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 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.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997. UN Women Palestine Office focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely, to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal, and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the Palestinian context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realization of following strategic goals:  Mainstreaming gender in governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

The Palestine UN Women office’s (PALCO) programme of work is set out in the Strategic Note 2018 – 2021, which is aligned with the global UN Women Strategic Plan and key international frameworks such as Agenda 2030, Beijing Platform for Action, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and other international norms and standards. A significant element of the Strategic Note is an enhanced strategic approach to communication , with the aim of increasing the visibility of the UN Women Palestine office and public awareness of both success stories and the specific gaps and challenges to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the region.  The Palestine office would like to adopt a number of communication  methodologies suited to the national context and able to attract and support the engagement of diverse stakeholder groups, with a strong emphasis on an enhanced and dynamic online presence.

Against this backdrop, UN Women in Palestine would like to bring on board a Communication and Social Media Consultant (Retainer). The overall objective of the proposed retainer contract is to provide UN Women Palestine Country Office with qualified expertise on communication to support the Office, and in collaboration with the Communication Officer, with its policy, coordination, programming and advocacy efforts. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Special Representative in the State of Palestine and in cooperation with the Communication Officer, the Consultant will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities

  • Support the development and dissemination of communication materials including press releases, articles, web-stories, media advisories, speeches, talking points, etc. 
  • Provide support to programme staff to embed communication into their work.
  • Support the enhancement of the quality, consistency and appropriateness of communication materials, activities, processes and messages.
  • Promotes visibility of PALCO’s results and activities through effective media relations, placement and distribution of information material.
  • Promote engagement with social media users, monitor web and social media traffic and generate monthly analytic reports, etc.
  • Support the Development of an online evaluation tool (Survey) to assess the impact of social media messaging on the target audience online.
  • Support the schedule of key global, regional and national events in 2022 that should be highlighted on PALCO’s social media and develop, in collaboration with the Communication Officer, social media messaging to be adapted in due course e.g. 16 Days of Activism against GBV, IWD, CEDAW, CSW, etc.
  • Submit monthly reports of the consultancy, with recommendations to continue strengthening PALCO’s social media presence. 

Deliverables:

The consultant (retainer) and the Task Manager shall agree on scope, methodology and the expected number of days for each requested deliverable; ahead of commencing any work is undertaken by the consultant to produce the deliverable. The consultant will be required to inform UN Women on the progress of their work on a regular basis. The Requester/ Task Manager shall share detailed scope of work for each product with estimated number of working days, timeframe for delivery of the product, to be discussed and agreed on with researcher.  Deliverables may include: communication and social media products developed and related actions (including press releases, human interest stories, social media materials, announcements, monthly social media analytics and messages, etc).

Competencies

Core Values

•       Respect for Diversity;

•       Integrity;

•       Professionalism.

Core Competencies

•       Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;

•       Accountability;

•       Creative Problem Solving;

•       Effective Communication;

•       Inclusive Collaboration;

•       Stakeholder Engagement;

•       Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

  • Excellent technical expertise on social media, online communication and dealing with different types of social media analytical tools.
  • Demonstrable experience in communicating on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
  • Ability and willingness to work as part of a team to meet tight deadlines and produce high-quality work.
  • Ability to manage time and meet tight deadlines;
  • Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates strong oral and excellent written communication skills;
  • 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;
  • Remains calm, in control and good humoured even under pressure;

Proven networking and organizational skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent in communication, journalism, political science, international relations or another related field. An additional two years of professional experience will be accepted in lieu of a master’s Degree. 

Experience

Language requirements

Professional proficiency in oral and written in Arabic and English is essential

Evaluation Criteria:

This SSA modality is governed by UN Women General Terms and Conditions. UN Women will only be able to respond to applicants who meet the minimum requirements.

Candidates should clearly indicate how they meet the above-mentioned criteria in their applications.

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:

Note: Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Please upload as one attachment of the documents as mentioned above online through this website

Candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certification (of good health) expression of Interest (EoI).

Evaluation of Applicants  

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications mentioned above, and financial proposal. A contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation. 

Technical Evaluation (70%) – max. 70 points:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in communication, journalism, political science, international relations or another related field. An additional two years of professional experience will be accepted in lieu of a master’s Degree.  (5 points)
  • 5 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the area of strategic social media and communication  (15 points)
  • 4 years of experience in planning and / or executing public awareness campaigns (10 points)
  • At least one experience in working on joint campaigns on GEWE related issues in the Arab States, in Palestine an asset (10 points) 
  • At least 3 years of professional experience on gender equality and women’s rights issues in development and humanitarian contexts in the Arab States, including some professional experience on GEWE issues in Palestine (15 points)
  • Past experience with UN Women is an asset (5 points)
  • The results of a short interview (10 points)

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points. 

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:  

p = 30 (µ/z) 

Using the following values: 

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated 

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal 

z = price of the proposal being evaluated 

Only long-listed candidates will be contacted. 

Financial Proposal. Shortlisted candidates will be requested to submit a financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a daily professional fee.