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.

The Government of Albania has made national and international commitments to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in many different areas of life. Several international conventions and platforms, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Beijing Platform for Action, demonstrate Albania’s commitment to the realization of women’s rights and the achievement of gender equality. Albania is signatory of CEDAW and has committed to the UN Beijing Platform for Action. Implementation of those commitments at national level can be achieved only if adequate budgets are allocated.

Over the past years, UN Women has provided support to central government institutions in strengthening democratic governance and advancing women’s rights through initiatives aimed at mainstreaming gender in policy planning and budgeting. Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) has been identified as important tool for advancing gender equality in key national documents as in accordance with existing Albanian national policy documents on social inclusion and gender equality

In the frame of the Regional Project on ‘Promoting Gender Responsive Polices in SEE’ financed by Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and Swiss Development Agency (SDC) and with technical expertise of UN Women, as well as in accordance with GoA’s priorities stated in the national and local plans and strategies, UN Women has been supporting government efforts -at central and local level- in using GRB as a tool to advance gender equality and ensure that women’s needs are incorporated in policies and related budgets.

As a result, UN Women is conducting a series of interventions to further institutionalize GRB at national and local levels and adequately address national data gaps. At the central level UN Women will continue its work for ensuring mainstreaming of gender in the medium-term budget programs of all line ministries and advise also municipalities in doing the same. Whereas at the local level UN Women will outreach several municipalities and support them with technical expertise to conduct gender responsive budgeting but also to cooperate with local communities and CSOs for ensuring a participatory budgeting process.

 In addition, based on work undertaken by municipalities so far, UN Women has supported the implementation of the European Charter for Equality of women and men in local life and will continue to provide technical expertise to five municipalities (Tirana, Durrës, Shkodra, Korça and Elbasan) for facilitating the synthesizing and preparation of Local Gender Action Plans, in line with CEMR regulations and EU standards.

UN Women Albania has developed a Communication Strategy to ensure higher visibility to its mandate, activities and results. Among the main recommendations made in the strategy was the need to ensure a systematic and strategic coverage of UN Women Albania activities. During implementation of the above-mentioned interventions, UN Women will produce a series of visibility products and organize a series of communication and PR events such as launching of knowledge products, publications or reports, field visits in support to main partners and beneficiaries, campaigns, conferences, workshops, trainings, and field visits that will be held in Tirana and in other regions where the National Planning and Budgeting Program  including the Regional Project on ‘Promoting Gender Responsive Polices in SEE’,  is being implemented. The program will also produce two short videos to capture main results of the program, showcase beneficiaries’ witnesses and success stories. A final video will be produced to showcase steps undertaken from local authorities for the implementation of the European Charter for Equality of women and men in local life.

In light of these needs, UN Women Albania is recruiting a National Communication and PR Consultant to increase UN Women interventions’ outreach, visibility and communication in Albania. The Consultant will support NPB Program including the GRB Regional Project with its visibility, advocacy campaigns and donor relations initiatives.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Regional Manager and Program Manager of National Planning and Budgeting at UN Women Albania, the national consultant is expected to conduct the following:

• Develop and produce communication instruments and materials, including briefing materials, press releases, infographics and impact stories, articles, and manage their dissemination;
• Identify and propose information opportunities, activities, approaches and platforms and partners;
• Ensure effective communications, visibility and knowledge management;
• Provide communication support for activities related to NPB programme and GRB regional project;
• When needed, cooperate with UN Communications Team initiatives, such as the SDG campaign, press trips and activities on international days with the purpose to increase the NPB and GRB Regional program’s visibility;
• Assist the program team to develop all communication materials including presentations for public awareness;
• Support activities, media visibility, campaigns and information sharing as per related Communications Strategy;
• Ensure timely submission of required communication and knowledge products including case studies and lessons learned, reports, etc. to the Regional Manger, Head of Program and National Programme Manager;
• Cooperate closely and guide all LTAs and companies contracted by the programme   for the production of the various visibility and communication products, including production of videos, design, infographics, photo shootings etc
• Manage relationships with media in the country; maintain and update database of relevant media contacts;
• Organize roundtable discussions, press conferences, briefing sessions and media field visits as required;
• Engage in social media for project information dissemination;

Expected Deliverables:

The following products and deliverables are expected to be completed by the National Communication and PR Consultant according to the below schedule:

• Press releases and news about conferences and programme activities prepared and posted on UN Albania and UN Women website/ newsletters and shared with the media and on social media
• Daily update of social media channels, UN Women Albania Facebook;
• At least 10 impact stories showcasing programme achievements and impact on the ground prepared for UN Women Albania office, UN Women regional and global website.
• At least 30 infographics about data generated from NPB and GRB Regional programme;
• Articles and media coverage on programme activities and UN Women impact in communities.
• At least 3 short videos produced (through LTA companies) aiming visibility of the program, main results, beneficiaries’ witnesses and success stories.

Duration of the Work:

The National Media Expert will be contracted for the period from March 2018 through January 2019 (5 days per month) under GRB Regional Program, to perform the specified tasks.

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:

• Possesses the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
• Possesses the ability to work independently;
• Excellent writing skills in preparing briefs, reports, guidelines, articles or similar for various audiences;
• Solid analytical, writing and communication skills in both Albanian and English;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Strong writing and report writing skills;

Required Skills and Experience

Academic requirements:

• Masters’ degree in communication, journalism, human rights, gender/women’s studies, international development or a related field;

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in media and public relations.
• Familiarity with gender issues and challenges or previous experience in these areas would be an advantage;
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or other similar international organizations is considered an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent written and oral English and Albanian communication skills are required.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the total monthly lumpsum in Albanian Lek for the tasks (5days per month). 

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 including travel (e.g. fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services). Other travel costs different from the above will be covered by UN Women separately.

• 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 draft; and (iv) submission of the respective invoice.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 27th February 2018.

• 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.
• Personal History Form (P11) including past experience in similar assignment. Can be downloaded at: UN Women Personal History Form (P11)  or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying the total daily fee in Albanian Lek for the tasks specified in this assignment.

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:                                           

• Masters’ degree in communication, journalism, human rights, gender/women’s studies, international development or a related field (max 10 points);
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in media and public relations (max 30 points);
• Familiarity with gender issues and challenges or previous experience in these areas would be an advantage (max 20 points);
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or similar international organizations is considered an asset (max 10 points);.

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.

How to Submit the Application: 

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• All online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from UN Women Personal History Form (P11)  or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Merge all the required documents above into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click 'Apply Now' button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click 'Submit Application;'
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

UN Women retains the right to contact references directly. Due to the large numbers of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.