Communications Consultant

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, we are working 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 finding ways of progress for both women and men. At the moment, the country office supports programs throughout the country, which are aimed at: expansion of economic rights and opportunities for women; elimination of violence against women; peace, security and gender mainstreaming in humanitarian action.

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

Under the supervision of the Representative, the Communications consultant is responsible for developing strategic communications and media initiatives and managing media/press coverage. S/he oversees the production of a range of communications materials for UN Women, and for online and offline audiences. S/he is responsible for timely, accurate and high-quality informational materials, such as press releases & media advisories, news briefs, fact sheets, stories from the field etc. for media outreach, the UN Women website, and inclusion in informational kits for further public outreach.

Reporting to the Country Representative and National Programme Officer, the Communications ?onsultant supports the formulation and implementation of the communications and advocacy strategies to increase the standing and awareness of UN Women with partners, the media and the public.

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide support to communications and advocacy outreach activities for the Country Office and its projects

Draft press-releases, articles, key messages, and other communication materials
Provide logistical support to communications and advocacy efforts and campaigns, e.g. by supporting the organization of roundtable discussions, press-conferences, and other publicity events and providing inputs to briefing materials and press releases, as necessary.
Create communications products publicizing and provide its contribution to Women’s Empowerment
Follow communication guidelines from HQ

Provide support to the management of the CO social media presence and website

Gather information for the development of content for the CO website and social media channels;
Update the website and social media channels, as required;
Maintain files, databases, and systems relevant to the CO’s digital presence;
Support social media consultant on designing and creating social media content (infographics, videos, GIFs, social media cards etc.).

Other:

Manage media requests
Respond to requests for information, as delegated
Gather and compile inputs for talking points
Support regular meetings of regional communications focal points
Provide/ exchange information with HQ and Regional office communication focal points
Perform other tasks as assigned by supervisor
Provide support on special web/digital/media projects undertaken by the CO

Timeframe, payments and deliverables

The payments will be made in KGS in three instalments based on submitted and approved timesheet, and after all the deliverables are submitted, accepted and approved by UN Women. The Consultant shall provide a report with all necessary attachments describing the scope of work performed over the period for which the instalment is paid:

Deliverables

Target Date

Initial workplan for 4 months of consultancy endorsed by UN Women

By 20th of August 2022

Monthly plan and narrative report on undertaken assignments according to monthly work plan submitted and approved by management

By 30th of each month

Final report

By 15th December 2022

Inputs
UN Women will provide access to UN Women Office during working hours to print relevant documents or whenever required to work on-site at any point during the assignment

UN Women will provide logistical support to organize interviews with project beneficiaries, when and if required to develop communication products (stories, interviews)

Duration of Assignment:

The expected duration of the consultant will be from 15 August 2022 till 15 December 2022.

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.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree (or equivalent) in communications, public relations, journalism, or relevant fields is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
At least 4 years of professional work experience at national or international level in media, communications, or advocacy, including in media relations; previous experience in development organizations

Experience and knowledge:

Editing and copywriting skills, including articles, reports and press releases; Content writing experience for media platforms.
Knowledge of social media and communication strategies and methods. Social media management, website management.
Good event planning skills
Ability to identify relevant events and stories and communicate them to a mass audience
Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats, using appropriate IT functionality
Great time-management skills
Media literacy – capability to apply diverse media channels (social media, press media, informal channels) and to conduct cross-media analysis (analyzing one issue with diverse media/public discourse perspectives).

Language Requirements:

Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Russian and English languages, knowledge of Kyrgyz language is an asset

Evaluation of applicants

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

The candidates must possess following minimum qualification criteria to be eligible for further technical evaluation:

Master’s degree (or equivalent) in communications, public relations, journalism or relevant fields is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
At least 4 years of professional work experience at national or international level in media, communications or advocacy, including in media relations; previous experience in development organizations
Editing and copywriting skills, including articles, reports and press releases; Content writing experience for media platforms;
Social media management, website management
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Russian

The selection of candidates:

Technical evaluation criteria (including minimum qualifications):

Nr.

Criteria

Maximum points

1.

Master’s degree (or equivalent) in communications, public relations, journalism or relevant fields is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

10

2.

At least 4 years of professional work experience at national or international level in media, communications or advocacy, including in media relations; previous experience in development organizations

20

3.

Editing and copywriting skills, including articles, reports and press releases; Content writing experience for media platforms.

20

4.

Social media management, website management

10

5.

Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Russian

10

Maximum total technical scoring:

70

Only candidates who have passed over the minimum qualification criteria and have accumulated at least 65 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

Financial proposal should include daily rate and field trip cost.

Financial evaluation will be conducted according to the method described below:

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.

A suggested formula is as follows: 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

The candidate achieving the highest cumulative score for both Technical and Financial evaluations will be

recommended by the Evaluation Committee for contracting.