Historique

Women in the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSAL) are a media organization in Sierra Leone focused on increasing women’s participation in the media in this country. It is an important body in the media landscape in Sierra Leone and it is represented in the Media Reform Coordinating Group – Sierra Leone. WIMSAL is a is an association formed in November 2007 by a group of energetic young female journalists from both the print and electronic media to promote the interest of female journalists, female communication practitioners and women in all spheres of life in Sierra Leone. Its mission is to promote the interests and rights of women, enhance female capacity building and advocate for active women participation in decision-making processes in Sierra Leone.

WIMSAL have developed their strategic plan (2014-2017) but need to operationalize this plan. This is a detailed task with many areas and as such the selected consultant will have to have a wide array of competencies and experience, from accounting to communications.

Similarly over the past two years the Independent Media Commission, supported by UNDP and UNESCO took the initiative to outline a national strategy for media development in Sierra Leone. Ahead of this initiative, a study was carried out to map the capacity needs of the media sector and particularly of the professional media associations through a number of stakeholder workshops.

The key problems for the media sector were identified through interviews with managers and editors from more than 30 public, community and commercial media houses. The strategy was subsequently launched in May 2014.

The Media Development Strategy demands strong commitments and active participation from all partners and is being implemented by the Media Reform Coordinating Group, of which WIMSAL is a member. The other group members are senior representatives from the most important media actors in Sierra Leone which are the Independent Media Commission (IMC); the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC); Guild of Editors (GoE); Women in Media in Sierra Leone (WIMSAL); Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ); Sierra Leone Reporters Union (SLRU); Independent Radio Network (IRN); Cotton Tree News (CTN); Mass Communications/Fourah Bay College. With a clear strategy developed for the media sector in Sierra Leone and also a strategic document for WIMSAL the consultant should reflect these documents in their work and use them as clear guidelines. This consultancy will be the first in the implementation phase of both of these strategic plans and therefore an experienced individual is required to ensure the strategic plan is operationalized in all aspects and that WIMSAL will be capacitated to implement it.

 Impact of Results

As the country is moving from peace building and consolidation phase to a development phase, these effective tools and organizational competency will be required to guide and empower WIMSAL to develop a comprehensive contemporary approach which is of high priority to achieving the aims both WIMSAL’s strategic plan (2014-2017) and Sierra Leone’s Media Development Strategy.

Devoirs et responsabilités

Functions / Key Results Expected

The consultant will operationalize the WIMSAL Strategic Plan (2014-2017). This will include producing an operational plan, a resource mobilization plan, the formulation of an Accounting Manual, a HR plan and a monitoring and evaluation plan. They will also facilitate a workshop with WIMSAL on their website and its role in their communications strategy. This work will result in WIMSAL identifying what they want from their website. Their capacity as a national body will be strongly increased by the end of the consultation.

Deliverables/Final Products Expected:

• Operational plan;
• Resource mobilization plan;
• Accounting manual;
• HR Plan;
• Monitoring and evaluation plan;
• Website strategy;
• All leaders in regions trained on strategic management implementation;
• Training reports template developed for future leader development trainings.

Compétences

Management and Leadership

• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to critical feedback;
• Encourages risk-taking in the pursuit of creativity and innovation;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, work mates and stakeholders.

Strategic Implementation

• Skills and knowledge to conduct comprehensive operationalization plan of the WIMSAL strategic plan (2014-2017) ;
  
• Training, Group facilitation and Team-building;
• Ability to lead formulation of staff capacity building programmes;
• Ability to identify and analyse trends, and design suitable adjustments;
• Excellent drafting and presentation skills;
• Ability to plan and organize work programme;
• Ability to work with minimum supervision.

• Knowledge of website design, layout and content.

Qualifications et expériences requises

• At least an advanced university degree in a relevant field;
• An MBA is preferable. The suitable candidate for this consultancy shall be an expert in management, organization and communications who has a track record of transferring these skills successfully.

• General work experience of at least five (5) years. The expert needs to demonstrate a proven track record in the fields of management, finance/administration and communications;
• The suitable candidate for this consultancy shall be an expert in management, organization and communications who has a track record of transferring these skills successfully.
• Experience in implementing communications strategies;
• Work /consultancy experience in the fields mentioned above is desired;
• Good knowledge of information systems software such as MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PP, etc.);
• Experience of training others in management or administrative areas and experience of developing training manuals.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent ability to communicate in English and local languages.

Reporting Arrangements

• The consultant will be supervised by WIMSAL/MRCG and UNDP.

Duration of the consultancy

The task is expected to 90 working days spread over four calendar months in 2014. The assignment will start from the signing of the contract and payments will be based on deliverables defined under section IV above.

 Payment Modalities

Payment to the consultant will be made in three installments upon satisfactory completion of the following deliverables:

• 1st installment-15% upon signing of the contract;
• 2nd installment-35% upon submission of draft report to P&M Unit showing progress against agreed outputs;
• 3rd installment-50% upon submission of the final report with all deliverables signed off by the President of WIMSAL;

 Evaluation of Criteria and Weighting

The consultant will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum score is 100% out of a total score for technical criteria equals 70% and 30% for financial criteria. The technical evaluation will take into account the following as per the weightings provided:

• Background and minimum educational qualification as defined in the ToR (10%);
• Practical experience in developing and executing training programmes (20%);
• Experience in similar consultancies especially in Sierra Leone (30%);
• English language fluency in both oral and written, proficiency in IT and evidence of good communication and writing skills (10%).

 Application Procedure

Qualified and interested candidates are hereby requested to apply by writing to: Deputy Country Director/Programmes, United Nations Development Programme, Wilkinson Road, Freetown. The application should contain the following:

• Brief proposal addressing the requirement (Methodology);
• Detailed achievement based CV;
• Financial proposal.