Media and Communications Consultant (2 positions)

Consultant Human Rights

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

UN Women in Kyrgyzstan is a strong advocate for improving the lives of women and girls in the country. Building on the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, UN Women works to enhance women's leadership; the elimination of violence against women; involving women in all aspects of decision making; economic empowerment of women.

UN Women in Kyrgyzstan prioritizes initiatives and programs in areas fundamental to achieving equality for women and girls and finding ways of progress for both women and men. At the moment, the country office supports programmes throughout the country, which are aimed at: expansion of economic rights and opportunities for women; elimination of violence against women and girls; peace, security and gender mainstreaming in humanitarian action.

UN Women is leading multiple events to mainstream gender equality and empowerment of women, projects and initiatives towards eliminating violence against women and girls, increasing economic empowerment of women, increase women in decision making and programs on peace building initiatives, statistics and HIV.

Within this particular assignment, UN Women seeks to hire two Media consultants to provide media expertise and support for two separate projects:

1. Project 1: The Spotlight Initiative (SI) is a global, multi-year partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. Launched in 2020 in Kyrgyzstan, it represents an unprecedented national effort to address sexual and gender-based violence comprehensively across six interlinked pillars: policies and legislation; institutions; prevention; services; data, and women's movements and civil society organizations.

Under Pillar 3 of Spotlight Initiative, UN Women aimed to promote positive social norms, attitudes, and behaviors within communities and individuals to prevent violence against women and girls and harmful practices. To achieve this, targeted efforts were made in collaboration with the media outlets at both national and sub-national level. These efforts involved testing and refining approaches that had proven successful in other contexts, such as media self-assessment and media monitoring. To leverage the results and achievements already established through the Spotlight Initiative and expand the program's collaboration with media organizations, journalists and media stakeholders, UN Women intends to arrange a second Regional Forum: Gender Optics in Media. This forum aims to gather journalists from three Spotlight target oblasts, facilitating collaboration, knowledge exchange and peer learning to promote gender-sensitive journalism

1. Project 2: In 2023 UN Women Kyrgyzstan Country office commenced the programme funded from the Central Asia - UK Conflict Stability and Security Fund project “Women in Batken lead social cohesion for peace and development”. The project is focused on capacity building of women activists and communities and creating a conducive environment for their participation in strategic level decision-making at family, community and local self-governance levels as a basis for restoration of social cohesion and sustaining peace in 3 target LSGs of Batken province in Kyrgyzstan.

The project provides support to local media and building their capacity for gender and conflict sensitive journalism. Local media will be trained and have an opportunity to exercise the newly acquired knowledge through producing media products and implementing media and advocacy initiatives on promoting community activism on restoration of social cohesion and life free of violence for women and girls.

Thus, within this assignment both Media Consultants will be responsible for delivering specialized expertise and support tailored to the unique requirements of each project. Media and Communications Consultants will work under the overall guidance of the Spotlight Project Officer and direct supervision of the UN Women communications and advocacy specialist and Head of UN Women sub-office in Osh.

Objective:

Under the overall guidance of the Spotlight Project Officer and the direct supervision of the Head of UN Women sub office in Osh and the UN Women communications and advocacy specialist, the Communications Consultants will be responsible for organizing and coordinating the set of activities on gender and conflict sensitive journalism. The Consultants will work collaboratively within a UN Women team and maintain close coordination with UN Women's partners and stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of the main objectives of this assignment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Within the assignment, the Consultants will be responsible for the following activities:

Actions and Deliverables for Media Consultants:

• Project Plan and Timeline:

• Develop a comprehensive and detailed project plan outlining the tasks, milestones, and a clear timeline for all activities, from preparation stage to the one-day Media forum's execution. The timeline should align with the "16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence" campaign schedule for 2023. This plan should include key dates for preparation to the forum, competition launch, and the Media forum in December 2023 (within SI), preparation and planned dates for training to Batken journalists, media and advocacy initiatives in 2024 (within CSSF project).

