Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women will work 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 centre of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The current global policy context provides an historic opportunity to make considerable gains in ending violence against women and girls. Increased political will, strengthened UN resolve, the launch of the UN Secretary-General’s Campaign on ending violence against women, are all conducive and positive signs in this regard. At the root of gender-based violence are the discriminatory attitudes and practices towards women that perpetuate it: These can only be transformed by first changing the ‘hearts and minds’ of the public at large.

A strong component of this post is geared towards communications with and mobilization of the mass media, the private sector and other non-traditional partners and outlets, as well as to capture the imagination and interest of potential donors. UN Women is searching for an experienced professional committed to gender equality who can bring the necessary expertise to develop and implement multi-pronged, multi-media communications strategies to achieve advocacy, outreach and resource mobilization goals on ending violence against women and girls. To reach new audiences and funders, a strong communications background is essential, including use of the internet and modern technologies.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Senior Adviser and Chief of the Ending Violence against Women section of UN Women in New York, and working in close coordination and consultation with the relevant staff of the team, other HQ sections and country offices, the Communications and Outreach Specialist would be responsible for:
  • Overall, developing multi-year, multi-pronged and multi-media communications and outreach strategies, plans and products to advance work and resource mobilization on ending violence against women and girls, including across the organization’s global flagship and leading initiatives;
  • Engaging the socially-responsible private sector in new concepts and initiatives developed by the section;
  • Developing a public information and outreach plan supporting the strategy’s implementation with targeted constituencies and audiences;
  • Establishing close links and partnerships with external stakeholders, including women’s groups and related campaigns on ending violence against women to identify and establish synergies, including the Secretary-General’s Campaign at global and regional levels;
  • Developing and overseeing production of related promotional materials, messages, publications, campaigns, press releases, events and other products aimed at diverse constituencies and audiences, and contributing communications-oriented expertise in the development of high-quality donor and programme reports;
  • Providing conceptual leadership and oversight for the maintenance of the section of UN Women’s website on ending violence against women;
  • Providing oversight of related public events and panels at United Nations Headquarters, among other venues, including with UN Missions and other government representatives, civil society organizations, and private sector partners, and liaising with UN Conference services as needed;
  • Identifying, enlisting and managing relations and workplans with celebrity and other high-profile spokespersons on ending violence against women as needed;
  • Liaising with, and providing technical advice and support to, UN Women sub-regional offices on communications and private sector outreach initiatives on ending violence against women and girls as requested;
  • Providing ongoing support to the Senior Advisor on Ending Violence Against Women as regards writing of advocacy, communications, speeches, op-eds/articles, soundbytes for the media and talking points for events, press, or other communication-related needs for the section, the Executive Director’s office or other purposes as needed;
  • Identifying the capacities, partners, and budgets required to implement the strategy;
  • Managing the budget allocated for the sections’ communications and outreach, as well as related contractual agreements, hiring and consultancies;
  • Reporting on progress, applying results-based management and indicators established in the strategy and plans;
  • Other tasks as may be required and requested by the supervisor.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies: 
  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
  • Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women.
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
Functional Competencies:
 
Knowledge Management and Learning
  • Shares knowledge and experience and contributes to UN Women Practice Areas.
  • Encourages office staff to share knowledge and contribute to UN Women Practice Areas.
  • Develops deep knowledge in Practice Areas.
  • Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.  
Development and Operational Effectiveness
  • Ability to elaborate and implement communications and publications strategies.
  • Ability to effectively develop, implement and manage advocacy and communications strategies and plans.
  • Demonstrates excellent ability to write and communicate orally with accuracy and professionalism in English.
  • Communicates sensitively and effectively across different constituencies.
  • Demonstrates strong IT skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
  • Master's degree in communications, media relations, journalism, or related field.
Experience:
  • The candidate will have a minimum of 7 experience in designing, managing and developing communications and outreach programmes;
  • General knowledge of and strong commitment to gender equality, women’s empowerment and ending violence against women;
  • Prior experience working with the United Nations and in developing countries an asset;
  • Self-starter with an entrepreneurial and creative spirit, ability to multi-task under pressure, and strong capacity to work in a team as well as independently with minimal supervision to complete tasks.
Language Requirements:
  • Ability to work in other UN languages an asset, especially Spanish and French.
NOTE:
 
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment. More information on UN Women can be found through www.unwomen.org.
 
All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.