National Consultant: Copy-editing, Design & Layout of Four Budget Briefs in 2023, Pretoria, South Africa, 25 days (remote)

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, ADVOCACY.

Annually, during the Social Policy Section planning for the year ahead, the section undertakes annual budget analysis of the three key sectors, namely basic education, social development, and health. In addition, new content has been generated in areas as diverse as prevention and early intervention in social development, social protection, and in 2023, the financing of water and sanitation in public school budgets.

The focus for the budget brief has shifted to both equity and quality in the provision of key services that affect the quality of life for children. This is part of our commitment to delve into the various sectors and understand whether noticeable quality and equity shifts have taken place over time. The Budget Brief series in 2023 continues those themes for the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector, and for progress made in financing child protection in social development budgets. In addition, in 2023, new content in the form of a Budget Brief on Water and Sanitation in public schools will be developed.

UNICEF South Africa uses these publications to do advocacy work with government and development partners, and hence the quality of the product should comply with UNICEF publishing standards. Furthermore, because the publications do not only address the budgets of the fiscal year, but tackle cross-cutting themes, it makes the Budget Briefs valuable for a multi-year advocacy strategy.

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision of the Social Policy Manager, the consultant will produce 3 high-quality Budget Briefs and 1 research report that are fit for publication. The consultant will produce various drafts, which will be carefully scrutinised by the Social Policy Manager and the Communications unit within UNICEF South Africa.

Outputs/Deliverables:

1. Prepare the four budget briefs for publication: the consultant will prepare the Four Budget Briefs for publication. The draft versions of the briefs are available as Word files, with a total of approximately 20,000 to 22,000 words.
2. Copy-editing: editing will also involve ensuring consistency in the numbering and labelling, graphs, tables and charts, removing the 2nd decimal from all the percentages depicted in the tables and graphs.
3. Artwork: illustrations/photos. Artwork is required for the cover page. Photos may be used for each budget brief, as appropriate. If photos are used, the following guidelines must be followed:

- Use of age-appropriate photos, depicting the full diversity and demographics of South Africa

- Photos shall be obtained from either the UNICEF photo bank or any other acceptable stock photo/image database

- All photos/images shall be subject to UNICEF’s prior approval

4. Design and layout: in accordance with UNICEF requirements which will include the following:

• Branding in terms of the UNICEF requirements

• Use of artwork, which include the UNICEF logo and the photos/related artwork

• All four budget briefs in MS word version are approximately between 20,000 and 22,000 words in total. The breakdown for each budget brief is as follows: (a) Child Protection Financing in the Social Development Sector 2023: 6,500-7,000 words; (b) Who benefits from ECD now and in the future?: 4,500-5,000 words; (c) The financing of water and sanitation in public school budgets, 2023: 6,500-7,000 words; and (d) Macro shocks affecting children in 2023, 1,500-2,000 words.

5. Look and feel: the service provider shall provide at least three samples of “look and feel” for the publication within 5 days of the signing of the contract. - UNICEF must approve the “look and feel” before the designer commences with the assignment

• In the case where none of the initial “look and feel” samples is acceptable, the service provider shall, after discussion with UNICEF, provide two additional “look and feel” samples for a final decision

6. Formats: the service provider will provide the final products, via electronic communication (email) and using Dropbox or similar large file transfer systems, which shall include the following:

• Original version of graphically designed material

• All artwork used in high resolution

• Print- ready version of the document in PDF (high resolution)

• PDF versions for website and electronic distribution (low resolution)

• Detailed print specifications

• One printed hard copy of the final version, if requested

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Copy-editing, graphic design, art direction for publications and promotional materials, and professional layout of publications A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with at least 5 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of five (5) of relevant professional experience handling publications of this nature
• United Nations work experience and/or familiarity with the UN system is considered an asset
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another local language is an asset

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. Consultants 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 ( if 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.