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.

In Ukraine UN Women works with the government, parliament and civil society in advancing gender equality through implementation of the national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s human rights. UN Women Ukraine implements interventions towards the realization of following strategic goals: elimination of violence against women and girls; implementation of women, peace and security agenda and gender responsive governance. UN Women works closely with the UN Country Team in integration of women’s rights and gender equality in all spheres of UN work.

The joint programme of UN Women, UNDP, FAO and UNFPA on “EU Support to the East of Ukraine – Recovery, Peacebuilding and Governance”, funded by the European Union, has been implementing in conflict-affected Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Eastern Ukraine.  Joint programme aims to contribute to peace, economic revitalization and reconciliation in Eastern Ukraine through social and economic recovery, with special focus on Government Controlled Areas (GCAs) of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. 

Programme has four specific objectives: 1) To enhance local capacity for gender-responsive decentralization and administrative reforms to improve governance, local development and the delivery of services; 2) To stimulate employment and economic growth by providing assistance to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) development through demand-driven business development services and professional skills training; 3) To enhance social cohesion and reconciliation through promotion of civic initiatives; 4) To support sector reforms and structural adjustments in health, education and critical public infrastructure to mitigate direct impacts of the conflict. UN Women jointly with other participating UN Agencies will support the implementation of two programme components (under objectives 1 and 3) and will provide gender mainstreaming into all four components of the programme. UN Women is responsible for overall coordination and providing technical assistance to mainstream gender equality into all components of the Joint Programme.

For the effective programme implementation effective communication and advocacy is a key. The development of advocacy messages, as well as coherent implementation of the communication and  advocacy initiatives in collaboration with the other joint programme partners – UNDP, FAO and UNFPA -will be imperative to the success of the JP. Therefore, UN Women seeks to hire a National Consultant to provide communication support for the JP implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Advocacy and Communications Specialist, and direct supervision by the Programme Specialist, the National Consultant will be responsible for a day-to-day communications and advocacy support in coordination with the communications team of the joint programme. The assignment included the following tasks:

• Develop and implement media strategies for effective gender equality and women’s empowerment communication and advocacy as a contribution to the joint programme’s plan in line with corporate guidelines of UN Women and donor to enhance the visibility of the JP;
• Identity the opportunities and organize the programme related press conferences, media tours, and other media events;
• Prepare the press releases and media kits;
• Maintain and expand the partnership and contacts with media, including regional media in target oblasts;
• Provide timely and quality response to media inquiries;
• Ensure compliance of the social and other media posts related to the programme with the corporate UN Women and donor policies and guidelines;
• Ensure joint programme’s visibility in social media in line with the corporate social media policy and provide inputs to UN Women Ukraine social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter);  
• Facilitate drafting and design of the brochures, fact sheets, briefs, take interviews and draft human interest stories and other communication materials from the field and disseminate them to the relevant target audience;
• Contribute to the implementation of the communication campaigns of the UN Women, as well as the UN,  including but not limited to 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence;
• Initiate, conceptualize and implement communications and advocacy events of the project to ensure reaching wider audience;
• Ensure regular information exchange with the UN agencies’ communications teams under Joint Programme and UN Women Country Office communications team to coordinate communications initiatives, inform about ongoing activities, provide comments and inputs for the communication products;
• Collaborate with UN JP participating UN agencies communications specialist and donor’s communications department to exchange relevant information, materials, provide inputs for joint programme communication and visibility products and materials to enhance the visibility of the project;
• Collaborate closely with UN Women national implementing partners engaged in JP and provide technical support to develop and publish the communication and advocacy materials in line with corporate policy including but not limited to success stories, video clips, Public Service Announcements etc.

Assignment Deliverables:

1. Monthly time-sheets and brief progress reports about implemented activities and achieved results with supporting documents (information materials produced, event reports, etc.) submitted by the 5th of the following month. 
2. Final progress report submitted – by 25 March 2020.

TOTAL – 280 days

• The results-based reports should be submitted in English language (supporting documents such as meeting minutes, agenda, etc. can be submitted in Ukrainian language). 
• The Consultant is expected to work in the UN Women office during the assignment, using her/his own computer;
• The Consultant is expected to occasionally travel to the Government Controlled Areas (GCAs) of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (joint programme pilot communities).

Performance evaluation:

• Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager, which will also be the basis for payment on a month-by-month basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:  

• Payment will be disbursed in monthly instalments upon receipt of the timesheets and progress reports and their certification by the UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

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

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications Education:

• University Degree in journalism, communications, International Relations, gender studies, marketing or other related field is required.

Experience:

• At least five (5) years of work experience in communications, journalism, public relations or related fields on national and regional levels including experience in media relations.  Experience in online outreach and multimedia would be an asset.
• Proven track record in raising the visibility and influence of an organization or project/programme through effective communications strategies;
• Working experience with national or international companies, media organizations and development agency
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and ability to meet deadlines; 
• Good understanding of gender equality and women’s human rights
• Familiarity with UN Women and UN system would be an asset;

Languages and other skills: 

• Fluency in Ukrainian, Russian, and English;
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, IT tools, ability to use Internet and email.

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria 70% of total evaluation – max 70 points for technical criteria. Total max 70 points:

• The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on a desk review and the following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Criterion A – Relevant education:

• University Degree in journalism, communications, international Relations, gender studies, marketing or other related field is required. – 10 pts;

Criterion B – Language skills:

• Fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English - 10 pts;

Criterion C – Relevant Experience with total for all of the following criterion (50 pts) including:

• At least five (5) years of work experience in in communications, journalism, public relations or related fields on national and regional levels including experience in media relations – 25 pts;
• Proven track record in raising the visibility and influence of an organization or project/programme through effective communications strategies – 15 pts;
• Good understanding of gender equality and women’s human rights – 10 pts.

Total Obtainable Score – 70 points.

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30

(S - score received on financial evaluation; Fmin - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round; F - financial offer under the consideration).

The candidate’s application should include: 

• A brief Letter of Interest containing the statement on candidate’s experience in the field of recruitment. Completed and signed UN Women Personal History (P-11) form, which can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment. 
• Proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days to include all costs (travel, daily subsistence allowance, telephone, etc.). 

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 22 February 2019, 09:00 am EET  by submitting 2 attachments: 1) technical (a Letter of Interest and P-11) and 2) financial proposal to the following e-mail address: hr.ukraine@unwomen.org with a subject?“UN Women Ukraine – National Consultant on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Communication and Advocacy”. 

Applications without financial proposal may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.

Sample of Financial Proposal

The format shown on the following tables is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal

A.                  Cost Breakdown per Deliverables*

*Basis for payment tranches

UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.