Trainer / Media and Counter-Narratives Specialist

Sustainable Peace Foundation (SPF) is an Iraqi feminist Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) striving to build and sustain peace through vertical and horizontal approaches and participatory methods; addressing root causes of tensions and conflicts challenging positive peace in Iraq. SPF strives to achieve this by working on the grassroots level to reinstate and strengthen the lost trust between Iraq’s diverse ethno-religious communities; increase community resilience, empower and building the capacities of the very effected communities so they can mitigate and transform conflicts through dialogue and non-violent means.

SPF strives to achieve these objectives by working with vulnerable groups such as, youth, women and girls, people with special needs and IDPs through developing their capacities to take leadership roles and to actively participate in the peace and reconciliation processes; economically empower communities by offering them vocational trainings and providing them with livelihood means to ensure stability and a dignified living standard.

SPF also strives to engage local authority and security actors with the local communities through advocacy, round table dialogue sessions and developing local peace mechanisms and structures capable to acts as soundboards conveying their communities’ needs and challenges. Another pillar of SPF’s efforts is to support and capacitate Iraq’s civil society for example, SPF provide the technical coordination and the secretariat of Nineveh Peace Forum, which it is a founder.  

SPF also provides consultations for local and international NGOs on peacebuilding and social cohesion programming, such as: context analysis, needs assessments, actor and service mapping etc.

SPF’s focuses on minority protection, but through its Do-no-Harm approach, which ensures that SPF programming and implementation creates cohesion instead of doing harm.


Project Aims

The Project Manager will lead the implementation of “Voices Without Hate: Promoting Ethical Media and Protecting Minority Rights in Dohuk”, a three-month intervention implemented by the Sustainable Peace Foundation.

The project aims to reduce online hate speech and the risk of violence affecting minority communities in Dohuk by empowering minority youth and local media actors to detect early warning signs of incitement, apply ethical and fact-based media practices, and produce positive counter-narratives that promote human rights, peaceful coexistence, and social cohesion.

Terms of Reference

The Trainer will be responsible for the following tasks:

1. Design a context-specific training curriculum aligned with the project’s Theory of Change and indicators

2. • Online hate speech and incitement dynamics

   • Early warning indicators and escalation pathways

   • Ethical journalism and responsible digital engagement

   • Fact-checking, counter-narratives, and non-confrontational responses

   • Media safety, do-no-harm, and conflict sensitivity

     Integrate modules on:

3. Ensure training content is inclusive, gender-responsive, and minority-sensitive

4. Deliver a 3-day interactive workshop, using participatory and practical methodologies

5. Facilitate joint learning between minority youth and local media actors

6. Coordinate closely with the Project Manager to ensure alignment with project outputs and timeline

Deliverables

The Trainer is expected to deliver the following:

• A detailed training agenda and session plan (prior to the workshop)

• Training materials (presentations, exercises, case studies, handouts)

• Successful delivery of one 3-day capacity-building workshop

• Participant attendance lists and brief session summaries

• A short post-training report including:

  • Overview of training delivered

  • Key learning outcomes

  • Participant engagement and feedback

  • Recommendations for follow-up mentoring

    

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Media Studies, Journalism, Communications, Peace and Conflict Studies, Human Rights, International Development, or a related field

• Proven experience (minimum 5 years) in delivering trainings on:

  • Ethical media and journalism

  • Online hate speech, misinformation, or counter-narratives

  • Youth engagement or social cohesion programming

   

• Demonstrated experience working with minority communities and/or journalists

Preferred Skills and Competencies

• Strong understanding of Iraq's and Duhok' media and social cohesion dynamics

• Practical experience with conflict-sensitive communication and do-no-harm approaches

• Excellent facilitation and participatory training skills

• Ability to translate complex concepts into practical, accessible tools

• Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills

• Fluency in Arabic; Assyrian (also known as Syriac) and Kurdish (Bahdini) is a strong asset

• High ethical standards and sensitivity when working on identity-based issues

Interested candidates should submit their CV and a cover letter outlining their relevant experience and motivation for the role to hr@sustainablepeacefoundation.org. Please include "Trainer / Media and Counter-Narratives Specialist" in the subject line of your email. Please note applications without cover letters will not be considered and female candidates are encouraged to apply. 

For more information about the Sustainable Peace Foundation visit our website at www.sustainablepeacefoundation.org.