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, the 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 emphasize the prevention of VAWG through transforming negative social norms and strengthening the availability of services to women survivors of violence. UN Women Serbia partner with the government and CSOs to advocate for ending violence, increase awareness of the causes and consequences of violence, build capacity of partners and promote the need for changing norms towards advancing gender equality and women’s rights. By establishing the grounds on strengthening the capacities of professionals in protection and response to VAWG in line with the Istanbul Convention, in addition to support provided to women CSOs in enhancing legislative and policy environment on eliminating VAWG, UN Women in Serbia is promoting the zero tolerance towards VAWG policy.

Under the Project Improving Safety of Women in Serbia, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Serbia Office is working to ensure that women and girls in Serbia and Montenegro live in a society free from violence   .

The project is focusing on the following key results:

- Montenegro applies special protection measures for women and girls from violence in family and intimate partner relations and combats gender-based discrimination and stereotypes;

- Republic of Serbia applies additional, innovative programs for prevention of violence against women and girls in family and intimate partner relations and combats gender-based discrimination and stereotypes.

UN Women Serbia is implementing the Project, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro and the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, and other partner institutions and women's organizations.

Communication is a key component of UN Women projects and constitutes a vehicle for ensuring visibility, especially in the field of promoting women’s rights, empowering women and particularly in the light of marking the 18 May - Day of Remembrance for Women Victims and 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women. These events require adequate media coverage and visibility, conveying specific messages, and targeting specific audiences. Moreover, UN Women regularly contributes with articles related to UN Women Serbia  mandate, activities, and results to be published on different websites (UN Women/Region, UN Women HQ, UNCT Serbia etc.) and Facebook page.

Objective

The objective of this assignment contract is to support and advance communication and advocacy under the Project, as well as under other UN Women initiatives, as requested. The consultant will assist UN Women Serbia office in supporting the activities aimed to increase the visibility of UN Women project implementation, advocacy efforts, efficient communication with national and international partners and outreach. She/he will work in close collaboration with programme team members and communication team.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

Working under the overall supervision of Programme Management Specialist, Project Officer, and Communication Officer the consultant will be responsible for the following:

• Support implementation of projects’ Communication Strategies and Plans with special focus on Crisis Communication Plan;
• Support planning and organizing campaigns and events implemented and/or supported by UN Women and its partners by preparing different communication material, media advisories, concept notes, event scenario, short video clips, drafting talking points, etc.;
• Administrative and logistic support to media and advocacy events through material preparation ensuring quality and timely reporting upon the completion of events;
• Provide advice and guidance to RPs to ensure a unified visual identity for all program activities, materials, and events. Oversee the qualitative aspects of production, (e.g., quality control, translations, reviews of layout and graphic design);
• Draft success stories (at least 1 human impact story per month) and other communications products (infographics etc.) for distribution;
• Liaison closely with designers and printing companies to ensure adequate branding and procurement of items to be distributed at the events along with assisting in conceptualizing and coordinating the production of different projects’ visibility materials i.e. project factsheets, video clips, newsletter, publications;
• Manage calendars and timelines for events and information materials production;
• Identify key media outlets which can be used to deliver messages related to VAWG and maintain close contact with the media representatives in the country, provide support to building partnership with the media;
• Advise in terms of message formulation and identification of effective communication channels for reaching the target groups;
• Update and support UN Women Europe and Central Asia and UN Women HQ website and their social media campaigns/activities.

Deliverables and Timeline

Competencies

Competences and Qualifications

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

https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Good knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues;
• Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies;
• Good knowledge of web-based knowledge management systems;
• Good understanding of production, graphic design and photography standards;
• Good knowledge of social media platforms and experience in social media outreach;
• Good knowledge of local country media landscape;
• Good communication, presentation, networking and advocacy skills;
• Ability to be strategic and analytical.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

A bachelor's degree in communications, public relations, journalism, law or gender studies.  Master’s degree will be considered as an advantage.

Experience:

• Minimum of 3 years of relevant Serbian work experience in the field of media and communications;
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in producing different communications products, drafting press releases and event reports, writing human impact stories as well as experience in implementing media and communication strategies;
• Expert knowledge and experience in working with social media management and monitoring: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
• Experience in the field of gender equality, including combating gender-based violence;
• Experience in the development of visual materials is an asset.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English and Serbian language (written and oral).

Application procedure:

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

• P11 with past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. A signed copy should be submitted.
• Financial Proposal Specify Specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference. Can be downloaded from the following link: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-07/confirmation.docx. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days and any other possible costs).

In order to apply please merge your P11 and the financial proposal into a single PDF file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.

Any request for clarification must be sent by standard electronic communication to the e-mail info.serbia@unwomen.org

Evaluation of applicants:

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

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

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided?on the basis of?qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women?has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.? All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)