Historique

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.

UN Women’s presence in the Republic of Moldova has evolved from being a project-based office in 2007 to a Country Office with full delegated authority as of 2015. In 2018 UN Women Moldova Country Office started to implement its newly approved Strategic Note (SN) for 2018-2022, which is aligned with the Republic of Moldova–United Nations Partnership Framework for Sustainable Development 2018–2022 and the Global Strategic Plan of UN Women. Under its current SN, UN Women cooperates closely with the government, civil society, academia, private sector and the media to advance social, economic and political rights and opportunities for women and girls, placing special focus on those from marginalized, excluded and under-represented groups. These include rural women, Romani women, women with disabilities, women living with or affected by HIV, women survivors of violence, women migrants, elderly women and others. UN Women’s operation in Moldova focuses on bringing about concrete change in the lives of women and the society towards the long-term impact of achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the country. Specifically, the SN 2018-2022 advances progress under the following three Impact Areas (IA): IA1: More women fully participate and lead in gender responsive governance processes and institutions, including in the security sector, IA2: Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy, IA3: Public authorities, institutions and communities prevent violence against women and girls and deliver quality essential services. Towards these Impact Areas, UN Women works with variety of national and international partners to challenge gender-based stereotypes and towards the creation of an environment, whereby women act as key agents of change towards greater equality and development, in partnership with men and boys.

Rationale

The media plays a significant role in perpetuating stereotypes as well as challenging social norms that condone discrimination or violence against women. The media are influential actors and essential partners to advance the gender equality agenda as they influence the way women’s and men’s roles and contributions to social, political and economic life are perceived by the public. According to the data provided by the Public Opinion Barometer published in April 2017, the media is the second most trustworthy institution in the Republic of Moldova. According to the same report, television (TV) is the most important source of information for the population (65%) as well as the most trustworthy (40% of respondents) followed by the Internet in importance (24% of respondents) and trustworthiness (22% of respondents).

UN Women collaborates closely with the media as a key ally in advancing women’s rights, mainly on two fronts: 1) in their reporting, in disrupting stereotypes and biases towards a non-stereotypical and dignified portrayal of women, and ensuring a more balanced representation of women and men’s roles in society 2) In increasing the number of women in the media, including in leadership and decision-making roles.

Even though it is known that giving women a stronger and equal voice in the news is not only a matter of rights and democratic values, but also leads to higher quality journalism, journalistic practices in Moldova still fall short in the way women are portrayed both in quantitative and qualitative terms. Women politicians, for example, are underrepresented in news before and after elections. There is a strong preoccupation with women as mainly victims or celebrities.

In the Republic of Moldova, UN Women has been working in challenging the stereotypical portrayal of women in media since 2008 through employing various tools, most notable among which is gender self-assessment of media organizations. In 2013, in total 17 print and on-line media organizations participated in the self-assessment initiative and scored positive results, with some of them increasingly portraying women in the domains of politics and economy as well as increasing practices of gender sensitive reporting. A similar exercise was undertaken in 2015-2016, in partnership with the Association with Independent Press (API), through UN Programme “Women in Politics”/ UN Women component, and was extended to a broader range of 30 print, on-line and audio-visual media organizations to undertake gender self-assessment before, during and after the elections. This led to stronger awareness, and resulted in an increase in the share of women featured as main protagonists in sections where they were significantly under-represented in some of the participating outlets.

In September 2016, the self-assessment exercise peaked with the signing by 37 TV, print and online media outlets of commitments to respecting gender equality principles, specifying concrete steps to be performed. One of these steps is publishing a specific number of articles per month dedicated to promoting gender equality. Another is the use of gender sensitive language. Despite the progress made, an independent monitoring of the target media institutions in 2017 revealed that only some of them have maintained the progress made during the self-assessment and some have slipped backwards. Many have not managed to fulfill the gender equality commitments made.

In addition, in the previous years, UN Women has carried out different trainings and workshops with journalists on the topics of gender equality and gender sensitive reporting, as well as hands-on peer support in writing success stories for women in different fields of life. As a result of provided support in increasing media’s understanding related to gender equality and gender sensitive story-writing, the awareness of individual journalists was raised and progress in terms of promoting gender equality in media by them was noticed. This involves the increase of interest among journalists towards subjects reflecting women’s empowerment and gender equality and using of gender sensitive language, including feminization where required, in the media products.

Based on this work, further efforts are needed to increase understanding and strengthen the knowledge, capacities and skills of journalists to respect gender equality principles when developing media products and to use ensure gender sensitive and high-quality story-telling and reporting.

Devoirs et responsabilités

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Representative and direct supervision of UN Women Communications Specialist, the consultant will be responsible to lead and coordinate two major tasks to be considered as separate, generally aimed at strengthening media understanding on gender sensitive storytelling. Specifically, the consultant will be responsible for following:

Task 1: The launch of UN Women capacity building Programme for journalists, 2018 edition, which will be composed of the following stages: contest for participants on creating gender sensitive media materials/articles; capacity building sessions; and study mission to a country from Europe with good practices of promoting gender equality in media.

Task 2: Provide support to Audiovisual Coordinating Council (ACC) in mainstreaming gender equality in their work, including developing a methodology for external monitoring of audiovisual media outlets, revision of Audiovisual Code. Besides this, the international consultant is expected to develop some knowledge products related to gender mainstreaming in media to be used by UN Women.

The international consultant will work in close collaboration with a national company/organization and UN Women designated personnel, which will be directly responsible of provision of conceptual and logistical support for organization of above mentioned Programme.

Duties and responsibilities of the Consultant:

Task 1: The launch of UN Women capacity building Programme for journalists, 2018 edition, which will be composed of the following stages: contest for participants on creating gender sensitive media materials/articles; capacity building sessions; and study mission to a country from Europe with good practices of promoting gender equality in media.

