Media and Advocacy Consultant

Socially Responsible Development Planning: Healthy Food through Women Run School Canteens, Phase II in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)
Location: occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) with ability to travel to all districts of the West Bank
Additional Category: Women’s Economic Security and Rights
Type of Contract: SSA
Languages Required: English and Arabic
Starting Date: (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)
August 15, 2012

Duration of Initial Contract: 1 months
Expected Duration of Assignment: 1 months

1-Background, purpose and use of the evaluation

The UN Women (UNW), 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 center of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) since its inception in 1997. UN Women oPt focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with national priorities. In support of this goal and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the oPt context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realisation of following strategic goals: Engendering governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

UN Women oPt has been engaged in the area of economic security and rights since the inception of its “Sabaya Programme” in 2002 which aims to support women in marginalized areas in the oPt through activating community-based centers with the aim of achieving social, economic and political empowerment. Economic security is considered an essential area of intervention to ensure linkages between meeting immediate needs and setting the ground for longer term development objectives, utilizing the Sabaya Approach as its model. Several other programmes and projects have been established based on this model; the “Socially Responsible Development Planning: Women-Run School Canteens” supported by the Government of Norway; the MDG-F Programme on Culture and Development in the oPt, supported by the Government of Spain; the ‘Establishing, Rehabilitation and Activation of Eight Women Centers in Gaza Strip
and West Bank,’ supported by the Government of Saudi Arabia; the ‘Livelihood Protection and Sustainable Empowerment of vulnerable, Rural and Refugee Communities in the Jordan Valley’ funded through the Human Security Trust Fund which is a joint Programme executed by FOA, UNESCO, UNRWA and UN Women; and the ‘Financing for Gender Equality’ programme supported by the European Commission. UN Women continues to invest serious efforts in up-scaling its work in this area to tackle two main areas, increasing women’s employment through sustainable strategies and ensuring that economic rights are upheld.
UN Women intends to raise its profile and visibility and influence the thinking of women’s involvement in non-domestic economic activities; Strengthened capacities of community-based women's centers to run school canteens and related initiatives as sustainable economic enterprises.
To achieve this UN Women is seeking an experienced Media and Advocacy Consultant with
Strategic communications experience for an initial 2 months:

Description of Responsibilities:
Under the general supervision of the UN Women Head of Office and the direct supervision of the project coordinator, the Media Consultant will perform the following duties:
-Developing a comprehensive Media action Plan for the programme, including timeline for Planning , organizing , implementing and hosting events/activities, The plan should also:
-Define in consultation with the different sectors the target audience and key messages, and help tailor messaging to the target audience
-Receive offers for Media Action Plan from media outlets will include but not limited to : produce and airing the Radio and TV spots as well design and printing the approved media products.
-Define parameters for written material, Radio/TV spots as well as any other media related activities
-Identify relevant Media/Communications opportunities to Promote the work of the programme
-Assist the different sectors in the Media Related work
-Create strong contacts with journalists from (Al-Ayyam newspaper, al-Quds newspaper, al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper, Ma’am news agency and Wafa news agency) to write articles about the project achievements throughout 2 months.

Time frame:
The assignment is expected to start in August 15, 2012 and to be finalized by September 15, 2012.

Key deliverables
-Draft detailed work plan indicating the work of the consultant. Within five days after signing the contract.
-The master copies of the approved media products.
-A final report will be based on collection, analysis and comparison of print (dailies, monthly and specialist magazines) and electronic media (TV and radio stations, internet portals).

Competencies
CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES:
-Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
-Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

CORE COMPETENCIES:
-Ethics and Values: Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity;
-Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
-Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring: Initiative-taking; coaching and
mentoring ability;
-Working in Teams: Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
-Communicating Information and Ideas: Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
-Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating synergies through self-control.
-Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Managing conflict;
-Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of other.

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:
-Substantial previous experience in design and development of gender-sensitive training manual, curricula and material within the legal sector;
-Demonstrated experience in developing and managing capacity development programmes for professionals within the Justice/ legal sector;
-Understanding and experience of legal Sector Reform, including in the context of conflict and post conflict situation;
-Sound understanding of issues related to development in crisis and post-crisis situations;
-Demonstrated strong, coordination and facilitation skills;
-Strong communication skills in English (oral and written);
-Results oriented, flexible and problem solving skills.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:
-Graduate degree in Communications, Media, Journalism or equivalent work experience
-Excellent written and oral communications skills in both Arabic and English
-Ability to work in a multi-task and multi-deadline environment
-Excellent organizational and prioritization skills
-Ability to set goals and timelines and work on deadlines
-Ability to work and communicate effectively with a variety of people and organizations, both internally and externally

Experience:
-Knowledge of Gender issues and key players in the context of the occupied Palestinian territory
-High standards of accuracy and attention to detail
-Communication skills – both written and verbal in Arabic and English.
-Be accountable, flexible and prepared to work under pressure
-Ability and willingness to work independently and with a team
-Time management, presence of mind, ability to persuade.
-Knowledge of computer and software (word-processing, spreadsheets, presentations, etc)
-Fluency in English and Arabic (excellent speaking and writing skills)

Language Requirements:
Fluency (both oral and written) in English and Arabic essential.
Submission of application:

Interested candidates must apply online  including complete and up to date CV.
 

UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest.