Roles of the Communications Department

· The communications department is responsible for the implementation of communications; both internally and externally. 

· The Director of Communications works with junior personnel of the communications department as well with other department’s directors and stakeholders within the institution to develop suitable communications plans and strategies. 

· The Director of Communications shall also ensure that communications and IT support are constantly being provided by the communications and IT officers and that the messages in the content stays consistent and accurately represents the NYS values and objectives.

· The Communications department is also tasked with building relationships within and without the institution. The Director shall establish meaningful relationships internally across the directorates and externally with stakeholders and media personnel, leading to an increased generation of content in the media and on social media platforms. This, in turn, leads to audience segmentation and promotes measurable action.

· The Director of Communications will also collaborate with the Human Resource department to deploy approaches for the communications department’s employee recruitment. This is to ensure that key personnel within the department are competent enough to perform the duties of their positions and guarantee the achievement of the department’s goals and objectives. He additionally partners up and works closely with creative teams, as mentioned above, in the development of media content submissions, case studies, consumer and executive interview materials, and internal employee updates.

· The Communications Department also performs other duties as deems fit for efficient execution of duties and duties delegated by the Executive Director.

Objectives of the Communications Department

The objective of the communications department is to popularize and promote the activities of the scheme, provide General IT support to the directorate to achieve the objectives of the NYS scheme as stipulated in the 2016 National Youth Service Act which is as follows: 

• Develop common ties and a sense of common destiny among young people to promote national unity and integration.
• Eliminate ignorance, remove prejudices and promote an understanding of the many similarities among ethnic groups in Sierra Leone.
• Promote an equitable distribution of service members and the utilization of their skills to better fulfil the country’s needs.
• Assign youth outside their regions and districts of origin to develop a sense of patriotism and national ownership.
• Create a sense of awareness about the cultural diversity in Sierra Leone.
• Encourage a sense of religious tolerance among service members by accommodating religious differences.
• Provide opportunities for employment all over Sierra Leone, to promote the free movement of labour at the end of national service.
• Encourage employers who have had experience with qualified service members to provide them with employment irrespective of their region of origin.
• Undertake projects designed to combat hunger, illiteracy, disease and unemployment.
• Help to provide essential services and amenities, particularly in rural communities.

Promote the spirit of voluntarism among the youth of Sierra Leone.