UN WOMEN Jobs - 67545- UN Women - National Media Expert to support Allian

UN Women - National Media Expert to support Alliance of Women Parliamentarians Publications and Visibility

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Tirana, ALBANIA

Type of Contract :

Other

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

28-Jul-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Other

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

42 working days from 3rd August until 25 December, 2016

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

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; the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development; human rights; as well as humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, 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.

In Albania, women’s role in public life remains largely un-recognized, and women’s full and equal participation in decision-making continues to be restricted due to pervasive stereotypes and discriminatory practices, which remain inherent in the public arena. However, with the inclusion of quotas in both the law “On Gender Equality in Society” (July 2008) and within the revised Electoral Code, the results of the 2009 and 2013 National Elections witnessed a systematic increase of the number of women in Parliament (from 7% in 2005 to 16.4% in 2009 to 19.3% in 2013). However the new Government rule on the replacement of the MPs has increased women representation to 22% in the Parliament. Although far from the 30% quota, this is a considerable change, but still needs to be done.

Gender Equality Law requires the implementation of 30% of gender quota in elected and nominated positions. For the first time in Albania’s history women make up 33% of government ministers: 7 out of 20 ministers are women including non-traditional posts (Defense, Urban Planning & Tourism). The changes in the Electoral Code for the 50% representation of women in councils was strongly advocated by the Alliance of Women Parliamentarians and the 2015 local witnessed a historical increase of women representations at the local level as councilors and as mayors. Albania has now a total of 35% women as counselors and 15% women as mayors.

As a result the establishment of the Alliance of Women MPs of Albanian Parliament in December 20th, 2013 proved to be a crucial development to support women’s empowerment and leadership. The Alliance is a voluntary group that aims to further the cause of women’s empowerment in the Parliament and at various Government levels. All women MPs are members of the Alliance including women ministers who resigned their MP status.

Through a signed Declaration, the main objectives of the Alliance are: to work in the areas of increasing women representation at both national and local level; eradicate violence against women and women economic empowerment.

Since its establishment, the Alliance has been engaged in a number of actions and activities addressing the different areas part of their Declaration. Nevertheless for the Alliance to be acting more effectively, consistent support is needed to support the coordination, focus of work and specific products based on Alliance actions and interventions.

UN Women Albania’s is aiming at further supporting and facilitating the work of Alliance of Women Parliamentarian in achieving their goals under the signed Declaration. UN Women has supported the Alliance annual retreats and technical meetings to advocate for gender equality quota as well as contributing with Alliance visibility and technical materials.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of UN Women Representative and Programme Officer and direct supervision of the UN Women National Project Manager on Women Political Empowerment, the National Media Expert will focus primarily on the following. Further revisions to the below actions will be adjusted and agreed based on discussions with the Alliance throughout of the consultancy:

Tasks and responsibilities:

Establishment of the work plan jointly with Alliance and UN Women - 1 day
Revise and update with photos and content all visibility materials (such as the Bulletin and Annual Reporting) and in agreement with the Alliance publish them in different media outlets (online such as social media including posts related news or previous achievements, extracted by the annual report of the Alliance regularly or in their website and print) – 10 days
Prepare the 2016 Bulletin and Annual Report capturing main activities of the Alliance during 2016 – 10 days
Provide consistent and sustainable support to the Alliance to develop a media strategy and its work plan based on the three pillars of their Declaration and keep track of progress – 4 days
Support with the preparation of the presentations on the Alliance work to be used in different events – 4 days
Participate in different key activities and events related to Alliance activity such as retreat, public declarations or press conferences etc and ensure adequate visibility capturing content and photos from the event – 5 days
Prepare at least 4 articles on the Alliance activities to be published in prominent print media outlets and with at least one published on foreign media on four topics: Women in Politics and quota implementation, Violence against women, Women Economic Empowerment and Changes in legislation supported and advocated from the Alliance during 2016. The articles shall include interviews of the members of the Alliances as well as human stories on how the work of the Alliance has contributed to the beneficiaries and to other women in each of the areas – 8 days

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The following products and deliverables are expected to be completed by the National Expert according to the agreed schedule:

Work plan agreed and discussed with Alliance and cleared by UN Women
Updated visibility materials such as Bulleting and Annual Report 2015-2016
Photos from different events
Media Strategy of the Alliance
Different presentations prepared
4 Articles as detailed in the last task above.

