Jonathan Crickx

Background

About Jonathan Crickx

Chief of Communication, Media Advisor, Specialist in Strategic Communications and former Journalist. 13-year background in radio and television journalism and 10-year experience as media and communication expert, including with UNICEF and the EU, in challenging international environments. As Chief of Communication for UNICEF Egypt, I am supervising a team of 9 who are actively committed to ensuring a strong visibility of UNICEF in Egypt. In this role, I am covering all aspects of communication and advocacy, from donor visibility to field visits, documentation of programme activities and social media. With the support of the team, I delivered campaigns, public service announcements and events involving National Ambassadors, advocating for key issues faced by children as well as reinforcing the image and the presence of UNICEF in Egypt. In the course of the past years, I developped a strong edge in terms of social media visibility and campaigning, including for social and behavioral change. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic for example, I co-chaired with WHO the Risk Communication and Community Engagement group. More specifically, I developed and implemented the communication strategy for vaccine demand generation, in close cooperation with WHO and the Ministry of Health. This led to a large-scale national campaign on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and demand generation, which achieved an impressive reach of 106 million and an engagement of 3.6 million in 2021. This achievement was supported by META and Yale University as part of an innovative approach to digital marketing for social & behavioral change communication. In my two previous assignments, I worked for the European External Action Service in Palestine and Afghanistan. As Spokesperson and acting Political Advisor in Palestine, I was responsible for providing strategic advice and political guidance to the senior management. As Media Advisor to the European Union Special Representative, I was promoting the visibility of development programmes of the EU in Afghanistan by engaging with relevant member states, national partners, international organizations and media. From the very particular life of a media newsroom to the confinement of Kabul premises, I have learned to cooperate with peers and lead the staff under my responsibility by active listening, using a supportive and transparent approach to nurture creative ideas and ensure timely deliverables against objectives.