UN WOMEN Jobs - 69631- Consultant-SSA International

Consultant-SSA International - Freelance Graphic Design

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Home-Based, AFGHANISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

10-Dec-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

12 Months on a retainer basis

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

12 Months

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

N Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women and 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; and, the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action, 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 support to Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women is dedicated to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in Afghanistan. Since 2002, it has supported the development, monitoring and implementation of policies and programs that both protect and promote the rights of women. Staff and consultants of UN Women’s Afghanistan Country Office (ACO) are expected to contribute to a professional working environment in which the strengthening of national capacities and human potential is prioritised. Respect for diversity and human dignity is required, as is the active pursuit of a collaborative and inclusive approach to both internal and external stakeholders, including colleagues and partners. UN Women has revised its internal structure so as to ensure greater cohesion between the program areas, and envisions three pillars: Elimination of Violence Against Women Pillar (EVAWP), Political and Economic and Empowerment (PEEP), Coordination and Advocacy Pillar (CAP).

The ACO is engaged in intensified partnership building efforts to carry out its mandate. In order to capitalise on this interest, it is important that the office consistently presents itself with one voice, positions itself as a thought and action leader on women’s empowerment and gender equality, and demonstrates the impact and results of its interventions. Advocacy and communications, i.e. initiatives that provide and use information with a clearly defined objective, are pivotal in this regard.

It also is important to improve awareness levels of policy makers, donors, and the general public through advocacy and communication initiatives and sensitise policy makers in order to prioritize gender equality and the empowerment of women agenda at the national level.

Recently the ACO has drafted a communications and advocacy strategy that requires implementation, which has the following objectives:

UN Women Worldwide Objective: To support the positioning of women’s empowerment and gender equality as key issues in Afghanistan and to establish UN Women’s role as the global authority in this context.

ACO Objective 1. To build awareness and understanding of UN Women’s role and impact in Afghanistan, in order to foster goodwill and trust in UN Women’s effectiveness as well as commitment and action towards bringing about lasting change for women in Afghanistan.

ACO Objective 2. To contribute to the larger national dialogue around achieving gender equality in order to increase awareness and understanding amongst the general public, international community and government of its overall importance, existing gaps, progress, recommendations and the work that is underway.

ACO Objective 3. To actively support resource mobilisation from current and potential partners and donors to ensure the continuation of UN Women’s programming and continued progress toward accomplishing UN Women’s mandate.

While high quality content is key in achieving these objectives, it is also essential that the ACO’s advocacy and communications materials are consistently branded, easy to understand and aesthetically attractive.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the Consultancy:

To ensure ACO’s advocacy and communications materials use branding consistent with global and regional guidelines, attract attention and present the content in a way that is easy to follow.

Key Outputs:

Graphic design of materials ranging from programme briefs through to large publications as needed.

Key Responsibilities/Functions:

Work with the Communications Officer to draft a work plan for the 12-month period that includes a list of the publications/materials expected to require design services during the 12 months, as well as the retainer contract engagement mechanisms;
Developing design concepts in line with briefing from Communications Officer and existing guidelines;
Work with Communications Officer to finalise drafts and changes from ACO programme staff;
Provide print-ready files to ACO Communications Officer;
Provide original design files with all related elements to ACO once finalised.

Competencies

Strong and proven integrity, time management; work prioritisation skills, and work under pressure;
Understanding of current design trends and software, and how to present a variety of information visually;
Understanding of UN Women’s worldwide overall goal, as well as the strategic objectives from the ACO’s communications strategy, is an asset;
Ability to work effectively as a team member, especially when working remotely;
Demonstrated sensitivity, discretion, tact and courtesy in relation to gender equality and women’s rights, development principles and projects, implementing partners, and national and international personnel of varied nationalities and backgrounds;
Excellent communication skills, written and oral;
Commitment to upholding the organizational values and principles of UN Women/Afghanistan;
Excellent and proven skills in representing statistical and textual information in visually creative ways;
Excellent and proven skills in creating materials for professional printing and online display;
Understanding of the social, cultural, and political context of Afghanistan and its impact on women and girls an advantage;
Ability to properly set priorities, manage time effectively, and contribute to a team environment of respect, recognition, and mutual accountability in multi-agency, multi-cultural setting;
Strong and proven integrity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Technical diploma, preferably in a social science field (communications, political science, sociology, anthropology), design or other related field.

Experiences:

2 years of progressively relevant professional experience;
Extensive work experience and proven record in graphic design;
Experience working with Dari and Pashto script is an asset;
Familiarity with gender and issues related to empowerment of women is an asset;
Creative thinking and ability to take initiative;
Proficiency in the use of design, illustration and photo editing software, in particular InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe DC;
Understanding of UN Women procedures, rules and regulations an asset.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English;
Knowledge of local languages (Dari and Pashto) is plus.

Application Process:
The application process comprises of below listed documents.

An updated CV (maximum 4 pages) and UN P-11;
Cover letter, which should include remuneration requirements (daily rate) and contact information for three work-related referees who have remianed your direct supervisor;
Examples and/or links to examples, of previous work in the area of graphic design (3 maximum, each file no larger than 1GB)
Applications not containing all of the above information will not be reviewed;
Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows uploading a maximum of one document;
Please note that applications received after the closing date will not be given consideration. Only short-listed candidates whose applications respond to the above criteria will be contacted for an interview;
Qualified female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.