UNDP Jobs - 50852- Expert in Media, Communication, Community Manageme

Expert in Media, Communication, Community Management, and Public Relations (for Judiciary, Prosecution Offices or other Official or Governmental Services or International Bodies or Organizations)

Location :

Manama, BAHRAIN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

29-Oct-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

4-weeks

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Following the events of February 2011, the King of Bahrain issued a decree establishing the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), tasked with investigating and reporting on the events and its related allegations. In November 2011, the BICI submitted its findings and recommendations in a report that has made published at the same time of its submission to the King.
The Government has immediately and fully accepted the BICI report and pledged to realize the recommendations included within the report. The report has mainly focused on the capacity and structure of the State institutions to address and prosecute the human rights allegations following the national and international standards, including:

Transferred jurisdiction of all investigations into death, torture, abuse and mistreatment from the Ministry of Interior to the Public Prosecution;
Established a new Special Inv;stigative Unit (from now on, SIU) to hold people responsible, with a senior Public Prosecutor, independent criminal investigators and newly established senior independent investigation counsellors;
Created a special investigatory unit at Ministry of Interior to determine the accountability of Government personnel who committed unlawful and negligent acts.

Thus, the Government and following the recommendations of the BICI report has transferred the jurisdiction of investigating and trying the human rights allegations from the MOI to the Public Prosecution office and has established a Special Investigation Unit with in the Public Prosecution office to look into cases of major human rights allegations.
As part of the Government’s efforts to address these challenges, it has approached a number of UN agencies to support with the implementation of the BICI recommendations. In particular, the Government has approached UNDP as the primary resident agency with relevant comparative advantage to provide relevant capacity-building technical assistance.

Following the Government’s request for UNDP support, an expert was deployed by UNDP to support the capacity building of the newly established Special Investigation Unit. The UNDP consultant organized workshops for 25 Public Officers including all the members of the SIU, and some Judges from the Ministry of Justice. These workshops consisted of fundamental concepts of International Criminal Law, the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. Moreover, discussions at the workshops covered the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Additional trainings were organized covering analysis of the Istanbul Protocol for the application of the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture and the guaranties of the due process using the international standards of the fair trial. Upon the success of these workshops demonstrated by the positive feedback from the Public Prosecution office, UNDP expert was deployed for a second time for capacity building purposes and also to engage in technical consultations with the Government on broader capacity building strategy aiming to develop the capacity of the Public Prosecution office.

The capacity building trainings and consultations with the Expert were regarded as preliminary steps undertaken to build the capacity of the Special Investigation Unit in specific. Following the consultations with the Expert, the Government has expressed the need for a continued collaboration with UNDP in order to undertake technical support and other capacity building activities in an integrated manner.
Among these other activities, UNDP is seeking a Specialist in Communication, Community Management, and Public Relations (for Judiciary, Prosecution Offices or other Official or Governmental Services or International Bodies or Organizations). During the one-year implementation of the project expert to ensure effective implementation of the project and support in enhancing the technical and institutional
capacities of the SIU at the Public Prosecution Office regarding its strategy of communication and relationship with the Media, Civil Society, NGOs, Human Rights Groups, Political actors, the Government and other National institutions in Bahrain, the International Community, International Bodies and Organizations, and other constituencies.

The current UNDP project was formulated with the aim to enhance capacity of the Special Investigation Unit to perform its role and assume its responsibilities in an efficient manner and according to international standards. The technical trainings and development of knowledge product tools are to increase the capacity of the staff of the Special Investigation Unit and in order to ensure better quality service delivery based on international standards

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UNDP Resident Representative and the supervision of the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and the Senior Project Advisor, the Expert in Communication and Media outreach is expected to evaluate in the first visit the existing communications capacities of the Public Prosecution and its Media plan of relationship with all the above mentioned national and international constituencies, regarding in particular those operating in the Arabic Gulf region.

Subsequently, the Expert must recommend changes to improve the communications of the Public Prosecution Office, initiate a communication strategy and design outreach programmes as part of the strategy of the Public Prosecution to inform the general public on its activities and initiatives. The Expert will take into account the relevant international standards and best practices, and will organize and provide training for effective and transparent communications for SIU staff.

In a second visit, the Communication Expert will review the progress and quality of activities of the PPO and SIU in their relationship with the media and other constituencies, finalize the Communication Strategy and Outreach Programme, organize the training on implementation of the Strategy, and enable a methodology of evaluation and refinement, as well as organize additional training activities as may be required, proposing or advising any additional improvements that may be needed.

For this purposes, the Expert in Communication and Media Strategy will:

Hold discussions with senior staff of Public Prosecution’s Office on strengthens and weaknesses of their communication strategy and outreach plans;
Review, and if needed, visit and interview the relevant representatives of media, and all the constituencies above mentioned to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the communications activities and procedures of the PPO and SIU from the point of view of the counterparts, to identify gaps and eventually recommend changes.

The purpose of the discussions, meetings, visits and interviews will be to identify improvements that may be recommended for increasing confidence in the transparency, functioning and effectiveness of the Public Prosecution, the SIU, and its performance. The Expert would focus on technical assistance such as methodologies, concepts, internal structures and capacities, etc.
All the technical assistance will be developed according to successful practices, offering to the Bahraini authorities the experience and example of communication strategies in similar cases addressed in other countries and institutions, using the international standards according to the relevant best practices generally accepted.

Specialized Tasks

Review the framework of media and other constituencies around which the Prosecutor General Office/Special Unit of the Kingdom of Bahrain must develop their task and handle the cases of abuses of human rights, with special attention to the media and public and private institutions operating in the Arabic Gulf region in regards to improve the relationship of the PPO-SIU with all these counterparts and a better communication to the public of their activity, management of cases, investigations and prosecutions.

Deliverables:

Assessment of the current media plan, recommending changes for improvements as needed;
An integrated “Communication Strategy” and “Outreach Program”;
Organize and conduct 3-4 training programmes on effective and transparent communication, the Implementation of Strategy and Methodology, evaluation and refinement of the Strategy and other areas according to the assessment report for SIU staff.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment
Positive, constructive attitude to work;
Proven experience in report writing and drafting.

Functional competencies:

Excellent analytical skills;
Excellent ability to communicate in Arabic and English both written and spoken, and to work in a team;
Understanding of the Arab Gulf region;
Ability to act professionally and flexibility to engage with government officials, development partner representatives, private sector and communities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master’s Degree) in Communications, Media management, Marketing, Public Relations, Journalism, or similar.

Experience:

At least 10 years of experience in the area of expertise. International experience in advising;
International experience in similar assignments, advising Courts, Prosecution Offices and Investigative Bodies, and high level Government officials would be important;
Experience in advising courts, prosecution offices and Investigative Bodies and high level Government officials;
Having knowledge of relevant human rights and international norms and standards, would be an asset. Experience working within the Arab Region is a major asset.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken Arabic and English are required.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal:

Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
Provide a brief methodology, outline and/or design of the work plan;
Personal CV including past experience in similar projects/assignments and at least 3 references.

Financial Proposal:

Lump sum contracts:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) as illustrated under the above Payment Modalities section;
In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of the lump sum amount (including travel, fees, and anticipated per diems).

Evaluation:

The proposals would undergo the cumulative analysis, as per the below given table, with 70% weightage to the technical criteria and 30% to the financial aspect.