UNDP Jobs - 55939- Access to Justice Project Communication/PR Special

Access to Justice Project Communication/PR Specialist (Open to Kyrgyzstan Nationals Only)

Location :

Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

25-Jun-2015

Application Deadline :

08-May-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SC-7

Duration of Initial Contract :

6 months with possible extension

Languages Required :

English Russian

Expected Duration of Assignment :

1 year with possible extension

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

Access to justice is one of the key principles, which determines legal and democratic level of development of the state. The Kyrgyz Republic has laid foundations of creating such kind of access to justice for the vulnerable groups of the citizens. Nevertheless, to ensure the full implementation of constitutional rights must take further steps. A baseline study conducted in two oblasts of the country demonstrated some of the most significant limitations in practical access to justice.

The study revealed that women, children and youth, and persons with disabilities face specific obstacles to enjoy their rights. Many suffer discrimination, violence and economic dependence. More than half the women in the areas of study do not have paid work and employment opportunities for young women is unlikely.

A large percentage of women do not have a resident registration that makes it difficult for them and their children to access to basic social services. More than one out of 20 respondents, married women do not have a marriage certificate; it is another obstacle to realization of an important set of rights attached to the institution of marriage.

Children and young people also faced serious problems in access to justice, such as lack of experience and education, economic dependence, lack of necessary documents. Many young people do not have birth certificates as a result they cannot get ID cards and other documents, and therefore cannot access to formal and informal justice sector in view of that people with disabilities are the most vulnerable ones.

Lack of physical possibility to access the judicial and educational institutions, limited access to public information sufficiently constitute serious obstacles. Dependence on state financial aid creates an unstable situation for many PwDs.

Common challenges on the way of access to justice is a low level of legal literacy of the citizens, low awareness of staff members of formal and informal institutions of justice on the rights and guarantees of vulnerable groups, limited access to free legal aid, as well as gaps in the current legislation and the lack of conformity of norms of international law.

The project “Widening access to justice for legal empowerment in KR” is aimed at legal empowerment of the most vulnerable groups of the population (PwDs, women, children and youth at risk) by:

Alignment of the Kyrgyz Republic’s legislation on the rights and guarantees of the target groups with international norms and standards
Supporting formal and informal justice institutions in provision of affordable, effective and quality services to solve the problems of the target groups in the justice system
Increasing legal knowledge of the target groups and contributing to recovery of violated rights
In order to achieve the stated objectives, the project intends to hire a Communications/PR specialist, who has appropriate qualifications and experience.

Under the guidance and supervision of the Project Coordinator, the Communication/PR Specialist will support implementation of the communications and advocacy strategies of the project “Widening access to justice for legal empowerment in KR”, organize and conduct media campaigns, support the project partners in media coverage of the project activity, carry out informational and communication activities, prepare the project outreach (reports, brochures, booklets and other informational materials) and promote a client-oriented approach of UNDP.

Duties and Responsibilities

Develop and implement project’s communications and advocacy strategy

Ensure timely and adequate implementation of project activities:

Develop and conduct public awareness campaigns on constitutional rights on access to free legal aid in accordance with the new legislation together with the Ministry of Justice and civil society organizations;
Assist in improving of communication capabilities of local courts in terms of dissemination of information on access to free legal aid and improve coverage of communities;
Carrying out national media-campaign by means of central and regional television, radio stations as well as newspapers to raise public awareness about the new laws and rules of procedures, amendments, etc.;
Promote ratification of the UN convention on rights of persons with disabilities (UN CRPD);
Conduct outreach activities: competitions among students for the best research in the field of widening of legal authority and access to justice, etc. in collaboration and with the support of civil society organizations;

Cooperate and liaise with government stakeholders and other partners to ensure proper coordination and partnership in common development efforts:

Support the Ministry of Justice in development of newly established central database of legal acts to make it more accessible for wider usage by the citizens, especially in the field, including through creation of mobile applications;
Support the Ministry of Social Development in development and implementation of promotional activities on legal empowerment and access to justice for PwDs, rural women, children and youth at risk;
Carry out awareness raising campaign on importance of obtaining the identity documents as a necessary factor for realization of human rights, in collaboration with the State Registration Service under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, civil society organizations, relevant ministries and Mass Media;
Provide support in piloting the newly adopted procedures and mechanisms of the State Registration Service under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in a number of regions in cooperation with local state bodies and by means of information-communication technologies, including mobile applications;

Keep data bank of the project’s informational materials: reports, brochures, booklets, articles published in Mass Media, video and audio materials:

Monitor the project activities press coverage, maintain a press clipping file and compile an annual coverage report

Ensure facilitation of knowledge building and management focusing on achievement of the following results:

Identification, documenting and drafting of best practices and lessons learned;
Participation in training for project personnel on effective communications and advocacy.

Undertake field visits when needed.

By request of the Project Coordinator, perform other tasks, aimed at achieving the goals and objectives of the project.

Competencies

Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents;
Creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
Building and promoting effective teams;
Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning;
Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Bachelor degree or equivalent in journalism and or social sciences.

Experience:

At least 4 years of experience in Mass Media;
Experience in development, organization and conducting media campaigns;
Practical experience in organizing and conducting trainings, competitions, events for journalists and the media;
Experience in development of press releases, writing and editing articles and informational materials;
Working experience in non-commercial organizations and in international organizations;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages.

Language:

Fluency in English and Russian;
Knowledge of Kyrgyz is an asset

Application:

Applications without the UNDP Personal history form (P.11) will not be considered. Please download P.11 form from http://www.kg.undp.org/content/kyrgyzstan/ru/home/operations/jobs/.
Please upload P.11 form instead of CV;
Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.