Communication consultant for EU funded projects “Ensuring enhanced access to inclusive education, social services, and legal aid in the Surkhandarya region” and Education section related com

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Surkhandarya, the south-east region of Uzbekistan bordering Afghanistan is one of the least developed regions in the country. With a gross domestic (regional) product (GRP) per capita of 11 million Uzbek sums in 2021, it is the poorest region in the country (national average GRP is 21 million Uzbek sums). Surkhandarya also has the second highest proportion of population in low-income levels (14.5 per cent in 2021).

As estimated by UNICEF, 40.3 per cent of Surkhandarya youth is not in education, employment or training (NEET). The Surkhandarya region has the lowest pre-school enrollment rate in the country – only 41.5 per cent of the 3-6 years old are attending a pre-school. The available space in existing pre-schools is adequate to enroll only 30 per cent of children in the 3-6 years age group; however, given the enrollment, there is an overcrowding of pre-schools by 1.4 times. The Surkhandarya region also has the highest proportion of schools working in double shifts (87 per cent), with the largest ratio of teachers without a graduate/bachelor’s degree (22 per cent). According to the UNICEF national study Youth of Uzbekistan: Challenges and Prospects, 56 per cent of young people 19-24 years of age are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) - 69 per cent of young women and 33.4 per cent of young men. Based on the Ministry of Employment and Labor (2020) statistics, the unemployment rate among the economically active population is 11.1 per cent, while among the youth of 16-30 years old – 17.1 per cent and the Surkhandarya region is among the regions with the highest youth unemployment rate.

All these and other challenges faced by the local population are exacerbated by the arrival of Afghans after the takeover of Taliban and the following humanitarian crisis as a result across the country in 2021. While the border to Afghanistan was closed in August 2021, many of those Afghan citizens, including families with children, who arrived in Uzbekistan, did not want to return back to Afghanistan. Uzbekistan has been proactively promoting the importance of providing support to Afghanistan to address immediate and humanitarian needs and invited the international community to utilize Termez as a humanitarian logistical hub for that purpose. Thus, integrating Afghan children and youth has not been considered so far. In addition, none of the available pre-school facilities offer inclusive multi-lingual education, hindering social cohesion and access to this basic service not only to Afghan children but also to other ethnic minorities, e.g., Tajiks and Kyrgyz. The general education system at present does not adequately address barriers to education arising for children from diverse backgrounds arising due to lack of inclusive or multi-lingual school programmes that promote safe and gender-responsive schooling. Afghan youth, particularly young women, have minimal options for their future and educational and employment prospects.

UNICEF Uzbekistan with-funding project from the European Union is implement a programme on “Ensuring enhanced access to inclusive education, social services, and legal aid in the Surkhandarya region”, which will contribute to strengthening resilience of the population in the Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan through enhanced access to inclusive education for all children, social and legal aid services and promotion of skills and competency among youth.

Specific Objectives of the project are: • To strengthen the capacities of protection and education systems in providing equitable access to quality social services and legal aid. • To enhance resilience and bring coherence by addressing needs and fulfilling the rights of the most vulnerable and at-risk groups. • To provide required skills to young women and men for employability, social inclusion, and social cohesion.

As per the guidelines of the European Union, UNICEF has developed a communication and visibility plan for the project. Through visibility actions, UNICEF will raise awareness among stakeholders and the general public of the support provided by the EU according to EU requirements to partners on communication and visibility. The overall communication objectives of the EU funded project is: • To raise awareness of policymakers, relevant professionals, and the general public on the objectives, intended results and key activities of the Action and the EU contribution. • To showcase young people, including Afghan youth, as agents of positive change in their communities. • To showcase positive results of the Action to demonstrate effectiveness and leverage commitment and resources from Government to sustain interventions beyond the duration of the Action and to ensure national scale-up.

UNICEF is seeking for a National Consultant to provide support in the communication and visibility activities related to programme implementation, including effective implementation of the Communication and Visibility plan of EU Funded project “Ensuring enhanced access to inclusive education, social services, and legal aid in the Surkhandarya region”.