Under this task, the international consultant will be responsible to undertake the following duties:

1. Contest for participants:
   1. In close cooperation with national company, to develop methodology and regulation for the national contest as part of the Programme for journalists and photojournalists, based on assessment of good practices from similar experiences in Moldova and in other countries;
   2. Be involved as an observer member of the Board for assessing the contest, which will be formed by representatives from relevant media associations and individual media and gender experts, tentatively from UN Women and NGOs, who will be responsible for the admission of journalists in the contest and selection processes;
2. Capacity Building session:
   1. To provide support to national company in developing training methodology, hand-outs and other relevant materials.
   2. Provide support in organization and conduct some sessions during up to 3 one-day training sessions/workshops for selected participants (up to 25) on: gender equality, feminism, harassment against women, including women journalist, sexism in media and photography, and other related topics. The exact topics will depend on the participants’ profile and the feedback provided by the national company and UN Women. After the completion of mandatory trainings, the journalists will be required to submit up to 3 articles, audio and/or video reportages and photos that analyze and reflect the gender issues/topic in the Republic of Moldova. The submitted journalistic materials should have analytical and investigative character on different topics (i.e. sexism, women’s economic empowerment, women’s leadership, violence against women, violence against women in politics, unpaid care work, careers choices for men and women including in nontraditional professions, involving men in children’s education, etc.)  
   3. In close cooperation with the national company, the international consultant will be responsible the develop concept of the final event where Gender Equality Awards will be presented to the winners of the contest and the winners/selected participants (journalists, photojournalists, media professionals) will be designated to attend the study mission.
3. Study mission:

1.6 In close cooperation with the national company and UN Women delegated personnel, the international consultant will be responsible to provide support in organization of a study mission for journalists winners awarded at the Gala (and possibly other selected media representatives) to a country in Europe with best practices in promoting gender equality in media. The consultant will be responsible to identify such good practices, develop draft mission agenda and set up meetings and discussions with journalists and representatives of media institutions, gender equality experts and other relevant stakeholders from the selected country.

Task 2: Provide support to Audiovisual Coordinating Council (ACC) in mainstreaming gender equality in their work. Besides this, the international consultant is expected to develop some knowledge products related to gender mainstreaming in media to be used by UN Women.

Under this task, the international consultant will be responsible to undertake the following duties:

1. Develop methodology for gender sensitive monitoring of audiovisual media based on international good practices, including the UNESCO framework for gender sensitive media, in order to assist the Audiovisual Coordinating Council (ACC) to eventually conduct monitoring of media from the gender perspective and on a regular basis;
2. Prepare concise and user-friendly Guide to ACC on gender equality in media products;
3. Review the new draft Audiovisual Code and provide recommendations for improvement from gender perspective;
4. Organize and facilitate up to 2 one-day trainings for ACC members and representatives of audiovisual media outlets on gender sensitive reporting, in close cooperation with national company and national expert(s) and UN Women representatives.
5. Support to facilitating discussion with editors from the participating media institutions in the gender self-assessment, together with UN Women and Embassy with Sweden in Moldova, to discuss findings from the independent monitoring of media outlets conducted in 2017 and discuss the way forward (half-day event).

Conduct research on best practices from other countries in relation to media outlets and media regulators ensuring gender sensitive practices and journalistic gender sensitive reporting. The research should contain recommendations to UN Women about the potential implementation of such practices in Moldova. Compile and submit to UN Women a list of journalists and media workers from other countries that have developed powerful materials on gender equality.

Compétences

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:      

• Mature judgment and initiative;
• Ability to think out-of-the-box;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women;
• Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams;
• Ability to work under pressure against strict deadlines;
• Ability to present complex issues persuasively and simply;

Displays cultural, gender, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education: 

• Master degree in Communications, Journalism, International Relations, Gender Equality, Human Rights and other related fields. Additional points will be granted for PhD degree in the fields mentioned above.
• Additional certification in the area of gender equality will be an asset.

Experience

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in the area of gender equality, communications and journalism;
• A minimum of 3 years of experience in organization of various capacity buildings and high-level events, with a special focus on media and journalism;
• Work experience in provision of trainings and other capacity building activities for journalists; 
• Previous experience in revision and reviewing of national and international policies, regulations, Codes of Conduct and other documents regulating gender mainstreaming in media’s work; 
• Experience in gender equality issues pertinent to RM context will be an asset;
• Work experience in organization of contests and/or study missions will be an asset;
• Proven experience in working with international organizations (successful experience in working with UN agencies is an asset).

Language Requirements: 

• Excellent command of English language.
• Working knowledge of Russian and/or Romanian languages is an asset

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.

UN WOMEN 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.

APPLICATION INFORMATION Pr18/01666:

ALL THE APPLICATIONS SHALL BE SUBMITTED ONLINE ON LOCAL WEB SITE FOLLOWING THE LINK: http://sc.undp.md/jobdetails/1666/ . ALL THE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING FINANCIAL OFFER TEMPLATE SHALL BE DOWNLOADED HERE http://sc.undp.md/jobdetails/1666/. 

Interested candidates must submit via online submission system the following documents/ information to demonstrate their qualification:

• Letter of Intent with justification of being the most suitable for the work, vision and working approach, specifically indicating experience of mobilization of excluded communities for participation and inclusion
• Duly filled Personal History Form (P11) and/or CV, including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and specific outputs obtained; All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Financial proposal (in USD) should specify a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference). The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days and any other possible costs); The Annex I: Price Proposal Guideline and Template and Annex II: Price Proposal Submission Form could be dowloaded from here http://sc.undp.md/jobdetails/1666/.

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, scan your documents into one single file.

Qualified women candidates are highly encouraged to apply.