• Convene weekly meetings (1-3 meeting per week) with UN Women Kyrgyzstan team to discuss and agree on communication plan, key messages, and follow-up on actions and progress.
• Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and online competition launch:
• Develop a strategy for engaging and involving media outlets and organizations, journalists, editors, bloggers, and influencers across the country including those who have previously participated at SI trainings for journalists from SI target localities Chui, Osh, and Naryn oblasts. Ensure their active involvement in the Media forum. Outreach and communication plans should be developed.
• Announce an online competition/contest for the most gender-sensitive media products to be written/produced by media outlets, journalists, bloggers, editors, social media influencers with the focus on eliminating violence against women and girls and why investment to EVAWG matters. Media products can include but not be limited to newsletters, magazines, newspaper articles, television programs, radio broadcasts, podcasts, reels, films and documentaries, social campaigns, infographics and data visualization materials and etc.
• The online contest should be announced among media organizations, independent journalists including the already existing network of gender-sensitive journalists trained during the SI programme. The duration of the contest is till the Media Forum in December 2023 where the winners will be selected. Promote the competition through various media channels.
• The results of the contest to be announced during the Media forum which is to be organized in December 2023. The selection criteria, evaluation, selection and awarding of winners to be created and done in close consultation withUN Women Kyrgyzstan.
• Media Forum Organization and logistical support:
• Coordinate with the UN Women Kyrgyzstan team to promote the Media Forum launch before and during the 16 days campaign through various channels, including email marketing, newsletters, social media, and partner organizations' networks
• Monitor and analyze communication efforts to measure the effectiveness of promotional strategies
• Develop an agenda for the Forum, identify speakers, moderators, participants, negotiate logistics details and content, prepare speakers for the sessions at the Forum.
  • Support the UN Women team with the logistical aspects of the forum including providing the contact information and reaching to the participants involved. Ensure effective communication from start till end with all the participants involved in the Forum (identifying the list of participants, invitation to the Forum, coordination and event management) to support UN Women team. Provide guidance and support to UN Women team on identifying valuable prizes for the winners of the competition. Ensure that the winners receive proper recognition during the forum. Coordinate with participants and ensure representation of the previous cohort of gender-sensitive journalists.
• Generate high-quality content for the forum, including sessions, workshops, panel discussions, and keynote speeches that focus on gender-sensitive journalism, media monitoring, media self-assessment and its role in combating gender-based violence with a specific focus on investing to prevent VAWG.
• Content development:
  • Produce content for social media, websites, and newsletters and actively promote the event through various social media channels. Develop and execute a promotional campaign that highlights the forum's connection to the "16 Days of Activism against gender based violence" campaign with the specific focus on the theme of 2023 “Invest to prevent violence against women and girls”.
  • Interactive Sessions and workshops: Plan and organize interactive sessions, such as workshops and hands-on activities, to facilitate gender-sensitive media skill-building and networking among participants. The sessions have to be organized during the Media Forum and throughout the 16 days campaign engaging academia and partner universities that were already engaged during the Spotlight Programme implementation. Events with academia (1-3 events) can be organized in a format of debate tournaments or quiz or any other similar format upon discussion with the UN Women Kyrgyzstan team.

Content of sessions to be aligned and agreed with UN Women Kyrgyzstan team and to be related to 16 days campaign 2023 theme: Invest to prevent violence against women and girls.

• Preparation and conducting training to local media in Batken

• Adapt the Training programme on gender sensitive journalism, developed and tested within Spotlight Initiative programme, for the purpose of the Batken project, review and amend the materials to reflect the issues of social cohesion and women, peace and security agenda

• Conduct 3 days training in Batken for local media and bloggers, key influencers in the project area, and social media representatives
• Prepare the report on training, along with the training follow up action plan to support and guide at least 9 media/advocacy initiatives undertaken by local media, featuring the initiatives on social cohesion in 3 target communities.
• Coaching support to local Batken media
• Plan and conduct coaching sessions for local Batken media in organizing and conducting media events (at least 9) and producing media products featuring the stories about local initiatives on restoring social cohesion in 3 target communities
• Provide feedback to local media and ensure quality of media products
• Prepare the report highlighting key achievements and lessons from the experience of support to local media
• Event Documentation:
• Create a post-event report for Media Forum, events with universities, trainings, and all other major events within both projects summarizing the main outcomes of the conducted events, including media coverage, social media metrics, and overall event impact including in compliance with UN Women Kyrgyzstan final reporting template
• Capture photos, videos, and participants’ testimonials during all the events within this assignment to document key moments and highlights
• Evaluation framework and Follow-up plan:
  • Together with UN Women team co-design an evaluation framework to assess the success and impact of the online competition, the media forum, interactive sessions with academia within SI project; and success and impact of the capacity building events within Batken (CSSF) project. This should include collecting feedback from participants and analyzing the impact of the events.
  • Create a follow-up plan to sustain the momentum and results from the forum, events, and trainings, including continued engagement with participants, mentorship opportunities, and further training sessions.
• Integration with "16 Days of Activism against GBV" Campaign:
  • Ensure that all events and activities are linked to the "16 Days of Activism" campaign and that messaging and themes align with the 2023 campaign's goals, as well as ensure broad coverage of the 16 days campaign in the local media
• Knowledge Management Strategy Development
• Develop a comprehensive knowledge management strategy, including the identification of suitable platforms with a budget, to facilitate the organization, preservation, and accessibility of all Spotlight Programme’s generated knowledge products and resources.

• Timeframe, payments and deliverables:

  The assignment will be for a period of maximum 37 working days for each consultant for a period of November 6, 2023 till March 15, 2024.