More specifically, the consultant will be responsible for providing visibility to activities and results of UNICEF in a timely and efficient manner. The Communication consultant will further develop and implement activities to raise awareness about the projects, its activities, and the key results.

The consultant will also be responsible to develop communication materials to support visibility needs and other requirements of the communication and visibility plan for EU funded project, the primary aim of which is to ensure that audiences or specific audience segments in Uzbekistan as well as the EU are kept informed of the importance of the project, the activities being implemented, and ultimately the results being achieved for the final beneficiaries.

Consultant will be responsible to ensure that all communication and visibility materials are branded according to the Communication and Visibility Manual for EU external actions and to the Joint Visibility Guidelines for EU-UN actions in the field (Field Visibility) and disclaimers and logos added as required.

It is expected that consultant will perform all tasks and provide deliverables addressing the visibility aspects of activities, including EU funded projects within the given timeframe. All communication and visibility products developed for EU funded project as per the Communication and visibility plan agreed between UNICEF and EU and all tasks should be executed under the close supervision and guidance by Communication, Education, Youth and Health Section/Officers and Termez office staff. All materials cleared and coordinated with Communication team, including media engagement, social media posting, finalization of PRs, HIS and other documents.

Methodology/Activities The consultant will ensure donor visibility and donor mention in communication products and activities in accordance with EU communication and branding guidelines, work with Education and Youth section’s colleagues to identify gaps in information required for visibility and ensure those gaps are adequately filled; work with Communication section’s colleagues to follow UNICEF communication and branding guidelines. The consultant should undergo all required trainings per UNICEF rules and procedures, follow all ethical guidelines, enhance own knowledge and skills through on-line webinars related to UNICEF and EU communication, visibility and branding requirements.

Management Under the supervision of Chief of Communications as well engagement with Termez office the consultant will work in Tashkent, with frequent field visits to project sites. The consultancy doesn’t require presence in the office. However, the consultant must be present in UNICEF when requested. If there is an event, the consultant would make additional time available for the event. The Communication consultant will be accountable for implementation of the communication and visibility plan of the EU funded projects and provision of support to the Education, Health sections and Termez UNICEF Office for the activities within UNICEF programme specified outcome and output under guidance of Communication’s team. Each section Officers will be in charge of managing relevant outputs and deliverables to be provided by the Consultant.

I. Reporting the positive results of the EU project (February – December 2023, 25 days)

1 Develop human interest stories and photos depicting the success stories, acknowledging the contribution of the donor and UNICEF: • Develop advocacy and communication materials and products, as media reports and social media posts. • Develop at least 6 human interest stories. • Support development of the script of the short video on project and life story video. Plan, organize and coordinate photo shoots and video products in consultation with UNICEF communication section. • Contribute to the radio/TV show with preparing specific material devoted to the project activities and success stories. • Ensure that at least 3 quotes from beneficiaries are posted on social media including good quality photos. • Support language editing, design, and printing of Communication and Visibility materials. • Support planning and organizing of special events and high-level field visits by donor. • Store all C&V materials on a specific folder in the UNICEF shared drive and support donor reporting as relevant to C&V.

All materials to be cleared and finalized in consultation with Communication’s Team and coordinated

Deliverables/Outputs

1. At least 4 human interest stories are published
2. Social media posts
3. Media reports published on the issue
4. 1 short video produced
5. 1 life story video of a child/family that benefited from support through a project activity (video format of a human-interest story).
6. 1 radio/TV show (cross sectoral)
7. At least 8 quotes from beneficiaries posted on social media including good quality photos.

