The UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific was established in 2013.  The 2019/20 illustrated Annual Report is an important publication which will be used to showcase UN Women’s programmatic, normative, coordination and financial operations in the Asia-Pacific region in a readable fashion to all of UN Women’s partners and stakeholders, including inter alia, UN member states, civil society organizations, other UN Organizations, private sector companies and the general public.

The report, which will be published in English, will be used to communicate programmatic results through human interest stories to engage key stakeholders across the region (general public, media, private sector, non-profit partners, governments, donors etcb). The report will be distributed electronically and in hard copy to an extensive network in the region and at the global level. Furthermore, component of the report will be showcased via social media and other online platforms.

Expected Outputs/Deliverables:

It is noted that due to the nature of the project, there will be periods of time when no actual writing or research will occur because the writer will be waiting for either text clearances from UN Women and/or layouts from the designer.

A payment will be made at the end of the assignment based on the deliverables submitted. If staggered payments are requested, then payments can be made at the delivery of the first draft documents (50% of total fee) and at the end of the assignment (50%).

No documents, researches, raw data collection or analyses (or parts thereof) or comments from UN Women staff will be shared outside the UN Women Office and all documents provided to the consultant will be treated as confidential.

The consultant shall work in close collaboration with the Regional Programme Specialist and the Regional Communications team to research, write and edit the 2019/20 Illustrated Annual Report – aimed at a maximum of 40 pages. She or he will work with the UN Women team to creatively convey key messages/data into an attractive, user-friendly, and engaging report. The consultant will also proof-read the texts as they are laid out by a designer.

Tasks are as follows:

• Develop an outline for the Annual Report, to be approved by the Senior Management in Regional Office;
• Conduct as desk review of relevant annual reports, quarterly newsletters and human-interest articles from UN Women’s field offices; regional office and project offices, as well as other available sources information;
• Interview relevant staff members for each section of the Annual Report and read relevant additional donor and evaluation reports, quarterly newsletters and human interest and web feature articles developed throughout the year, as appropriate;
• Subject to the availability of funding and travel restrictions due to COVID-19, conduct field visits to three countries in the region and conduct interviews with beneficiaries/stakeholders to collect human stories in a journalistic manner – written and soundbites (The countries for visits will be decided based on the identification of results as a result of the desk review and discussion with UN Women staff.);
• Manage the drafting process and ensure sufficient consultations and follow-ups with UN Women staff to collect necessary information (at least three drafts);
• Submit the final text as a Word document aligned, styled with UN Women’s established standards and formats, and in compliance with the RO’s clearance and routing process, including table of contents, photo captions and credit information; and
• Provide feedback and proofreading of design layouts to ensure text and graphics are error-free.

• Core Values and Competencies

• In addition to aforementioned requirements and qualifications, it is important that the intern shares the core values and core competencies of the organization.

   

  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

• Working arrangements:

• The consultancy is home-based.  She/he will have face-to-face meetings (if based in Bangkok) or communicate through skype and e-mail interaction with UN Women Regional Office. About 7-10 days of field trips to Bangkok and to three selected countries in Asia Pacific region might be required subject to availability of funds and possibility of travel depending on COVID-19 travel restrictions. Approximately one day in Bangkok and two days to each selected country is estimated.  The travel expenses to three selected countries will be covered by UN Women (if any field visits/travel is undertaken).

   

• Selection Criteria

• The candidates will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: (i) educational background and work experience as reflected in their CV and a brief writing sample; and (ii) financial proposal, which includes daily consultancy rate and estimated cost of the round-trip airfare from the location where consultant resides to Bangkok, Thailand as well as the breakdown for each deliverable. The evaluation will be based on the combination of the weighted technical and financial scores (80 per cent technical and 20 per cent financial). The evaluation methods include desk review.

   

• How to apply: Interested candidates are requested to submit:
• A brief cover note (expression of interest);
• Updated CV, P11
• A brief writing sample; and
• Financial proposal, example provided below which is based on each deliverable breaking down into, daily consultancy rate, number of working days as well as a lump sum travel of round-trip airfare from consultant original country to Bangkok and vice versa, visa fee, etc.  Field trips will be arranged by UN Women as per UN Women rules and regulations.

  Items	Amount (USD)
  1. Lump Sum fee (equivalent to daily fee x no. of days) Number of days refers to actual days that the consultant works in order to produce deliverables as required by the ToR, NOT the number of days covering the whole period of consultancy.
  Outline for the 2019/2020 Illustrated Annual Report
  Draft human stories (*if field trips are conducted, related photos/video clips will be produced where needed)
  First draft of the 2019/2020 Illustrated Annual Report in English for review by technical UN Women staff members based on the guidelines provided by the regional office (to be developed based on the outline of the report)
  Second draft of the 2019/2020 Illustrated Annual Report for the management review; incorporating the feedback from UN Women staff members
  Final draft of the 2019/2020 Illustrated Annual Report as a Word document aligned with UN Women’s established standards and formats, and in compliance with the RO’s clearance and routing process, including table of contents, photo captions and credit information
  Proof-read file of the 2019/2020 Illustrated Annual Report after the design layouts by a graphic designer
  2. round-trip airfare from consultant original country to Bangkok and vice versa, visa fee, etc
  3.  Others (please provide details as applicable)
  Total Financial Proposal

   

  Please submit application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org  with the subject line, “Application for Consultant (SSA): Writer for the Illustrated Annual Report UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific” no later than 1 December 2020.  P11 form can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558. 

   

  Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

         Qualification and Experience:

• Master’s degree in one or more of the following disciplines: Journalism, social sciences, development, communications and/or related field with at least 10 years of relevant work experience including in journalism, communications, public relations and /or writing and editing reports and other strategic documents for international organization OR Bachelor’s degree in the above field with 12 years’ relevant work experience;
• Knowledge/understanding of the types of engagement that UN Women has in the Asia Pacific Region preferred;
• Previous work experience with international organizations is advantageous;
• Excellent communication and writing skills in English;
• Experience in producing corporate products is advantageous.