Antecedentes

The ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme is a €13.1 million capacity building program that aims to build the profile, and improve the management, of Development Minerals (industrial minerals; construction materials; dimension stones; and semi-precious stones). The program is an initiative of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, financed by the European Union and UNDP, and implemented by UNDP. The mining of Development Minerals has important implications for sustainable development, however, they have not to date received adequate attention for their potential to impact livelihoods and few development programmes have provided support for this mining sector.

Development Minerals are minerals and materials that are mined, processed, manufactured and consumed domestically in industries such as construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. Development Minerals are economically important close to the location where the commodity is mined. Development Minerals include, industrial minerals, such as gypsum and talc, construction materials, such as sand and gravel, dimension stones, such as marble and granite, and semi-precious stones, such as garnet and amethyst. Development minerals are locally mined materials used in local and domestic infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, agriculture and craftsmanship and have the potential to be high value in terms of domestic development.

Programme implementation and management

The ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme is building the capacity of key stakeholders in the sector, including public stakeholders such as regulatory agencies and local governments; private stakeholders such as small-scale mining enterprises, intermediaries, transportation and logistics service providers, construction companies; business development stakeholders such as mining and quarrying associations, chambers of mines, training centres, universities, consulting companies; and social stakeholders such as civil society organizations and community groups.

The programme is under implementation at both regional and country levels. Regional level activities such as training involve forty (40) countries from the 6 ACP regions; while in-depth support at country level is being provided for 6 countries namely: Cameroon, Fiji, Guinea (Conakry), Jamaica, Uganda and Zambia. Training and support is being provided in the following thematic areas of importance to the sector: 1) mine and quarry management; 2) environment, health and safety; 3) entrepreneurship skills; 4) market analysis and investment promotion; 5) geo-data and maps design; 6) community relations and addressing grievances.

Scope of communication and media outreach undertakings

The programme is seeking a communication and media outreach consultant to support the implementation of the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme’s Communication and Visibility strategy through wide-spread and effective communication of the activities, outputs and outcomes of the ACP/EU/UNDP partnership. This will entail ensuring that full visibility for the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme is provided through print, audio-visual, social media and other innovative communication channels. Content generation and dissemination through liaison with leading media outlets will be an important dimension of the media outreach tasks.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Duties and Responsibilities of the Communication and Media outreach consultant

The ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme requires a Communication and Media outreach consultant to support the implementation of its Communication and Visibility Strategy by providing adequate and effective visibility of the transformative impact of the program at local, national, regional and global levels. This enhancement of visibility will include leading the generation and wide-spread dissemination of the program’s communication and knowledge products to targeted audiences in the form of editorial pieces and Op-Eds in influential media outlets, drafting quarterly newsletters, news profiles of small-scale operators, factsheets, leaflets, pamphlets, calendars, communiqués, press releases, brochures, policy briefs, working papers, reports, snapshots, banners, display panels, audio-visual productions such as short video pieces etc.

Under the overall supervision of the Programme Manager, the Communication and Media outreach consultant will work directly with the Programme Specialist while collaborating with the UNDP programme implementation team; the country coordinators and communication officers at country-level in the focus countries; and communication officers at the regional level in Addis Ababa and Brussels. 

In this regard, the Communication and Media outreach consultant will:

Enhance the visibility of the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme through effectively communicating the program’s activities, outputs and outcomes to diverse audiences using print, audio-visual, and social media platforms; 

Ensure the adherence to, and implementation of the Communication and visibility strategy of the ACP-EU development minerals programme to all media and outreach undertakings.

Functions/key results expected:

Summary of key functions:

The Communication and Media outreach consultant will undertake the following functions:

1. Coordinate media relations with focal points at national and regional levels including through:

• Setting up and coordinating interviews of programme beneficiaries as well as the ACP-EU programme implementation team with influential media outlets at regional and national levels;  monitoring media coverage of programme events at regional and national levels; responding to journalists’ inquiries and media requests in close collaboration with the programme implementation team;
• Reaching out to journalists, media outlets and broadcast entities to create awareness of the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme and  secure prime visibility of the programme through coverage in influential print, audio-visual and social media channels;
• Identifying and prioritizing critical programme activities/events, outputs, outcomes and knowledge products that will command higher media visibility and coordinating the achievement of the said visibility with media networks;
• Providing guidance, generating content and supporting drafting of editorial pieces and Op-Eds by programme staff and pitching the pieces for publication to influential media outlets; 
• During the programme’s communication and programme events, ensures photographs and/or videos are taken, filed and used for communications and reporting purposes;

2. Support the generation and dissemination of strategic messaging on the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme on diverse social media platforms by:

• Serving as the lead content creator for programme’s social media accounts, refining and growing quality content, audiences and engagement;
• Enhancing the programme’s media and online presence and information dissemination by improving the use of existing media/information systems (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Programme Website, Vimeo, press releases, articles, video documentaries, etc.)
• Analysis of social media trends and their evolution in order to inform the social media strategy under implementation by the programme;
• Collection of information, preparation of content for the web site;
• Ensuring consistency across all social media platforms;
• Staying abreast of new digital platforms and emerging technologies, making recommendations on future use; 
• Creating training materials and guidelines on optimal social media use as necessary;
• Providing technical support and advice on communication and promotional materials best suited to create and raise awareness on regional and in-country activities of the program.

3. Monitor and provide reports on the results and impacts of the communication/visibility activities undertaken;

4. Any other relevant duties assigned by the Programme Manager.

Expected Outputs:

• Maintain an up-to-date and functional network of contacts with influential media outlets;
• Develop a matrix of priority programme activities/events, outputs, outcomes and knowledge products that will enhance visibility of the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme;
• Document and analyse digital media trends to identify new opportunities to increase visibility of the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme online;
• Create and maintain a database of media contacts and outltets targeted for the publishing of editorial pieces and Op-Eds;
• Create and maintain a repository of social media campaigns undertaken on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Vimeo etc;
• Create and maintain a database of key Internationally recognized commemorative days/ Conferences/Meetings/Events for which a social media campaign is required and undertake the said campaign;
• Maintain a repository/library of innovative knowledge/campaign assets such as visual knowledge products including animated infographics, graphics for use in strategic messaging for various stakeholders;  
• Prepare guidance materials on optimal social media use;
• Preparation of periodic (quarterly) reports on social media trends and their evolution in order to inform implementation of the social media strategy;
• Update and implement a framework for measuring the results and impact of the communication/visibility activities undertaken.

The timeline for delivering the above outputs will de discussed and documented in contractual documents.

Intellectual Property:

All information pertaining to this programme as well as outputs produced under this contract shall remain the property of the UNDP who shall have exclusive rights over their use. Except for purposes of this assignment, the products shall not be disclosed to the public nor used in whatever format without written permission of UNDP in line with the national and International Copyright Laws applicable.

Competencias

Core  Competencies:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.
• Act as a team player while also taking individual initiative to complete outlined tasks;
• Sharing knowledge - across the programme in particular and the organization in general -through supporting the building of a culture of knowledge sharing and learning;
• Building programme staff competence through creating an environment of creativity and innovation.

Functional Competencies:

• Highly-skilled practical background in effective utilization of diverse communication and visibility tools;
• Proven track-record in engaging influential players in print, audio-visual and social media networks in relation to the extractives industry, particularly the mining sector;
• Proven record of undertaking successful social media campaigns before, during and after large events at international and national levels;
• Proven track record of getting editorial pieces and Op-Eds published in leading and influential media outlets;
• Proven experience in establishment of formal and informal media networks;
• Good understanding of social media platforms as well as new and evolving digital  technologies;
• Commitment to excellence in producing quality work;
• Demonstrates ability to identify problems and proposes solutions;
• Demonstrates professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work; and
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, ability to create and nurture networks and partnerships

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education

• Bachelors’ degree (or higher) in Media and communication; Journalism or related discipline.

Experience

• At least 4 years' experience in implementation of targeted communication and visibility activities for a wide range of clients (corporate, UN, NGOs) is required;
• Established track record in communications and media outreach;
• Proven experience in generation and dissemination of communication outputs for technical assistance and/or capacity building programs in the extractives industry – particularly the mining sector;
• Excellent verbal and communication skills;
• Demonstrated ability to take initiative and work independently;

Language

• Fluency in English and French (both oral and written) is required;
• Knowledge of Spanish an asset.

Application Submission Process:

The application submission is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP job shop (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all docs in one file):

• Personal History Form (P11), indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references (the template can be downloaded from this link: http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc
• An updated Curriculum Vitae.
• A proposed work plan prepared by the candidate that details their consultancy plan

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal

Applicants are instructed to submit their financial proposals in US Dollars or in EUR for this consultancy to procurement.be@undp.org using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780. The proposals should be sent via email with the following subject heading: “Financial Proposal/LVMM- Communication and media outreach consultant" latest by March 19th, 2018. Proposals to be received after the deadline will be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive” implies that all costs (monthly professional fees, travel related expenses if applicable, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal. 

Application Evaluation Process

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology (weighted scoring method), where the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

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

Technical Criteria weight: [70%]

Financial Criteria weight:  [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 70% on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 100 points:

• Candidate holds a Bachelors’ degree (or higher) in Media and communication; Journalism or related discipline; – 5 points;
• Candidate has at least 4 years' experience in implementation of targeted communication and visibility activities for a wide range of clients (corporate, UN, NGOs) – 20 points;
• Candidate has proven experience in generation and dissemination of communication outputs for technical assistance and/or capacity building programs;– 10 points;
• Candidate has proven experience in getting editorial pieces and Op-Eds published in leading and influential media outlets; - 10 points;
• Candidate has established track record in communications and media outreach; - 10 points;
• Interview inclusive of written sample of previous communication/visibility materials developed by the candidate; – 20 points;
• Proposed work plan prepared by the candidate that details their consultancy plan; - 15 points;
• English and French language proficiency (with Spanish proficiency an asset) – 10 points.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

UNDP is applying fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their price proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores. Please go the following link for the General Conditions of Individual Contracts: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf

UNDP retains the right to contact references directly.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.