Background
The war against Ukraine has led to the largest and fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe and one of the biggest security threats since World War II. The ongoing violence and destruction not only affect civilians within its borders, but also lead to a large scale population movements that have spilled over into neighboring countries or even further away as more than seven million Ukrainians sought safety, protection, and assistance away from their country. The war has continued to generate displacement and large-scale new arrivals to refugee-hosting countries along with dramatic levels of suffering, shattering the lives of many Ukrainians.
UN Women is committed to ensuring that women and girls are not left behind in the war against Ukraine. UN Women's engagement with humanitarian and refugee response space is more critical than ever to ensure that humanitarian response prioritises women and girls’ voices and needs within the Regional Refugee Response. UN Women’s humanitarian strategy outlines two approaches; i) supporting the mainstreaming of gender in the coordination, planning, prioritization, financing of humanitarian response in the immediate aftermath of emergencies and humanitarian crises; and ii) contributing to long term recovery and protection of rights of women and girls in emergencies and protracted crises through the nexus approach.
UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) is working across the regional humanitarian and refugee response architecture to ensure a gender-transformative response framework. Serving governments, CSOs, UN Country Teams/Humanitarian Country Teams (UNCTs/HCTs), and UN Women country offices, the Office provides policy advisory services; creates, and disseminates knowledge, evidence and data on gender equality; and advances coherence for gender in humanitarian action/refugee response, including through gender mainstreaming and the coordination of humanitarian/refugee response structures on gender.
Under the overall supervision of the Regional Humanitarian Specialist and reporting to the Regional Communication Specialist, in close collaboration with UN Women Ukraine Country Representative, the Strategic Communications Consultant will design, coordinate and implement a communications and advocacy strategy related to UN Women humanitarian interventions in the Europe and Central Asia region with a primary focus on the Ukraine war humanitarian and refugee response. The aim of this role is to maximise the impact of UN Women’s humanitarian response work and achievements, by strengthening effective communications and visibility around humanitarian programmes.
The Strategic Communications Consultant will be based in Kyiv, Ukraine with travel to Istanbul, Türkiye for short missions.
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision of the Regional Humanitarian Specialist and reporting directly to the Regional Communications Specialist, as well as the Ukraine CO Representative, the consultant is expected to perform the below tasks:
| Key Deliverables | |
| 1. Ensure the effective coordination and strengthening of communications on UN Women’s humanitarian interventions in Europe and Central Asia, with a primary focus on Ukraine | Oversee and provide strategic advice on communications produced by UN Women ECARO and Ukraine Country Office on humanitarian action related activities;
Ensure increased visibility of UN Women’s humanitarian mandate in the region
Develop a communication strategy on Humanitarian Work for the ECA Regional Office based on the strategic objectives and role of UN Women in line with the UN Women Global Humanitarian Strategy;
Provide constructive and timely advice on communications components to UN Women’s humanitarian programmes and interventions. |
| 2. Support the development and dissemination of public advocacy materials for regional and global efforts | Provide coordinated assistance to UN Women ECARO and Ukraine Country Office for all publication activities related to humanitarian work including close cooperation with, and support for, programme-specific communications staff members;
Identify and develop human interest stories and substantive articles contributing to the visibility of UN Women’s humanitarian and refugee response work across the ECA Region; Assist in UN Women advocacy activities, including providing support to public events, coordinating visits of senior UN officials, including field visits and participating in other UN Women advocacy initiatives. |
| 3. Outreach and Media Activity | Engage with electronic and print media sources;
Develop content for social media, including coverage of events, human interest stories, opinion, engagement with key stakeholders and monitor impact as required. Provide timely and field-driven content, such as human-interest stories for print and video, for UN Women’s country, regional and global websites;
Ensure the provision of UN Women’s regional and country social media platforms with relevant updates and integrate the humanitarian response into UN Women’s social media outreach;
Draft press releases, fact sheets and other rapid response information materials for use by UN Women Headquarters and Regional and Country Offices. |
| 4. Build and maintain communications and advocacy focused partnerships | Development and maintenance of media contacts and providing newsworthy information to donors;
Format, package and submit documentation about programme initiatives for donor review in close collaboration with humanitarian programme staff;
Support the organization and implementation of joint UN information campaigns with a focus on humanitarian work (such as 16 days Activism, International Women’s Day, World Humanitarian Day, etc), taking the lead where appropriate;
Assist in preparing written materials, including talking points, articles, press releases, stories, situations reports, responses to coverage about UN Women in the media;
Cultivate and maintain effective working relationships with local, regional and global media and other relevant partners and identify opportunities for advocacy and communication partnerships. |
Competencies
Core Value/Guiding Principles:
- Integrity
- Professionalism
- Respect for Diversity
Core Competencies:
- Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
- Accountability
- Creative Problem Solving
- Effective Communication
- Inclusive Collaboration
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Leading by Example
Functional Competencies:
- Strong background in communications, journalism and donor relations;
- Sound knowledge of the current policies and practices in the field of gender equality, economic empowerment, and humanitarian action
- Proven networking skills and ability to mobilise support on behalf of UN Women
- Ability to identify opportunities and build strong relationships with potential key stakeholders
- Ability to work under pressure and within limited time frames
- Communicative, results-driven, ability to work in teams
- Ability to complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities
Required Skills and Experience
Education
- Master’s degree or equivalent in communications, public relations, or journalism;
- Bachelor’s degree in combination with 2 additional years of relevant working experience may be accepted in lieu of Master’s degree;
Experience
- Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in journalism, communications, and/or outreach;
- Technical experience in humanitarian communications is required;
- Knowledge and understanding of gender issues including gender-based violence related matters is an asset;
- Experience in media and donor relations is an asset;
- Skills in photography, video editing, and social media is a strong asset;
- Experience working in the UN System in humanitarian emergencies is an asset;
Language Requirements
Fluency in written and spoken English required.
Application Procedure:
The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:
- Personal CV/P11 including experience in similar assignments
- Financial Proposal A lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum on a daily basis.
Payment Schedule:
The consultant will be paid in monthly instalments (as per the daily rate in the financial offer) upon submission of the monthly timesheet, deliverables and UN Women approval. The work plan, deliverable milestones, and instalment schedule may be modified in agreement with the consultant and UN Women supervisor.
If the consultant is required to travel on official business to perform their roles and responsibilities, UN Women will cover the DSA and cost of travel to the location as well as their return upon completion of services.
Evaluation of Applicants:
Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of 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.
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.
| Criteria | Max. Points |
| Technical Evaluation (70%) | |
| Minimum 5 years of progressively experience in journalism, communications, and/or outreach | 25: >5 years experience 15: with 5 years experience 0: without experience |
| Technical experience in humanitarian communications | 15: with experience 0: without experience |
Experience in media and donor relations | 10: with experience 0: without experience |
Knowledge and understanding of gender issues including gender-based violence related matters is an asset; | 10: with experience 0: without experience |
Experience working within the United Nations System is an asset | 10: with experience 0: without experience |
| Financial Evaluation (30%) | 30 |
| TOTAL: | 100 |
Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points:
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. A suggested formula is as follows:
p = 30 (µ/z)
Using the following values:
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated
At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.
If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.
UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)