UN Women: Communications and Advocacy Consultant, Home-based, SSA

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; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) is a partnership between the United Nations, Member States, and civil society, which supports women-led and women’s rights organizations working to build peace and provide humanitarian response throughout the world. Since the end of 2016, the WPHF has supported close to 1,800 civil society organizations in 48 countries.

UN Women hosts the Secretariat of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund. The WPHF Secretariat provides support to the Funding Board, mobilizes resources from Governments, companies, foundations and individuals, designs funding windows and mechanisms, provides day-to-day support to Country Offices implementing WPHF programs, and ensures timely and quality monitoring and reporting. The Secretariat’s mandate is also to strengthen stakeholders’ knowledge of and engagement with women, peace and security issues through proper internal and external communications, advocacy and outreach. Finally, the Secretariat provides capacity strengthening, peer mentorship knowledge management services for the WPHF and manages the Community of Practice (CoP) for WPHF partners and grantees.

Under the direct supervision of the WPHF Head of Secretariat, with technical guidance from the Communication and Advocacy Specialist and Partnerships Specialist, the consultant will be responsible for providing support to developing communication and advocacy strategies and compelling content including human interest stories, case studies, multimedia assets including photos and videos, social media posts for WPHFs digital platforms. The consultant will develop key messages, communication briefs, fact sheets, and knowledge products for donors and internal knowledge sharing. The consultant will also build capacity by training WPHF and partner staff on storytelling techniques, branding, and effective communications. During field missions, the consultant will support planning, logistics and content creation for donor visits, media, celebrities and influencers.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

WPHF seeks to recruit a Communications and Advocacy Consultant who will: 

1. Support the Development and Implementation of WPHF Communications and Advocacy Strategy
   • Provide support with the development and implementation the communication and advocacy strategies and work plan for WPHF, including social media strategy.
   • Conduct and incorporate a stakeholder analysis, audience analysis, core messages and communication channels to deliver the communication and advocacy objectives.
   • Monitor and evaluate the Communication and Advocacy strategy against established baselines to measure success; undertake analysis to refine and improve the strategy and activities’ effectiveness; prepare results and reports as needed.
   • Support the development and maintenance of relationships with key media partners.
2. Support content development and Storytelling.
   • Identify, research, and develop compelling human-interest stories and case studies from WPHF partners. 
   • Capture quotes from WPF beneficiaries to women’s voices and demonstrate the impact of WPHF programs.
   • Develop engaging multimedia assets - including video scripts, captions, and infographics - to demonstrate the impact of WPHF’s work.
   • Create compelling social media content which highlights WPHF’s advocacy priorities, programmatic interventions and partnerships, and amplify the voices of women. 
   • Document key events and activities related to programs, advocacy and donor recognition.
   • Prepare clear key messages and communication products during emergencies (such as floods or disasters) highlighting the needs of communities and civil society’s (especially women-led organizations) response. 
   • Design and deliver workshops to strengthen the communication and advocacy skills WPHF personnel and partners in collaboration with the WPHF Global Learning Hub, focused on storytelling techniques, branding, development and design of social media strategies, and digital storytelling better practices.
   • Monitor WPHF and donor branding at project field sites and ensure visibility and recognition standards are met.
   • Gather high-quality communication products including high resolution photos with credits, captions and consent for field reporting. 
3. Support Capacity Building for WPHF personnel and partners.
   • Design and deliver workshops to strengthen the communication and advocacy skills WPHF personnel and partners in collaboration with the WPHF Global Learning Hub, focused on storytelling techniques, branding, development and design of social media strategies, and digital storytelling better practices.
4. Support Donor Visibility, Branding Compliance and Reporting
   • Monitor WPHF and donor branding at project field sites and ensure visibility and recognition standards are met.
   • Gather high-quality communication products including high resolution photos with credits, captions and consent for field reporting. 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel: This is a home-based consultancy. Travel will be required as relevant.

Competencies:

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge and experience in the field of Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian issues related to the programmatic work of WPHF. 
• Demonstrable experience working in communications with UN actors, INGOs and other intergovernmental organizations, particularly in fields of development.
• Experience securing advocacy and private sector partnerships and shaping communications for donors and various audiences. 
• Experience in project management and visibility and events coordination.
• Proficiency in organizational systems and managing outreach lists for media and donor relations  

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in international relations, development, women's rights, social sciences, communications, public relations, journalism or relevant field is required.
• A bachelor degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of experience at the international level in communications, public advocacy, press relations, media outreach, and/or social media engagement is required.
• Experience working with local civil society organizations on communication in conflict and crisis contexts is required.
• Experience engaging and strengthening relationships with communications teams in intergovernmental institutions i.e. UN agencies, INGOs, media, private sector and advocacy stakeholders is required.
• Experience working with program teams across international development organizations or the UN—including producing, curating, and monitoring creative mass and digital media content, managing advocacy events and campaigns (both online and in-person), and leading youth and civil society-focused engagement and advocacy initiatives, is preferred.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Fluency in one other UN language (French, Spanish or Arabic) is desirable.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.)

 

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.