Youth Mobilization and Communications - National Consultant

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. 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.

In the Arab States region, UN Women has just initiated in October 2023 the implementation of an exciting and unique three-year regional programme entitled ‘Dare to Care’ with the goal of transforming patriarchal social norms and masculinities, with a focus on four priority countries: Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia. This ground-breaking regional programme aims to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment using the involvement of men and boys in unpaid care and household responsibilities as an entry point. The programme is also meant to contribute to shifting discriminatory social norms and break stereotypes that impede women’s participation in paid employment and the public sphere.

The ’Dare to Care’ regional programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the German International Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and the Basque Country’s International Development Cooperation Agency. It works towards the achievement of three following outcomes:

•   Outcome 1: Societies across the MENA region demonstrate an increased involvement of men and boys in caregiving and household responsibilities and more empowerment of women and girls.

•   Outcome 2: Key institutions effectively transform patriarchal masculinities and social norms, with a focus on advancing caregiving and household responsibilities of men and boys and the economic empowerment of women and girls.

Outcome 3: More men and boys are able to take their share in caregiving and household responsibilities with more enabling laws and policies that promote their caregiving and household responsibilities, and paternity leave.

The programme also aims to engage with religious actors and institutions to promote gender-equitable interpretations of religious teachings and practices, particularly to promote the involvement of men and boys in unpaid care and household responsibilities, and to eliminate stereotypes against women’s participation in the public sphere.

The programme has a strong focus on the mobilization of young people to transform patriarchal masculinities and social norms, and it is building this work upon partnerships with youth-led CSOs, women’s CSOs working with youth, national women’s machineries and youth-serving institutions from national governments of target countries of the programme. 

About the position:

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the ‘Dare to Care’ Regional Programme Manager,  the Youth Mobilization and Communications consultant will be responsible for leading the work of the DTC regional programme on youth engagement and communications and providing substantive and timely technical support on these areas of work. For that, she/he will work in close collaboration with other team members of the DTC regional programme and with other internal stakeholders within UN Women that including communications officers and youth focal persons from Headquarters, Regional Office for the Arab States (ROAS) and four country offices of the programme.

Specifically, the incumbent will design and lead the overall development, rollout, implementation and monitoring of a unique and new regional social mobilization campaign that targets youth and has the goal of increasing the involvement of men and boys in unpaid care and household responsibilities in the Arab region. In order to ensure maximum outreach of the campaign, the incumbent will work closely with external stakeholders that include government partners (i.e., ministries of Youth, national women’s machinery), civil society organizations (including women’s CSOs and youth-led CSOs), UN agencies, academia, private sector and the media. She/he will also manage a network of around 20 youth leaders/activists and engage with them and other youth for a co-creation design process of the regional campaign, its implementation and validation of materials.

The consultant will facilitate the monitoring, documentation and reporting of results and lessons learned at both regional and national levels; advancement of strategic partnerships; development of campaigning materials; and the implementation of high-level activities and events undertaken under the framework of the regional social mobilization campaign and other youth-related and communications activities of the DTC regional programme. She/he will promote external communications of the DTC regional programme; support the maintenance and updating of the programme’s webpage, both technically and editorially; liaise with vendors and editors for the development of high-quality communications and campaigning materials; support broad media outreach and engagement of campaign audiences; and provide support in social mobilization activities developed in the context of the regional campaign. She/he will also provide technical and networking support for resource mobilization for the DTC programme in general, and the regional social mobilization in particular.

Under the direct supervision of the ‘Dare to Care’ (DTC) Regional Programme Manager, the Youth Mobilization and Communications consultant will perform the following tasks, which are indicative and may evolve depending on the needs of the DTC regional programme:

Lead the development, implementation and monitoring of a regional social mobilization campaign of the ‘Dare to Care’ regional programme that targets youth across the Arab region with the goal of increasing the involvement of men and boys in unpaid care and household responsibilities

• Design the regional campaign and its strategic elements and direction in collaboration with the DTC programme team members and UN Women communication officers from the Regional Office and country offices;
• Manage the development and implementation of the campaign’s action plan, and ensure consistency with campaigning standards, and ethics;
• Supervise the vendors involved in the campaign development and implementation (i.e., communications/marketing agency, graphic designers, etc.) and ensure that their deliverables are gender transformative and of high quality;
• Support the development of and coordinate campaign activities while liaising with country offices and relevant focal points, other UN Agencies and external partners and networks to contribute to the maximum impact of the campaign regionally and ensure implementation according to the agreed timeframe;
• Develop regional good practices and lessons learned of the campaign, and ensure learning is shared as broadly as possible within the region and beyond;
• Develop and maintain system to map, track and monitor the impact of the campaign in cooperation with the vendors and the DTC programme team members;
• Oversee and provide support to the monitoring and the reporting on the progress of the campaign and its activities, as needed and as required;
• Together with the M&E specialist of the programme, prepare and share monitoring and evaluation reports and updates related to the campaign.

Ensure broad impact, outreach and youth engagement for/through the social mobilization campaign across the Arab region.

