Consultancy: Communications & Advocacy Consultant, Education and Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) - REQ

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, hope.

Consultancy Title: Communications & Advocacy Consultant, Education and Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP)

Section/Division/Duty Station: Education and Adolescent Team, Programme Group – New York HQ (Home based, remote position)

Duration: 120 days – January 16 to June 30, 2023

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity:

The Management, Advocacy and Partnerships (MAP) team in the Education and ADAP Section in UNICEF Headquarters provides the section as a whole with management, advocacy and partnerships support to implement the Education and ADAP work plan. The Learning Crisis has put significant demand on the programme and responding to the crisis requires dedicated capacity to manage communications and advocacy within the team.

UNICEF seeks a consultant who will provide strategic guidance and support to the development of external and internal communication and knowledge products, support donor engagement, manage social media engagement, and support high-level advocacy through management of events including in-person, virtual and hybrid. The main objective of the role is to ensure that Education and ADAP programmes are supported through strategic and impactful visibility of UNICEF’s work in Education and ADAP.

The consultant will work closely with different teams in the Section but also work across sections and divisions, for example with the Division of Communications and Global Advocacy (DCGA).

Scope of Work:

General Communications and Advocacy

• Develop and implement Communications & Advocacy Plan, including audience-specific engagement plans to amplify UNICEF’s added value, in support to securing more resources and to influence change.
• Produce innovative advocacy and visibility initiatives (exhibitions, installations, virtual reality visits, podcasts) and key multimedia and promotional materials to demonstrate UNICEF Education’s and ADAP’s added value.
• Support generation and/or re-purposing of knowledge products, communications and advocacy material, to specific audiences.
• Coordinate and support development of blogs, Op-Eds, newsletters, case studies, human interest stories, academic journals, etc. in support of technical leads.
• Provide guidance and support on UNICEF branding, production and publishing policies and processes.

Resource mobilization and donor engagement

• Prepare and implement targeted communications and advocacy interventions that support resource mobilization ambitions.
• Work in close collaboration with colleagues to initiate, maintain and nurture relations with donors/partners.
• Work closely with Natcoms to attract additional funding and streamline joint ODA advocacy with Natcoms
• Support the preparation of briefing notes and resource mobilization products as necessary.

Strategic social media engagement

• Manage Education and ADAP’s social media engagement, including amplification through key senior management handles, regional and country offices and Natcoms.
• Draft social media messages and engage donors and partners around key priorities/events.
• Develop event-specific social media packages with a distribution strategy to amplify key messages.
• Work in close collaboration with colleagues on donor visibility and donor engagement via social media channels.

Major events

• Keep track of key global events/advocacy opportunities to inform and follow-up with colleagues and partners.
• Support design and delivery of virtual, in person and hybrid events focused on key priorities.
• Support the overall process for speaker/partner engagement around key events.
• Support oversight of service providers including event management and other related procurement.
• Support Partner Group meetings and visits, as applicable.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Deliverables:

The consultant is expected to deliver monthly status reports providing a status overview of deliverables as well as a final report (including handover notes and guidance) at the end of the consultancy.

Qualifications

Education:

• Masters Degree in Communications or another Social Science
• Full command of spoken and written English is essential. Fluency in other UN languages is an asset.

Work experience:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience.
• Thorough understanding of Education programming and/or relevant technical fields
• Understanding of ADAP programming ideal
• UN experience preferred
• Demonstrated experience with communications and advocacy specifically for resource mobilization
• Experience with the use of social media for development
• Extensive knowledge and experience in Excel, PowerPoint

Competencies:

• Excellent writing skills for a wide variety of purposes

Requirements:

• Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory 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.

  U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.

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

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, culture, appearance, socio-economic status, ability, age, religious, and ethnic backgrounds, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

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.