II. Capacity-building and service delivery (March – December 2023, 25 days)

1. Production and dissemination of print and audio-visual materials: web stories, articles, human interest stories, infographics etc. (acknowledging the EU contribution and demonstrating the impact on the lives of local children, youth and population in general) • Develop human interest stories demonstrating the process and impact of the programme. • Develop media reports to be published on the issue • Write articles about trainings, seminars and community engagement activities

2. C4D activities in host communities and host schools: • Organize open-door events and launching of alternative ECEs for the host communities. • Develop IEC materials for dissemination

Deliverables/Outputs

1. 2 Articles written
2. Social media posts published
3. 2 Human interest stories
4. At least 2 open door events organized
5. IEC materials developed

III. Special events, high-level field visits and closure of the project (March - December 2023, 10 days)

Provide support in planning and organization of special events and high-level field visits by donors and UNICEF partners: • Support planning and organizing of special events and high-level field visits by donor. • Draft field visit briefs/briefing notes/press release/press notes/ presentations with key advocacy messages based on available information and reports. • Ensure media engagement (with support from Communication Officer). • Ensure co-branded info-packs available for events. • Ensure visibility items (banners, flags, folders, notepads) used during the event • Draft joint EU, UNICEF and Government press releases (with support of Communication Officer)

Deliverables/Outputs

1. Draft briefing notes, press notes, presentations are prepared for events
2. Press Release ready

IV. Overall Communication and Visibility plan monitoring and implementation (March-December 2023, 10 days)

1. C&V plans fully implemented for EU-funded projects: • Provide all necessary inputs to the M&E plans as per the progress of C&V plans implementation • Provide all C&V materials to be archived for easy retrieval and reporting to donor and to be uploaded on SharePoint.

Deliverables/Outputs

1. Established e-database of C&V materials for EU-funded project

V. Communication Support to Education Section activities (June 2023, 10 days)

Provide overall support to the Education section for communication and visibility activities: • Draft field visit briefs/briefing notes/press release/press notes/ presentations with key advocacy messages based on available information and reports. • Participate in the meetings when required and develop minutes of the meetings. • Support language editing, design and printing of C&V materials. • Support planning and organization of events, including drafting of press releases, inviting media. • Undertake field trips to cover relevant events and ensure adequate C&V, including photos, human interest stories. • Upload/store all finalized C&V products (including photos, human interest stories, web stories, press releases, fact sheets, posters, etc.), videos, media reports, links to other publications/reposts, on the UNICEF shared drive.

Deliverables/Outputs

1. Quality C&V support provided in line with relevant C&V guidelines and UNICEF branding requirements, including press-releases, social media coverage, human interest stories, photos, donor reporting etc.

VI. Support in communication activities of the Termez office (March - December 2023, 7 days)

To provide support in drafting: • 3 human interest stories about Afghan stranded in Surkhandarya; • Media coverage of at least 5 handover events (equipment, renovation, vouchers etc)

VII. Support in communication activities for Health section (March – December 2023, 8 days)

• support drafting 1 press release for the visibility of the programme. PR in Russian, Uzbek and English Languages. • support drafting of an Op-Ed on the importance of acting on climate change (with a link to health) for the children of Uzbekistan (linking it to our programme in Termez. • support development of 2 human interest stories including verification after editing, translation in Uzbek, English and Russian languages. • documenting our programme on climate-friendly health care waste management as a promising practice.

Travel: Regular (monthly) visits to Surkhandarya region/Tashkent city will be required during 10 months of consultancy.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• University degree in communication, journalism, mass-media, advertisement, public relations, or related field.
• At least 2 years of progressively responsible experience in communication, journalism, advertisement, creative writing or external relations.
• Experienced with communicating using social media platforms, to be assessed by CV review.
• Experienced with planning and executing work-plans, to be assessed during interview and background check.
• Strong writing and analytical skills in English, Russian and Uzbek, to be assessed by review of work.

Payment: According to UNICEF policy, the final rate shall follow the “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee. Consultants will be asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.

Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

The candidates are requested to submit their financial offer consisting of fee for the services to be provided. The Consultant will receive direct payment to his/her indicated bank account in Uzbek Sums based on the UN currency exchange rate.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles 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.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.