UNDP Jobs - 62600- International Consultant to Support Joint UN Advoc

International Consultant to Support Joint UN Advocacy

Location :

Home Based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Feb-2016

Application Deadline :

11-Jan-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

8 Months

Languages Required :

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

A new era of global public engagement and communications has commenced. New communications technologies are reflecting the voices of an increasingly wider spectrum of stakeholders, enabling them to play a larger role in advocacy efforts. To engage people in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), strong communications and advocacy at country level on the part of UN county teams are required. Joint advocacy and public engagement are critical components to advance the normative and operational components of the sustainable development agenda.

A UNDG Working Group on Communications and Advocacy was established in 2015 to ensure UN country teams are collectively fit for purpose to deliver on the emerging sustainable development agenda. Bringing together senior-level communications leaders from over 18 UN entities, and led by UNICEF and UN Women, the working group is intended to support country-level work in this sphere. It provides tools and guidance to UN county teams as they work to promote the global sustainable development agenda.

The key guidelines for UN Country Teams which the Working Group has been promoting is on Communicating As One, which is one of the pillars of the Standard Operating Procedures for countries adopting the ‘Delivering As One’ approach. The document references advocacy, but mostly in the context of advocacy messaging. While some 20 percent of UN Country Team report that they have joint advocacy strategies, the guidance on Communicating As One does not elaborate on this critical function for the UN development system.

Key areas of learning to develop UNDG support tools for joint advocacy among UNCTs include the following:

How to define advocacy objectives including special focus on factors that warrant joint advocacy;
How to identify target audiences;
How to engage advocacy partners;
Steps to define joint advocacy messages;
Options for dissemination: formal and informal;
How to assess progress: how do we know what joint advocacy success looks like;
Specific areas to consider on advocacy for sustainable development, especially on inter-sectoral issues which warrant an integrated approach.

Since advocacy is context-based, the UNDG Communications and Advocacy Working Group recently conducted a scanning exercise of country-level joint advocacy experiences, identifying three experiences (Lebanon, the Pacific Region, and Tanzania) for further research and development as case studies. These case studies will focus on common elements that will be analyzed by a UNDG Working Group task team as the potential elements of joint advocacy tools and principles.

In Lebanon, in an effort to increase visibility of the UN work in Lebanon on both domestic and international levels, the UN Communication Group supported the design and development of a UN mobile application to enable sharing of news and updates on the work of the agencies, programmes and funds. Also, the app aims to contribute to common messaging and communication of the UNCT in Lebanon.

In the Pacific, the UN pursued a ‘Free and Equal’ campaign. With the leadership of UN OHCHR Regional Office for the Pacific, a pool of UN agencies (UN Women, UNDP, UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNV, WHO, IFAD), Asia-Pacific Forum and foreign donors are organizing a regional launch of Free & Equal. The purpose of the Pacific campaign launch is to provide regional and national platforms for the Free & Equal campaign, which has the overall goal of supporting the Pacific human rights movements and governments in order to achieve equality for all regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

In Tanzania, the UN Country Team partnered with the national government and civil society to advocate on behalf of persons with Albinism. UNESCO coordinated joint workshops on behalf of the Country Team; WHO focused on the rights and wellbeing of individuals with albinism; the UNHCR addressed concerns within refugee camps; and, UNICEF worked to further advocacy and the protection of children with albinism.

As joint advocacy is a new area for global support, the UNDG working group has agreed that case studies will be developed in order to identify factors of success, areas that are sensitive, and do’s and don’ts. The case studies will be structured according to key learning areas common to joint advocacy. Furthermore, the Working Group would like to base its support work in 2016 on those UN Country Teams that already have joint advocacy strategies. Therefore it is envisaged that interviews would be conducted with 7-10 of those country teams, which have joint.

Under the Working group’s early plans for 2016 is a guidance document on principles of joint advocacy (do’s and don’ts) to support the advocacy efforts of UN Country Teams. These written products will serve as material for a workshop bringing together key UN advocators to build a network around advocacy for the Sustainable Development Goals. A final report and actionable recommendations will be produced, synthesizing key takeaways from the workshop.

This work will be overseen by the UNDG Working Group on Communications and Advocacy, task team on advocacy, which would serve as a task team for this work, together with the UN Development Operations Coordination Office (UN DOCO), which serves as the secretariat to the UNDG Working Group on Communications and Advocacy.

Duties and Responsibilities

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The purpose of the consultancy is to 1) write up three case studies (5-7 pages each); 2) Create key elements of advocacy document (20 pages in length) drawing from case studies and 7-10 interviews with UN advocators; 3) Serve as lead facilitator and content provider for a joint advocacy workshop.

Job content: Guided by a task team made up of the UNDG Communications and Advocacy Working Group (the Secretariat being UN DOCO), the consultant is expected to produce the following:

Research and write three joint advocacy Case studies (5-7 pages each)

Research and write three case studies, based on the three country advocacy experiences. The case studies would be structured according to the key learning areas outlined above (Objectives, Audiences, Messages, etc.) Three drafts are expected, for comment by the steering committee and revision. All drafts are subject to the input and approval of the task team managing this part of the UNDG Communications and Advocacy Working Group workplan.

Create ‘key elements of advocacy’ document (20 pages in length) drawing from case studies and 7-10 interviews with UN advocators

Research and write the elements of joint advocacy document based on 7-10 interviews. This guidance will be based on the case studies and interviews and will include a common set of advocacy learning areas developed through the case studies and adapted as needed.

Lead facilitator and content provider for an advocacy workshop {Pending review by the task team of the case studies and the ‘elements of joint advocacy’ document}

If after review of deliverables 1-2 the task team sees the value of a face to face event, the consultant will serve as lead workshop designer and primary facilitator for a 1 ½ day workshop that will bring together colleagues from the UNDG Communications and Advocacy Working Group. The case studies, interviews and principles of advocacy will serve as inputs.

The workshop will be designed by a task team of the UNDG Working Group on Communications and Advocacy to:

Consolidate country experience on joint advocacy;
Agree on key principles & key elements of advocacy practice;
Develop a plan of action to support UN Country Team in joint advocacy for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Duration of work:

The consultant will be engaged during the period between 1 February to 31 October 2016, including a trip to New York for the workshop.

Competencies

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Proven track record of leading advocacy workshops in a UN context.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Minimum Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication.

Experience:

Minimum of 5 years’ experience in Information Technology and web project management experience;
Extensive experience with supporting UN agencies to design and deliver advocacy strategies;
Experience working with inter-agency advocacy efforts, ideally through UNDG mechanisms;
Experience writing and researching cogent, clear and convincing case studies on sustainable development issues;
Proven track record of leading advocacy workshops in a UN context;
Demonstrated ability to translate UN jargon into plain language;
Experience working with inter-agency advocacy efforts, ideally through UNDG mechanisms;
Experience writing and researching cogent, clear and convincing case studies on sustainable development issues;
Extensive experience with supporting UN agencies to design and deliver advocacy strategies.

Language:

Fluent in English.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

All proposals must be expressed as two all-inclusive lump sum amounts (one with the workshop included, one without), including, for the workshop, travel to, and accommodation in, New York.

Evaluation Criteria

Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%.

The following documentation is requested for the presentation of offer:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and submission of financial proposal;
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
Technical proposal: a Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.