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 Communications Specialist and reporting, in close collaboration with the Regional Humanitarian Specialist, 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 home-based with travel to Ukraine and across the region if required.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of and directly reporting to the Regional Communications Specialist, in close collaboration with the Regional Humanitarian Specialist and 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;

Conduct two missions to Ukraine of 7 days each in coordination with Ukraine CO communications team;

Further develop the 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.

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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;

 

 

Cultivate and maintain effective working relationships with local, regional and global media and other relevant partners and identify opportunities for advocacy and communication partnerships.

  1. Support ECARO Communications Team with the development and implementation of communication and outreach/advocacy strategies and plans

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;

 

Support the maintenance of UN Women’s digital presence by contributing to the creation of social media and web content;

 

Support the launch of information opportunities, activities, approaches and platforms and partners;

 

 

 

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

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.

The consultant is required to include in the financial offer the estimated cost of two missions to Ukraine (7 days each) which will be covered fully by the consultant. If additional travel on official business across the region is required, 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:

  1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
  2. 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

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.

Financial proposal format:

#

Item

Unit cost in USD

Number of units

Total cost in USD

1

Daily fee rate

 

 

 

2

Other related costs (to be specified)

 

 

 

 

TOTAL

 

 

 

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant during the contract period. The financial proposal should be provided in USD. If the proposal is provided in any other currency, it would be converted as per UN exchange rate on the date of post closure.

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.)