Long Term Agreement for Engagement of Individual Consultant as Writer for developing stories for UNICEF Kosovo Programme, Prishtina, Kosovo, Communication, two years and four months

Consultant Communications & PR

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, a voice

UNICEF seeks to fulfill children's rights as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Children, focusing on child survival, protection, development, and participation.

To achieve this, UNICEF requires communication materials for various purposes, including advocacy and donor relations. These communication materials will cover key children's issues, and ongoing field responses, and support UNICEF's communication efforts with legislators, policymakers, media, donors, partners, and the public.

To meet these needs, UNICEF aims to engage a writer who will document UNICEF's activities and programs. The purpose of this assignment is to create articles and stories for different audiences, including the general public, donors, supporters, and partners. These stories will be disseminated through multiple channels, such as online platforms, websites, social media networks, partner networks, and donor reports.

How can you make a difference?

2. PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT

To meet these requirements, UNICEF would like to engage the services of writer for documenting UNICEF activities and programmes for different audiences such as the general public, donors, supporters and partners.

3. PROGRAMME AREA AND SPECIFIC PROJECT AREA

The chosen candidate will collaborate closely with the Communication and Partnerships Unit, overseen by the Communication and Partnerships Officer. However, he/she will be engaged with all UNICEF program areas.

UNICEF in Kosovo operates cohesively to tackle the challenges encountered by children, adolescents, and youth at various phases of their growth and development. Our initiatives from 2021 to 2025 are structured into three primary program areas:

• The first decade of life.

• The second decade of life.

• Social inclusion and child rights monitoring

4. OBJECTIVE(S)

The overall objective is to set up a Long-Term Agreement to facilitate and expedite the process through which UNICEF in Kosovo will engage writers as required for specific needs.

5. MAJOR TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED

The selected candidate must provide well-written and edited content, namely stories and articles. The goal is not only to inform the audience but also to deeply engage them, encouraging direct action on behalf of children.

Tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Write, edit, and finalize concise, compelling content, incorporating a call-to-action to maximize reader response.
• Conduct in-depth research on the issues and characters being documented, including interviews with community members, service providers, institutional counterparts, and beneficiaries, while remaining sensitive to specific situations, to support story writing.
• Create powerful and relevant captions for photographs used in articles and stories.
• Be available for several rounds of editing to refine the stories and deliver high-quality work within tight, short timelines when required.

Responsibilities of the Consultant:

i. The consultant will use their own equipment; laptops, microphones, software, and other accessories that may be required for this task.

ii. The consultant will not give the content/material or any part thereof, to any third party without the written permission of UNICEF. All components will be the property of UNICEF, and the consultant will not share the same with anyone else.

iii. The consultant will not put their own name or logo/emblem on the content / final product. The only organization branding will be UNICEF if required.

Responsibilities of UNICEF:

i. UNICEF will provide all details pertaining to the activity and the requirements

ii. UNICEF will orient the consultant on UNICEF’s branding guidelines

Consultant may be required to work on Saturdays and Sundays, based on the requirements of the assignment.

6. DELIVERABLES AND DEADLINES

No.

Tasks for different areas

Deliverable

Specific delivery date/deadline for completion of the deliverable

1

Develop articles/stories for Health and Early Childhood Education (ECE), demonstrating the work of UNICEF on the ground;

# Of articles/ stories developed for Health and ECE;

As and when requested by UNICEF

2

Develop articles/stories for Education and Adolescent Development and Participation, demonstrating the work of UNICEF on the ground;

# Of articles/ stories developed for Education and Adolescent Development and Participation;

As and when requested by

UNICEF

3

Develop articles/stories for Child Protection and Social Inclusion, demonstrating the work of UNICEF on the ground;

# Of articles/ stories developed for Child Protection and Social Inclusion;

As and when requested by

UNICEF

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

Category 1: For Writers for Media, Advocacy, and behavior change

• A minimum Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Literature, Marketing, Journalism, Advertising, Creative/technical writing, Economics, and Social Sciences related fields. A Diploma in a relevant field with experience can be considered in lieu of the degree.
• A minimum of 3 years of experience in media/journalism, public relations, communication, behaviour change communications, and advocacy is mandatory.
• Experience in writing for UN Organizations is desirable.
• Experience in copy editing is desirable.
• Experience and quality of work demonstrably meet the highest international standards.
• An excellent track record, along with experience writing about the social development sector, is desirable.
• Excellent ability to conduct research and interviews whenever needed to build the communication material

Language:

• Fluency in oral and written Albanian and English is required.
• Knowledge of the Serbian Language is preferred.

11. TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA (WITH WEIGHTS FOR EACH CRITERIA)

The selection of a consultant for the LTA will be based on technical evaluation and financial offers in the ratio of 80:20. The criteria for technical evaluation will be as follows:

Criteria

Marks

Min

Max

1. Cover Letter – Explaining the motivation for applying and explaining how the qualifications and skill set of the candidate are suitable for this position.

5

10

2. Relevant educational qualifications of the candidate.

15

20

3. Relevant work experience

15

20

4. Work Samples– This includes three previously written articles or stories as per the required assignment

20

30

TOTAL TECHNICAL SCORE

The minimum overall qualifying score is 55. Only those candidates who meet the overall qualifying marks of 55 and score the minimum cut-off in each of the above sub-criteria, will be considered technically responsive, and their financials will be opened.

55

80

Financial Score

The selection of the consultant will be based on technical evaluation & financial offer in the ratio of 80:20.

20

TOTAL

100

12. PAYMENT SCHEDULE

The LTA to be signed will have a fixed fee rate for two years and four months. However, UNICEF does not warrant that any quantity of services will be purchased during the term of the LTA as this will depend on forthcoming needs.

13. CONTRACT CREATED AGAINST THE LTA.

Whenever writer services are required, details of the requirement/deliverables including quantities and deadlines will be presented to the top-ranking LTA holder.

Upon receipt of confirmation of availability and interest in the assignment, a contract will be issued with the prices/fees agreed in the LTA. The consultant must sign the contract prior commencement of work.

Payment will be made after the completion of deliverables and submission of invoices for the actual work completed, subject to satisfactory performance.

HOW TO APPLY:

The application is to be submitted through the online portal and should contain four separate attachments:

i. A Cover letter explaining suitability for the position (to be uploaded online under the “Cover Letter” tab);

ii. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (to be uploaded online under the “Resume” tab);

iii. Minimum of three work samples, namely articles or stories (to be uploaded online under “Other – Applicant” as a single document containing work samples)

iv. A financial proposal, with a price for one article/story, with a minimum of 400 characters to a maximum of 500 characters, including the cost of transport.

Financial Offer (download the form)

Please do not forget to specify your name in the file while saving (to be uploaded online under the “Financial Proposal” tab).

Important Note: Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form, please mark "n/a or 00", under the fee-related questions in the online application form.

Without all the above 4 documents, your application will be considered incomplete and invalid and will not be considered further.

• Any attempt to unduly influence UNICEF’s selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.
• Joint applications of two or more individuals are not accepted.
• Please note, UNICEF does not charge any fee during any stage of the process.
• Women, trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse candidates meeting the requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds including persons living with disabilities to apply.
• General Terms and Conditions for the Consultancy Contract are attached, for your reference.
• 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.

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.

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Added 8 months ago - Updated 8 months ago - Source: unicef.org