• Ensure massive mobilization and engagement of young men and young women across the Arab region through the campaign; 
• Engage with a wide variety of stakeholders to take part in the campaign and contribute to increasing its impact and outreach, including through partnerships with government institutions, CSOs, UN agencies, the private sector, academia, social media influences, celebrities and the media;
• Coordinate and manage the Youth Advisory Group of the campaign (formed by around 20 young leaders/activists from the region) that will co-design the campaign and collaborate in its implementation;
• Ensure broad media outreach and visibility of the campaign, in cooperation UN Women communications officers from ROAS and country offices;
• Develop the campaign’s messages and materials to target youth audiences and partners clearly and effectively with a view of mobilizing them to take measurable actions;
• Identify opportunities for strategic partnerships and action, ascertaining creative and effective campaigning tactics applicable in the different country contexts;
• Support the implementation of a resource mobilization strategy for the campaign and for the DTC programme.

Lead the development and dissemination of communications and advocacy materials for the ‘Dare to Care’ regional programme

• Develop and produce communication and advocacy instruments and materials for the DTC programme, including briefing materials, press releases, and articles and coordinate its dissemination through effective channels (including website and social media) according to UN Women corporate standards;
• Develop brochures, factsheets, and stories to inform media and stakeholders of UN Women’s DTC regional programme;
• Develop graphics and designs for publications and communication products, in line with UN Women corporate branding and style guidelines;
• Develop concepts, graphics and layouts for materials’ illustrations, logos and branding;
• Design new, and update existing, social media assets (campaigns, flashcards, banners, webpages) that are aligned with UN Women’s brand identity;
• Create templates and tools to accommodate content for social media platforms, publications, events visibility etc.;
• Identify and leverage opportunities, activities, approaches platforms and partners.

Manage external and internal web, social media and news media relations for the ‘Dare to Care’ regional programme 

• Ensure media strategies are implemented in line with corporate and donor guidelines;
• Lead relationship-building with relevant press outlets;
• Identify impactful success stories/ issues, media talking points, news-related development and coverage of interest;
• Pitch and write impactful programme stories for corporate digital and social media platforms (global website, social media channels regularly);
• Build and maintain communications and advocacy-focused partnerships;
• Ensure information management, tracking and analytics of online activities.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality development and implementation of the activities of the regional social mobilization campaign and Dare to Care programme’s communications strategy against set workplans, timelines and budgets, in line with the Dare to Care programme’s annual work plan;
• High impact of the regional social mobilization campaign;
• High-quality, gender transformative and effective communications materials and messaging;
• New partnerships forged and strong relations with partners and stakeholders;
• High media impact of the campaign and of the Dare to Care regional programme;
• Regular and timely monitoring of activities.

The consultant will be based at the Regional Office for the Arab States in Cairo. Office space and IT equipment will be provided to the consultant by the DTC programme in accordance to UN Women policies and regulations.

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

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 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

• Proven extensive experience in coordinating international human rights thematic campaigns;
• Extensive experience of successful work with different constituencies and teams based offsite to achieve joint results;
• Demonstrated experience in building and sustaining strong partnerships and strategic alliances with internal and external actors;
• Demonstrated solid experience in developing global and thematic advocacy materials for different audiences;
• Sound knowledge and experience related to women’s issues, with a particular focus on ending violence against women and girls;
• Experience of reporting on projects and knowledge and understanding of monitoring and evaluation.

Education

• Master’s degree in one of the following disciplines: Gender/Women’s Studies, Communications, Marketing, International Development, International Relations, Social Sciences or other related fields;
• Academic credentials on gender/women’s studies is a strong asset;
• A bachelor’s degree with 2 or more years of relevant experience can be accepted in lieu of a master’s degree.

Work Experience 

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in the area of corporate external communications for programmes, projects and/or organizations;
• Experience in campaign coordination is a must, with a proven record of successful implementation of at least two campaigns related to social norms change for gender equality (include relevant links);
• Experience on promoting gender equality and in-depth understanding of cultural nuances involved in gender norms is required;
• Experience in youth mobilization is a strong asset;
• Experience in promoting positive masculinities is an added value;
• Previous experience working in the UN system is an asset.

Language Requirements

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language, especially French, is an asset.

Evaluation Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria weight Technical (70%) 70 points:

• Work experience in corporate external communications for programmes, projects and/or organizations; with the following qualifications being an added value: experience working at UN system, French language skills, and experience in youth mobilization. [20 points]
• Experience in campaign coordination, with a proven record of successful implementation of at least two campaigns related to social norms change for gender equality; with the following qualifications being an added value: experience in youth mobilization. [25 points]
• Experience on promoting gender equality and in-depth understanding of cultural nuances involved in gender norms; with the following qualifications being an added value: academic credentials on gender/women’s studies, and experience in promoting positive masculinities. [25 points]

Financial: lowest financial proposal (30%):

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and a link to a portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Financial proposal that includes a monthly rate in Egyptian Pounds;
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment;
• UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.

Note:

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.

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).