Contract time frame: a maximum of 30 days between October - November, 2020
Location: home-based
Travel: none
Reporting to: Lead researcher
Application deadline: 30 September 2020
Due to the urgency of the vacancy, screening and interviews will commence immediately and the candidate can be selected at any stage before the closing date.
Role & Responsibilities
The Research Assistants Dari/Pashto will work under the supervision of the Lead Researcher to deliver a research project on language issues in community radio’s relay of COVID-19 risk communication in Afghanistan.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Conducting semi-structured phone interviews in Dari and/or Pashto with radio broadcasters in Afghanistan
Transcribing and translating all research data,including those of interviews conducted by other researchers
Handing over all data, transcripts, translations, and other research materials to TWB
Participate in a one day training
Participate in regular briefing and debriefing sessions with the lead researcher (phonecall)
Profile
The Research Assistants should be creative self-starters with a strong sense of initiative and enthusiastic about the importance of increasing access to knowledge through language. The right candidate is an energetic team player who agrees with TWB´s core values and can work remotely to collaborate with team members based throughout the world. Excellent knowledge of Dari and/or Pashto is required. Good working knowledge of English is essential.
Requirements
Excellent knowledge of Dari and/or Pashto and preferably of other languages spoken in Afghanistan
Good written and spoken English
Experience in conducting semi-structured interviews, preferably experience in phone interviews
Willingness to use their own phone and computer to conduct the research
Good understanding of research ethics
Ability to work remotely with limited support
Knowledge of the radio landscape in Afghanistan a plus
Background
Translators without Borders and Internews are collaborating on a study of language barriers in community radio’s relay of COVID-19 risk communication in Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, radio remains a primary information source for many households especially in rural areas where 75% of the population relies on radio broadcasts in order to meet information needs. Low literacy rates, insecurity, and poor infrastructure restrict access to print media, while a lack of electricity, limited broadcast areas, and the cost of equipment and subscription services keep television ownership and usage relatively low.
In the context of a major disease outbreak like the COVID-19 pandemic community radios play a crucial role for risk communication and information relay. Yet radio broadcasters usually receive little support to adapt official risk communication to the language needs of their audience. The research project will inquire into the language and communication challenges radio broadcasters face, including the challenges of translating technical or unknown words into national languages, and analyse the impact of language on community radio’s relay of risk communication.
About Translators without Borders
Translators without Borders believes that everyone has the right to give and receive information in a language and format they understand. We work with nonprofit partners and a global community of language professionals to build local language translation capacity, and raise awareness of language barriers. Originally founded in 1993 in France (as Traducteurs sans Frontières), TWB translates millions of words of life-saving and life-changing information a year.
Core Values
Translators without Borders employees and volunteers are people who believe passionately about the value of this work and take personal responsibility for achieving the mission. Translators without Borders’ mission and organizational spirit embody the core values established in its strategic framework:
Excellence: As the leading voice for communicating humanitarian information in the right language, Translators without Borders is a leader in the translation industry and in the non-profit sector.
Integrity: Translators without Borders believes that every person, whether it is the people who we serve, our volunteers or our staff, has value, deserves respect and has inherent dignity.
Empowerment: Translators without Borders believes in using language to empower people around the world to control their own development and destiny.
Innovation: Translators without Borders recognizes and celebrates the power of innovation to address humanitarian and crisis issues around the world.
Sustainability: Translators without Borders recognizes that meeting our mission necessitates establishment and maintenance of a solid financial and organizational infrastructure.
Tolerance: Our staff and volunteers are highly knowledgeable and skilled; value each other, our partner and our recipients; create a supportive work environment; and, conduct themselves professionally at all times.
Translators without Borders is an equal-opportunity employer, committed to diversity and inclusion, and encourages qualified candidates of all genders and from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.**
How to apply:
Follow this link to apply.
