National Consultant – Private sector outreach and communications

Contract

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

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, empowerment of women, and achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women Albania recently began implementing its newest Strategic Note (SN) 2022-2026 which aims to ensure that “All Women and girls enjoy and exercise their human rights in a gender equal society and meaningfully contribute to Albania’s sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development and EU integration”. To achieve such result, UN Women will focus on three outcomes, which mirror verbatim the areas of focus of the United Nations Albania(1):

1. Increased and more equitable investment in people to remove barriers and create opportunities for those at risk of exclusion.
2. Innovative and integrated policy solutions that accelerate sustainable, productive and inclusive development.
3. Gender-responsive governance that strengthens equality and non-discrimination.

Across its interventions, UN Women Albania will address key thematic area of focus in line with the Global Strategic Plan 2022-2025(2): ending violence against women, women’s economic empowerment, gender-responsive budgeting, gender responsive governance, as well as promoting cross-cutting principles including the adoption of a human rights and Leaving No One Behind. This approach aims to support the Government of Albania to implement its commitments on human rights and gender equality, in line with its National Strategy on gender Equality (NSGE) 2021-2030, and the EU Acquis Communautaire. All interventions undertaken by the Country Office aim to address structural causes of gender inequality, addressing discriminatory practices and reach women and girls who are at greatest risk of being left behind.

As part of the implementation of its new Strategic Note, UN Women will continue strengthening and expanding its outreach to non-traditional partners including private sector companies in Albania under the framework of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The WEPs are a global community of almost 5,500 like-minded companies that aim to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment within their companies as well as in the community where they operate. In Albania, 17 companies have currently signed the WEPs, and the Country Office is looking to: i) continue expanding this network and reach out to more large, medium and small-size private sector companies as well as cooperatives, ii) identify avenues in which existing and perspective WEPs signatories can actively be engaged and support financially and technically UN Women programming, in line with the companies’ mandate, iii) ensure adequate relationship management and follow up with key existing and perspective signatories, including through communications activities and initiatives.

In this context, the country office is seeking to hire a national consultant who will support such private sector outreach and communications and will contribute strengthen the WEPs initiative in Albania.

(1)See UN Albania UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework: https://albania.un.org/en/153115-government-albania-united-nations-sustainable-development-cooperation-framework-2022-2026

(2) See UN Women Global Strategic Plan here: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2021/09/un-women-strategic-plan-2022-2025

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Programme Analyst/WEPs focal point and the Communications Specialist, and working closely with the whole programme team, the consultant will be requested to provide technical assistance to the UN Women Country Office to identify potential new private sector companies who might be willing to sign the WEPs, support with setting up and initiating meetings and events where the companies’ contribution to UN Women programming could be further explored, and identify opportunities to increase partners’ visibility through communications channels and activities.

Possible duties and responsibilities include (non-inclusive list):

Develop mappings of potential new WEPs signatories as well as opportunities to strengthen collaboration with existing signatories and identify areas of collaboration

• Strengthen partnerships with existing signatories by facilitating the organization of events, workshops and working sessions and providing communications coverage of such engagements as requested.
• Increase the visibility of initiatives and partnerships with private sector companies for example by developing quote cards, social media content, press releases, web articles covering the work of the WEPs carried out by the Albania Country Office.
• Update and maintain a log of contacts and activities done under the framework of the WEPs.
• Identify possible entry points for existing private sector companies to enhance collaboration and provide support to the programmatic initiatives carried out by the Albania CO and facilitate information flows and arrangements to further explore such opportunities.
• Develop outreach plans for engagement of the existing and perspective WEP signatories and support the plan’s implementation by setting up dedicated meetings and calls between UN Women Albania CO management and WEP partners.
• Develop reports, articles and other written inputs as requested.

Expected deliverables:

• A mapping of prospective WEPs signatories as well as a mapping of possible areas of joint interest between UN Women Albania and existing/potential WEPs signatories.
• An outreach plan for the WEPs is finalized and its implementation is effectively supported by setting up formal meetings, calls etc. with WEPs signatories.
• Bi-monthly reports on the technical assistance provided within the time period.
• Copies of reports, articles, briefs, technical inputs, and other on-demand reports on specific initiatives requested.
• At least two webstories are published and social media posts are produced regularly throughout the assignment.
• At least two formal events are organized jointly with WEP signatories and UN Women Albania, with at least one taking place during the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women.
• A contact log is maintained and regularly updated.

Quality of deliverables:

• Quality of relationships with partners is central to success and will be assessed.
• Quality of technical inputs and deliverables will be evaluated by peer review for quality.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

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

Functional Competencies:

• Partnership development and management skills, including with private sector partners.
• Excellent communications, social media and writing skills and previous experience in managing communications initiatives, including on the topic of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Excellent writing skills in English and Albanian.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Strong initiative-taker.
• Focuses on impact and results for the partner.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications/Education

• Advanced university degree in a communications-related discipline (communications, journalism, international development, gender and social studies, public administration or any other social science related to development and communications).

Work Experience

• A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience, particularly in the areas of communications, social media, PR, partnerships.
• Specific experience with private sector outreach.
• Previous experience in promoting gender equality and women’s rights.
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or other international organizations.

Language requirement

• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Albanian

Schedule of Payments:

Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of tasks; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs; (iv) submission of the respective certification of payment.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their application no later than 24th March 2022.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

• Financial Proposal specifying the daily fee in ALL (Albanian Leke) for the tasks specified above. Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services
• Payment will be made as per the payment schedule in the contract upon (i) satisfactory completion of tasks; (ii) provision of deliverables specified in the ToRs; (iii) submission of and approval by UN Women of final draft; and (iv) submission of the certification of payment.

Recommended Presentation of Offer:

Qualified and interested candidates are required to apply online: [email protected] no later 24 March 2022.

• A Letter of Confirmation of Interest including a brief description explaining why the individual considers her/himself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• Completed and signed UN Women Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded at link: UN Women Personal History Form (P11) or http://www.unwomen.org/en/about- us/employment
• Financial Proposal specifying a daily fee in ALL (Albanian Leke) for the tasks specified in this assignment, following the instructions under the above section on Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments.

Evaluation of applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Technical Evaluation –70 points:

• Advanced university in a communications-related discipline (max 10 points);
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience, particularly in the areas of communications, PR and partnerships; (20 points);
• Specific experience with private sector outreach (20 points);
• Previous experience in promoting gender equality and women’s rights (10 points);
• Previous experience or familiarity with the UN system or other international organizations (10 points).

Financial Evaluation – 30 points

• Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.
• The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. The calculation formula applied is as follow:

p = 30 (µ/z); where: p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated; µ = price of the lowest priced proposal; z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided?on the basis of?qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.?

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. ?

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.)?