  Payment for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payment will be based on the submission of the SSA report along with the timesheet and relevant annexes as supporting documents for the achievement of deliverables:

Deliverables

Target Date

Payment structure

1. A comprehensive detailed project plan outlining the tasks, milestones, and a clear timeline for all activities, from preparation stage to the one-day Media forum's execution, as well preparation and execution of other events as indicated in the actions and deliverables

2. Online Contest/competition announced through various media channels and platforms, ensuring participation of various media outlets and media representatives (LoP with confirmations) including gender-sensitive journalists from three Spotlight target localities(Chui, Osh, and Naryn oblasts)

3. One-day media forum, and 1-3 events with 3 selected universities in SI target locations during the 16 days campaign 2023, efficiently organized and executed, with active participation from attendees who will be recognized and rewarded for their outstanding contributions.

4. An evaluation report and a follow-up plan that outlines the steps and activities required to sustain the results achieved from the organized events including strategies for continued engagement with journalists, media outlets, and academia on promotion of gender-sensitive journalism in the country

5. A comprehensive knowledge management strategy, including the identification of suitable platforms, to facilitate the organization, preservation, and accessibility of all Spotlight Programme’s generated knowledge products and resources.

6. The final narrative report upon the completion of the assignment related to Spotlight Programme media activities including the results of the conducted activities with recommendation and follow-up actions.

By December 15, 2023

Approximately 17 days

7. Agenda and materials of the Training Programme to Local media in Batken, adapted for the purpose of integrating social cohesion and peace issues

8. 3-days training for Local media in Batken

9. Report on Training to Local media in Batken

By December 25, 2023

Approximately 10 days

10. Action Plan on coaching support to local media in Batken

11. Report on achievements and lessons learned on guiding and supporting 9 media initiatives and products featuring local initiatives on social cohesion and peace

By end of February 2024

Approximately 9 days –

12. The final narrative report on the assignment including the results of the conducted activities with recommendation and follow-up actions.

By March 15, 2024

Approximately 1 day

Competencies

Core Values:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Respect for Diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff.
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi -ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Required Skills and Experience

Education

University degree in Journalism and Mass Media, Public Relations and Communication, Business Management, international relations, legal studies or any other relevant social science field.

Language

Proficiency in Kyrgyz, Russian, English is required.

Experience

-At least two (2) years of communications experience in in implementation of capacity building initiatives for media with specific focus on GEWE, promoting gender-sensitive journalism and media, developing networks with media outlets, journalists, influencers, women rights CSOs and activists

-Proven experience developing and launching at least 3 successful campaigns / forums / events

-Proven experience in conducting trainings on promotion of gender-sensitive journalism and media

-Experience and strong network with local media outlets at the regional level

-Knowledge of Ethical Guidelines in journalism and media

-Proved experience in media monitoring

-Experience with UN agencies and other international organizations is highly desirable

-Strong communication skills with a specific focus on speaking or verbal communication skills

-Experience in applying experimental/ innovative social technologies and methodologies

-Experience in performing the tasks specified in the ToR would be an asset

Functional Competencies

-Good knowledge of the subject area;

-Good organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to detail;

-Experience in writing reports

-Possesses the ability to work independently, under stressful conditions and under tight deadlines;

-Experience and knowledge of collaborative process (where multiple parties are involved)

-Openness to innovative process facilitation techniques

Application Procedure

The candidates will be evaluated in three stages: according to minimum qualification criteria; technical and financial evaluation.

Technical evaluation criteria (including minimum qualifications):

Nr.

Criteria

Maximum points

1****.

University degree in Journalism and Mass Media, Public Relations and Communication, Business Management, international relations, legal studies or any other relevant social science field

15

2****.

At least 2 years of work experience in implementation of capacity building initiatives for media with specific focus on GEWE, promotion of gender-sensitive journalism and media, developing networks with media outlets and journalists

30

3.

Experience in applying experimental/innovative social technologies and methodologies in the field of human rights and gender equality, media and journalism

25

Maximum total technical scoring:

70

Only candidates who have passed over the minimum qualification criteria and have accumulated at least 49 points out of maximum 70 under technical evaluation will qualify for the next stage i.e. evaluation of their financial proposals.

Evaluation of financial proposal

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30

S – score received on financial evaluation;

Fmin – the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round;

F – financial offer under consideration.

Winning candidate

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical

scoring + financial scoring).

Submission package:

- CV

- Dully filled out PHF11 form.

- This form can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

- Financial proposal, indicating a total lump sum to include all costs relating to the delivery of activities as per above description.

Financial proposal format:

#

Item

Unit cost in KGS

Number of units

Total cost in KGS

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 KGS. If the proposal is provided in any other currency, it would be converted as per UN exchange rate on the date of post closure.

Financial arrangements:

The payment (as indicated with a breakdown in the deliverables table) will be disbursed upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by UN Women Programme Officer and the Head of UN Women sub office in Osh that the services have been satisfactorily performed.

UN Women is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.)

Applications without the completed P-11 form are incomplete and will NOT be considered for further assessment!

Apply now

Added 6 months ago - Updated 5 months ago - Source: jobs.undp.org