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; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, 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.

UN Women is implementing a program in Lebanon on economically empowering and addressing violence against vulnerable women and youth in host communities in Lebanon. With the overall goal to enhance gender equality in Lebanon, the program seeks to:

  1.  Empower economically vulnerable women and youth through income generation activities to enable them support their livelihoods.
  2.  Address violence against women and youth and support women’s meaningful participation in community decision making processes

More specifically, it aims to:

  • Understand the root causes of gender inequality in order to develop tools and conduct evidence-based advocacy for policy change;
  • Strengthen the capacities and networks of civil society organizations, with a particular focus on the sustainability of new and emerging movements including youth groups;
  • Develop community-based solutions to promote gender equality based on innovative approaches and South-South exchanges;
  • The programme is being implemented by the UN Women in Lebanon;
  • Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Programme Manager, the Media and Communication Officer ensures effective communication of the programme at the Lebanon Office and Regional Office for Arab States. The assignment requires intermittent presence on UN-Women premises.

Objective of the Assignment:

  • To increase the program’s capacity to communicate effectively and enhance the strategic positioning of the program. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The Media and Communication Officer will have the following duties and responsibilities:

  • Provide leadership in developing and managing the implementation of the programs’ communication strategy and plan in line with the corporate strategy.
  • Support the development of knowledge products based on research findings.
  • Set up a web platform to raise awareness, engage the public and upload key knowledge products.
  • Oversee the development of an advocacy and communication toolkit for youth
  • Oversee and maintain regional program outreach and produce communication material for public outreach.
  • Coordinate communication activities at national level. 

Expected Places of Travel:  

  • Travel to areas within Lebanon where the programs are implemented may be required for this assignment.

Competencies

CORE COMPETENCIES

  • Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity
  • Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
  • Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative
  • Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
  • Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication
  • Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others
  • Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
  • Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge
  • Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda:

 Preparing information for advocacy;

  1. Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating UNW’s mandate

Results-Based Programme Development and Management:

Contributes into results through primary research and analysis;

  1. Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work
  2. Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration
  3. Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation
  4. Analyzes country situation to identify opportunities for project development
  5. Participates in the formulation of project proposals and ensures substantive rigor in the design and application of proven successful approaches and drafts proposals accordingly

Building Strategic Partnerships:

 Maintaining a network of contacts;

  1. Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues
  2. Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders

 Innovation and Marketing New Approaches: 

Enhancing processes or products;

  1. Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things
  2. Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches

 Resource Mobilization:

 Providing inputs to resource mobilization strategies;

  1. Analyzes information/databases on potential and actual donors
  2. Develops a database of project profiles.  Identifies opportunities for project proposals for presentation to donors

 Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

 Basic research and analysis;

  1. Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things
  2. Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

Fundamental knowledge of own discipline;

  1. Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position
  2. Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks
  3. Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning
  4. Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments
  5. Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments

 Client Orientation:

 Establishing effective client relationships;

  1. Researches potential solutions to internal and external client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate fashion
  2. Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines
  3. Anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly 

CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

  • Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
  • Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
  • Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

  • Master’s degree in journalism and communication; or related disciplines.

Experience:

  • A minimum of 4 years of experience in the communication field;
  • Traceable record of work on similar projects;
  • Communication literacy, electronic networks and software used for communication purposes
  • Good experience with social media;
  • Familiar with gender issues. Familiar with UN Women and UN system is an asset
  • Significant experience in the Middle East and North Africa is a strong asset.

Language Requirements:

  •  Fluency in Arabic and English.