Social Media and Communications Volunteer

job Description

Details
Mission and objectives
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organisation delivering life‑saving food assistance in emergencies while supporting governments to strengthen food systems, social protection mechanisms and climate‑resilient livelihoods. Guided by its mandate to end hunger, WFP works closely with governments, UN agencies, civil society and communities to ensure food‑insecure people can meet their basic needs and build long‑term resilience. In Zimbabwe, WFP supports national efforts to achieve food and nutrition security through emergency response, cash‑based transfers, school feeding, shock‑responsive social protection, smallholder farmer support and community resilience activities.

Context
The WFP Zimbabwe Country Office implements a diverse and evolving portfolio spanning emergency preparedness and response, social protection, resilience building, and technical assistance to Government. Across this portfolio, strategic and effective communication is critical to demonstrating programme impact, strengthening accountability, enhancing visibility among key stakeholders, and supporting resource mobilisation efforts.

The External Relations Unit leads these communication and visibility efforts, ensuring that WFP’s work, results, and learning are consistently documented and communicated across digital platforms, media channels, donor engagements, and partnerships with Government and other stakeholders. Through clear, timely, and compelling communications, the Unit plays a central role in reinforcing WFP’s credibility, transparency, and thought leadership.

Within this context, the Social Media and Communications Volunteer will support the External Relations function by contributing to high-quality digital content creation, documentation of field activities, results-based storytelling, media engagement support, and social media management. The volunteer will work closely with programme teams, cooperating partners, and the External Relations Unit to capture evidence of impact, elevate WFP’s visibility, and translate programme achievements into engaging, audience focused communications that reflect WFP’s mandate and strategic priorities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Task description
Under the direct supervision of the Communication Officer, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
Content Creation and Social Media Management
• Support the development of compelling content for WFP Zimbabwe’s social media platforms (X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and others as relevant).
• Develop posts, captions, infographics, and short updates aligned with WFP corporate guidelines.
• Capturing field based stories, photos and basic video content to support storytelling.
• Maintain a content calendar and contribute to planning thematic campaigns (e.g., #ZeroHunger, resilience, school feeding, nutrition).
Media and Communications Support
• Contribute to the drafting of human interest stories, success stories, factsheets, news-letters and web articles.
• Provide support in editing and layout of communication materials.
• Assist with organising media field visits and events, including logistics and documenta-tion.
• Ensure proper branding and compliance with WFP communications standards across materials.
Monitoring and Analytics
• Monitor social media engagement, reach and trends; compile monthly analytics re-ports.
• Review WFP social media for comments, messages and public queries and flag is-sues appropriately.
• Identify opportunities to increase engagement based on insights and analytics.
Documentation and Knowledge Management
• Organise the communications content library, including photos, videos and story ar-chives.
• Ensure metadata and captioning adhere to WFP’s consent and protection protocols.
Other Duties
• Coordinate internal communication initiatives as needed.
• Perform any other related tasks as assigned by the supervisor.
Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publica-tions/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible

Qualifications and Experience

Relevant experience
3 years

Languages
English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level
Bachelor's degree in Communications, Media Studies, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, International Relations

Competencies and values
Accountability
Adaptability and Flexibility
Building Trust
Client Orientation
Commitment and Motivation
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Communication
Creativity
Ethics and Values
Integrity
Judgement and Decision-making
Knowledge Sharing
Leadership
Managing Performance
Planning and Organizing
Professionalism
Respect for Diversity
Self-Management
Technological Awareness
Vision
Working in Teams

Skills and experience
3 years of experience in Media and Influencer Relationship Management, socio political contextual understanding, Social Media and Communication expertise.

Skills and experience description
• Strong writing and editing skills in English.
• Ability to produce engaging digital content.
• Familiarity with social media analytics and basic graphic design/video tools.
• Photography/videography experience is an asset.
• Understanding of humanitarian and development contexts is desirable.

Area(s) of expertise
Communication

Driving license

Other information
Volunteerism is understood as a wide range of activities undertaken of free will, for the general public good, for which monetary reward is not the principal motivating factor.

Living conditions and remarks
Zimbabwe is a peaceful and welcoming country in Southern Africa, known for its vibrant culture, friendly communities, and breathtaking natural beauty. From the thundering Victoria Falls to the serene Eastern Highlands, and the wildlife-rich Hwange and Mana Pools, Zimbabwe offers unforgettable experiences beyond the workplace.

The climate is tropical, with a rainy season from October to March, and while the country faces climate-related challenges like droughts and floods, it’s also a place of resilience and innovation, making it a compelling setting for impactful development work.

Zimbabwe operates in a multi-currency economy, with the U.S. dollar (USD) widely used. While the cost of living is relatively high, essential goods and services are readily available. Urban housing is typically priced in USD, and many homes use solar power and boreholes to manage occasional utility disruptions. Healthcare is accessible through private and NGO-run facilities, with international insurance providers like CIGNA widely accepted.

Professionally, WFP Zimbabwe offers a dynamic, mission-driven environment where your work directly contributes to climate resilience, food security, and sustainable livelihoods. You’ll collaborate with government, UN agencies, and communities to drive real change. Whether you are passionate about natural resource management, climate-smart agriculture, or community resilience, Zimbabwe is a place where your skills will matter, and where your weekends can be spent exploring one of Africa’s most beautiful and diverse countries.

Inclusivity statement
United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements
Selected candidates for certain occupational groups may be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) in line with the applicable host entity policy

Scam warning
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