All visibility materials will be cleared by UN Women and the Alliance Board.Quality of relationships with partners is central to success and will be assessed.

Institutional Arrangement

The National Consultant will work under the overall supervision of the UN Women Representative and Programme Officer and the direct supervision of the UN Women National Project Manager on Leadership and Political Participation, the National Consultant will focus primarily on the further revisions to the above actions which will be adjusted and agreed based on discussions with the Alliance throughout of the duration of the consultancy.

Duration of Work

UN Women will fund the costs and maintain overall oversight and monitoring of the consultancy work. The duration of the consultancy will be from 3rd August until 25 December, 2016 with an estimated 42 working days. Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of task; and (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs, and (iii) submission of the respective timesheet and agreed deliverables.

Duty Station

The consultancy might involve some in-country travel to the regions, to be planned and agreed with the consultant and as needed during the Alliance work plan implementation process. Any costs related to travel outside Tirana will be covered separately

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Communication: Excellent communication skills, including the ability to pose questions, listen, evaluate and capture opinions, suggestions and comments, both orally and in writing, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different stakeholders;
Client orientation: Ability to establish and maintain productive partnerships with national partners and pro-activeness in identifying of beneficiaries and partners’ needs, and matching them to appropriate solutions;

Functional Competencies:

Strong analytical, writing and communication skills on issues related to good governance, gender, human rights, including reader friendly reporting and publishing etc.;
Good computer skills in Windows environment, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point);
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds, gender and diverse views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education/Academic Qualification:

Master’s degree in one of the following areas: Public relations, , journalism, communications, social sciences, gender studies, human rights, political sciences, international relations etc.

Work Experience:

A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in communications and/or in the media (print, electronic or web based). Experience in preparing public information materials and awareness activities.
Experience in being responsible to prepare regular reporting and briefings including on political context, human rights, advocating on human rights issues, institutional relations and development etc, will be considered an asset;
Experience in preparing a full range of media coverage for an activity from photo-shooting, press releases, communication with media will be considered an asset;
Experience and knowledge on central government, parliament and international organizations will be considered an asset;
Strong background in interacting and coordinating activities with media and Public Relation experience;

Language requirement:

Proficiency in written and spoken English and Albanian, including gender and policy terminology and excellent drafting and presentation skills.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 28th July, 2016. Applications should include:

A Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability including a brief description explaining why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how the assignment will be approached and completed.
P11 including past experience in similar assignment. Can be downloaded at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
Financial Proposal specifying the daily fee and the overall amount in Albanian Lek for the tasks and anticipated number of days specified in this assignment.

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services). In the framework of this assignment, neither travel nor accommodation costs are foreseen to occur.

Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of tasks; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs; (iii) submission of and approval of final report; and (iv) submission of the respective time-sheet and invoice.

Evaluation of applicants:

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

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

Applications will be assessed according to the following technical criteria:

Master’s degree in one of the following areas: Journalism, public information, social sciences, gender studies, human rights, political sciences, international relations etc (weight 10, max. points 10);
A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in communications and/or work with the media (print, electronic or web based). Experience in preparing public information materials and awareness activities. (weight 25, max. points 25)
Experience in reporting including on political context, human rights, advocating on human rights issues, institutional relations and development etc (weight 10, max. points 10);
Experience and knowledge on central government, parliament and international organizations will be considered an asset (weight 5, max. points 5);
Strong background in interacting and coordinating activities with media and Public Relation experience (weight 10, max. points 10);
Proved experience to co-ordinate with local and international partners and stakeholders and strong analytical, writing and communication skills on issues related to good governance, gender, human rights, etc through different publications (weight 10, max. points 10).

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

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.

The calculation formula applied is as follow:

p = 30 (µ/z); where: p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated; µ = price of the lowest priced proposal; z = price of the proposal being evaluated.