical leadership and effectiveness. This objective is supported by an extensive outreach program that brings global health opportunities and specialized career advice to a diverse range of interested individuals, with a particular focus on those underrepresented in the field of global health.
BACKGROUND:
USAID advances and supports voluntary family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs in more than 45 countries across the globe. Since the mid-1960s, USAID has been the leading donor in international family planning – both in terms of financial resources and technical leadership. With more than 225 million women worldwide with an unmet need, increasing access to FP is vital to safe motherhood and healthy families.
Increasingly, USAID is focusing on the reproductive health and family planning needs of adolescents and youth. Today’s population of youth is the largest generation of adolescents ever. USAID aims to support adolescents and youth to engage in healthy behaviors that include increased use of contraception so as to delay first pregnancy to at least age 18 and ensure birth to pregnancy intervals of at least 24 months. With limited global resources and tremendous demand, it is critical that policies and programs are evidence-based and that donors, programmers and policy makers have access to multiple channels of information, resources and guidance on adolescent reproductive health.
As the largest bilateral donor, USAID’s work in family planning, youth and adolescents is highly visible throughout the US Government (USG) and the international community. USAID’s communications efforts are critical for informing internal and external audiences – including key decision makers like the US Congress – about USAID’s work with adolescents and youth. With growing public understanding of the importance of engaging youth in global development efforts including health and family planning, it is essential to ensure high quality information about adolescent reproductive health and family planning originates from the Office of Population and Reproductive Health (PRH) and is linked across the agency.
INTRODUCTION:
The Youth Communications Intern (Intern) will work closely with the Service Delivery Improvement (SDI) Youth Advisors, the Youth Technical Team and the Communications Team in PRH, within the Bureau for Global Health (GH). S/he will focus on developing and populating a youth-specific webpage as part of the PRH website. As part of this effort, s/he will conduct an inventory of tools and resources that have been developed in the last five years by USAID funded activities. These resources will be used to populate the webpage.
The Chief of the SDI Division will serve as the Onsite Manager, and the Intern will receive technical guidance from the Senior Youth Advisor. As relevant, s/he will coordinate with the Senior Strategic Communications, Outreach and Public Affairs Advisor and Communications Intern.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- Gaining experience in communicating about USAID’s adolescent reproductive health and family planning programs in an online format (webpage, social media).
- Gaining a greater understanding of adolescent reproductive health, family planning and positive youth development programs supported by USAID.
- Deepening skills in collaboration and coordination within a complex organizational and implementation structure.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Collaborating with OSM, USAID technical teams and partner organizations to inventory tools, frameworks, materials, and youth focused activities that address adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) to be featured on the web page.
- In coordination with OSM and the Office of Country Support, reaching out to missions to obtain information on ASRH programs implemented at the country level, present and share the findings to the SDI team for their input and approval.
- Partnering with the PRH Communications Team, Youth Technical Team and USAID partner Knowledge Management Services to design and populate a youth page as part of the overall PRH website that highlights USAID leadership.
- Assisting with the creation of social media content to promote USAID’s work in FP and adolescents, including tweets, Facebook posts, blogs, Twitter chats and other materials relevant for an online audience as requested.
- Attending programmatic-related events within and outside USAID as requested.
- Other tasks or responsibilities may be assigned based on organizational and programming need and/or the Intern’s own interests.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Currently enrolled master’s or other post-bachelor’s degree candidate in public health, with emphasis on family planning and reproductive health; or, completion of such within the past 12 months.
- Experience in adolescent reproductive health (research, programs, etc.) preferred.
- Demonstrated experience with and/or knowledge of public affairs and communications, especially health communications. Demonstrated proficiency in HTML, web design, or graphic design preferred.
- Ability to produce content on tight deadlines.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- US citizenship or US permanent residency required.
COMPENSATION:
$1,826 bi-weekly (exempt, salaried position).
How to apply:
Detailed information, including an online application and instructions, is available on our website at www.ghfp.net. All applications must be submitted by December 29, 2016 at 5:00 pm eastern time.
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