Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development; human rights; as well as humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The UN Women Albania programme is framed under the GoA and UN Programme of Cooperation 2012-2016 and it supports government, civil society and gender equality advocates in cooperation with UN agencies and international development partners to achieve national and international commitments towards gender equality.
UN Women more specific areas of programme intervention focus on:
  • Women’s leadership and political participation;
  • Women’s economic empowerment;
  • Gender Responsive Budgeting;
  • Gender mainstreaming;
  • Violence against women;
  • Statistics.
During implementation of Annual Workplans as well as to achieve results in the above mentioned areas, UN Women will organize a series of different events such as launching of publications or reports, study visits in support to main partners, conferences, campaigns, trainings, and field visits that will be held in Tirana and in other regions where programme is being implemented. These events require adequate media coverage and visibility conveying specific messages and targeting specific audiences. Moreover, UN Women will also regularly contribute with articles related to UN Women Albania mandate, activities and results to be published in different websites (UN Albania, UN Women/Region, UN Women HQ etc.) the Donors’ newsletter of DSDC Albania and Facebook page.

UN Women Albania has already developed a Communication Strategy to ensure higher visibility to its mandate, activities and results. Among the main recommendations made in the strategy was the need to ensure a systematic and strategic coverage of UN Women Albania activities. Another main communication document is the Strategy on Social Media recommending and increased visibility of UN Women work also on the social media.

In light of these needs, UN Women Albania is recruiting a National Media Expert to support UN Women outreach and communication in Albania. Recommendations from both communication documents together with the direct work with programme coordinators will guide the workplan and results expected by the National Media Expert.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Representative, direct supervision of the Office Communication Focal Point and in collaboration with Programme Staff, the National Media Expert will be tasked to:
  • Based on main Communication Documents, Office and specific Programme objectives suggest a media plan to ensure systematic media coverage to increase office visibility and targeted outreach both in different media outlets such as print, online and TV;
  • Ensure strategic, innovative as well as regular media coverage of office and programme activities in the above mentioned areas (with an emphasis on preparation of articles, but also press releases, press conferences, photo coverage and interviews etc.);
  • Revive women’s media network and strengthen their partnership with UN Women;
  • Prepare key advocacy messages based on UN Women Strategic Plan to be used throughout 2014 by all office staff;
  • Draft at least two gender-related articles to be published in different media outlets for each programme areas, with adapted versions on specific web sites (minimum 8 articles);
  • Contribute in writing articles to be posted in 3 websites and one newsletter as well as small texts to describe different events on social media as requested;
  • Support liaison with Albanian Media and different journalists to increase office visibility;
  • Coordinate with UN Communication focal points in joint events and activities.
Duration and remuneration

The duration of the consultancy will be until 31st December 2014. It is estimated that the above tasks would require 80 working days during this period. Payment will be made in installments upon submission of time-sheet and certification by the UN Women Representative and Communication Focal Point.

Competencies

  • Solid analytical skills;
  • Writing and communication skills in both Albanian and English;
  • Familiar with gender and human rights messages and theories, publications or work on these areas would be considered an asset;
  • Ability to work in an independent manner and organize the workflow efficiently.

Required Skills and Experience

Education/academic qualifications:
  • Advanced university degree in journalism, social sciences, public relations, development studies, gender studies or similar.
Work experience:
  • A minimum of 6 years expertise and demonstrated experience in the field of media and public relations;
  • The expert should be author of publications and/or different articles in public media or other mediums and have experience and proven records in preparing reports, guidelines or similar;
  • Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system is considered an asset.
Language requirement:
  • Fluency in English (spoken and written).
Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
  • Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
  • Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:
Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points
 
Application Procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online. The application should contain:
  • Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
  • Filled P11 form including past experiences in similar projects and contact details from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/ (please upload the P11 form instead of your CV). Make sure to include in 3 references in the P11 format where is requested.
  • Financial Proposal – please specify the daily fee for this expertise in Albanian Leke. No travel expenses and per diems are needed as these costs will be covered by UN Women Albania.
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested documents with relevant description on duties in your P11 form.