UN WOMEN Jobs - 56814- Communication Expert (Gender and Constitutional Re

Communication Expert (Gender and Constitutional Reform Process)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Monrovia, LIBERIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

16-Jun-2015

Application Deadline :

04-Jun-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 Weeks

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

3 Weeks

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

About UN Women Liberia:

UN Women is the UN entity for gender equality and women's empowerment and works towards supporting member states implement international commitments and standards through the provision of technical and financial assistance to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society. Within this context UN Women provides support to counties undergoing constitutional reform and ensuring the reform processes take into account the rights and needs of women. In various countries, UN Women has advocated for women's inclusion in constitution-building and review processes, including participating and providing technical assistance to constitutional review committees and drafting bodies; drafting and supporting constitutional provisions that guarantee women's participation in all branches and at all levels of government; engaging women in government, including support to women's caucuses and women in constitutional review committees; advocating for inclusive, participatory process that connects to grassroots women; engaging women in civil society to participate in the process, disseminate information, and effectively advocate to decision makers in the constitutional review process and facilitating consensus building processes and strategic planning.

About the Consultancy:

Liberia is currently undergoing constitutional review, and as part of this process, several stakeholder consultations have taken place throughout the country since 2013. Though there was halt to this process in Mid-2014 due to the EVD outbreak, the government has now embarked on the process and the most recent event was the National Constitutional Conference on the draft amendments that was conducted in April 2015. UN Women’s contribution to the National Conference was to support the convening and facilitation of a pre-conference for women to agree on a Minimum Agenda for Women in the constitutional amendments. All the amendments that were agreed upon by women from the pre-conference, were presented to the main conference and adopted.

The next steps in lead to the national referendum is to conduct a series of initiatives to ensure public education on the proposed amendments, as well as engagements with members of legislature for voting to pass these amendments, particularly those that relate to women and gender equality. With this background, the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection and the Women Constitutional Review Taskforce, UN Women was to provide technical support for the developing of a strategy that will provide a roadmap and activities to be implemented in lead-up to the referendum. As part of the strategy and roadmap, UN Women will be engaging Communications expert on gender and constitutional reforms to support the development of a communication and advocacy strategy that will engage stakeholders at all levels in the review process.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

In consonance with the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection and the Women Constitutional Review Taskforce develop a communication and advocacy strategy targeting various stakeholders including: The Executive; The National Legislature, Parliamentarians and their constituents;
Support the development of appropriate messaging and advocacy materials around the women issues;
Build capacity of women groups, UN Women and Ministry of Gender in communication particularly on women representation.

Description of Functions:

In consonance with the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection and the Women Constitutional Review Taskforce develop a communication and advocacy strategy targeting various stakeholders including: The Executive; The National Legislature; Parliamentarians and their constituents

Facilitate consultation with women groups and well as ley actors in the development of the strategy;
Draft the strategy with reference to ongoing constitutional processes in the country. This should also draw from other existing advocacy strategies on women empowerment.
Conduct a series of validation sessions with stakeholders – integrating their feedback into the strategy
Finalize and share the strategy with the stakeholders including facilitating a dissemination workshop with partners;
Position the communication and advocacy strategy to be able to mobilize resources for the women issues.

Support the development of appropriate messaging around the women issues: Include a plan for the collections of signatures ( buy-in)to support the women’s issues:

With support from UN Women communications specialist and other communications expert, review and develop key messages that relate to the constitutional review process and the Minimum agenda for women in the constitution;
Develop an action plan for the process to mobilize support including signatures to support the amendments in the constitution;
Review and develop other relevant and appropriate materials to be used to raise awareness and advocacy on the constitutional reform process – at national and sub national levels.

Build capacity of women groups, UN Women and Ministry of Gender in communication particularly on women representation

Conduct tailored trainings and capacity building initiatives for staff within UN Women, as well as the key gender machineries on effective communication and advocacy;
Support the review of existing materials and messages on women empowerment especially in the area of women representation in decision making;
Provide support to UN Women communications team to explore alternatives for improved communication in the key thematic areas in the Country Office, in line with national priorities on gender and women empowerment.

Deliverable(s):

A Communication and Advocacy Strategy available for the constitutional reform process;
Training on ‘Communication for Advocacy’ to the Women Constitutional Review Taskforce;
Develop a series of materials to support the advocacy on the Minimum Constitutional Agenda for women in Liberia.

Competencies

Core values and 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.

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: Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences in advocating for UN Women's mandate within the broader context of Communicating;
Builds Strategic Partnerships: Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders; Establishes and nurtures positive communication with partner;
Promoting organizational learning and knowledge sharing: Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.
Creating Visibility for UN Women/Supporting UN Women's Capacity to Advocate.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Journalist, Media Relations, Development, Gender or related field.

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years’ experience in communications at the national or international level, including experience in media relations. Experience in on-line outreach and multimedia an asset;Experience working in large development agency also pertinent;
Good IT skills, including databases and office software packages;
Familiarity with gender issues. Familiarity with UN Women and UN system is an asset;
Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required.