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.

The Women Peace and Security (WPS) Section of the Policy Division supports UN Women to fulfill its coordination mandate in the area of peace and security and UN system efforts to promote improved implementation, and monitoring and reporting of global commitments on women and peace and security, including as set out in Beijing Platform for Action and in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015) and 2467 (2019), relevant Statements by the President of the Security Council, as well as related accountability frameworks established by the UN system. In the area of conflict resolution, the Peace and Security Section works to strengthen the capacity of actors engaged in inclusive peacemaking, conflict resolution, and national dialogue processes to enhance women’s participation and influence and to secure gender-equality outcomes.

UN Women’s Peace, Security and Resilience Section has been implementing a programme on gender-inclusive peace processes (i.e. German peace programme) for approximately six years. The programme has been instrumental in raising the profile of one of the most intractable issues in the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda—women’s direct participation in formal, high-level peace and political processes. With its partners, UN Women has been building political partnerships across peace tracks, pushing knowledge generation forward, making expert resources available, and offering spaces to strategize and build movements toward peace at national, regional, and global policy levels. Still, despite significant efforts by the UN, civil society, and others, high-level peace processes remain largely stalled, and women’s meaningful participation and influence at the track I level are limited, hampering the likelihood of reaching durable peace agreements.

To support the work on both gender-inclusive peace portfolios, UN Women is seeking consultancy of the Communications and Events Support Expert to support this portfolio in a series of upcoming events and comms/outreach activities. In case travel is required, UN Women Peace and Security Section will cover all travel-related expenses.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Communications and Events Support Expert will lead the planning and implementation of external and internal communication activities and support organization of events related to the German Peace Programme. The Expert will collaborate closely with members of the UN Women WPS Section at HQ, Regional Office for Arab States, country offices and Headquarters to ensure that UN Women the programme communications activities, media relationships, and events are aligned with corporate policies and priorities.

Responsibilities, Scope of Work, and Tasks

Under the supervision of the Inclusive Peace Processes Specialist, the Communications and Events Support Expert Consultant will perform the following tasks, which are indicative and may evolve depending on the needs of the Programme:

1. Support effective communications on the topic of gender inclusivity in peace processes generally and   for upcoming events:

• Provide support in publications processes, including the production of events and other reports and contributing to inputs to the donor reports, as well as arranging translations, layout, and proofreading/copyediting.
• Provide comms support in organizing a series of online and in-person WPS consultations with UN Women’s partners.
• Develop content and communication products for various audiences (social media package with stories, infographics, and other features) as appropriate, following the WPS consultations above.
• Work closely with partners on developing and distributing a series of promotional, outreach and comms material including op-eds.
• Identify, develop, distribute, and evaluate a variety of media materials in multiple, appropriate formats (press releases, feature stories, etc.).
• Ensure rapid and accurate information dissemination to the media, UN Women partners, and other appropriate audiences.
• Propose a comprehensive strategy for communications and online/in-person engagement.

1. Provide operational and coordination support for events:

• Provide logistic support in organizing a series of online and in-person WPS consultations with UN Women’s partners.
• Anticipate event planning needs, consistently track progress, and make appropriate suggestions for follow-up and any gaps as appropriate.
• Gather nominations for participants, prepare and send save-the-dates and letters of invitation as well as other documents to follow.
• Offer assessments of evolving participant lists, track participant RSVPs and participant questions/requests regularly.
• Liaise with event participants.
• Support the co-organizers and any other partners on the event as needed.
• Liaise with regional and country offices of UN Women, as well as HQ teams.
• Be on-hand to provide logistical/technical support during events.

1. Track substantive and communication inputs and draft documents:

• Track and report on communications results and activities for donor reporting purposes
• Support on concept note development by providing initial drafting.
• Provide inputs into design and facilitation of conference discussions, e.g., with MENA region-specific inputs.
• Take notes during discussions.
• Provide inputs into discussion report(s) summarizing discussions.

Other:

• Support the Policy Specialist with the production of financial reports, budgets, and other administrative tasks.
• Maintaining relations with Comms and other colleagues and WPS leads across HQ, regional and country offices, as well as with partners and donors.

Competencies

• Good planning, goal setting and prioritization for conference;
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral;
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization;
• Demonstrate sensitivity, tact and diplomacy, comfortable with handling external relationships at all level;
• Work in a highly pressured environment;
• Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability;
• Understanding of women, peace and security (WPS) issues.

  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

• Functional Competencies

• Knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues;
• Experience with event management and demonstrated ability to interact effectively with external experts, government representatives and other partners;
• Knowledge and understanding of UN system;
• Strong analytical and interpersonal skills;
• Good knowledge of Middle East region and WPS.
• Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Communication, Journalism or Public Relations, or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

• Seven years of progressively responsible and relevant professional work experience in outreach and communication;
• Demonstrated experience in planning and coordinating large events;
• Experience in gender equality and women's empowerment;
• Experience working in the UN system is an asset.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English is required.  
• Knowledge of another UN official working language is an asset.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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, color, 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.