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.

UN Women, with the support of the Government of Japan, is implementing a project on Protection, Empowerment and Resilience Building in Borno and Yobe States. The project will empower communities and build resilience through promoting social and behavior change including women’s empowerment to mitigate and address the root causes of GBV as well as promote access to information and services. It will support need-based and market driven income generating activities (IGAs) for vulnerable women with the necessary technical and financial support to empower women economically and reduce the risk of GBV. The project will also support male involvement and participation to promote positive behavior change to reduce GBV and put a strong focus on the collection of gender disaggregated data for evidence based planning.

POSITION : Communications Consultant for UN Women PERD Project

In the context of the project, UN Women is recruiting a Communication Consultant to set up the communication components of the PERD Project.

Reporting to the Program Coordinator, the Communication Consultant will be responsible for the development of the project communication and advocacy strategy and a detailed communications and monitoring plan which is geared towards awareness raising of gender equality and the empowerment of women, promote public and media outreach, and increase  visibility of key programmatic results and UN Women Country Office Program  initiatives in Nigeria. The Consultant will work closely with UN Women’s communication officer in Nigeria and UN Women Communication teams at both regional and HQ level.

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.
• Cultural sensitivity and valuing 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
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making

Functional Competencies
Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Shares knowledge and experience and contributes to UN Women Practice Areas
• Develops knowledge in Practice Areas
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to implement communications and publications strategies
• Advocates effectively
• Communicates sensitively and effectively across different constituencies
• Excellent communication skills, excellent writing skills
• Ability to conceptualize issues and analyze data
• Demonstrates strong IT skills
• Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;

Management and Leadership:

• Focuses on impact and result
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Ability to remain calm, in control and good humored even under pressure and tight deadlines
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
• Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view
• Solicits feedback about the impact of his/her own behavior

  Skills and Experience
Education and Experience:

• Master's Degree in Media/Communication Studies, Journalism, Public Relations or other related Social Sciences with at least 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in public relations, communications or advocacy, preferably in gender issues.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English both in speaking and writing
• Knowledge of another UN working language is an asset.

Responsibilities
Summary of Key Functions:

• Formulate a communications, advocacy and outreach strategy for UN Women PERD Project including a knowledge management strategy, as per the project proposal that is aligned to the Country office, UN Women global communications strategy and the donor’s expectations.
• Develop an elaborate a communications plan and Monitoring and Evaluation framework for tracking and assessing progress and performance of the implementation of communications and advocacy activities of the project
• Lead and coordinate the project launch event: develop a strategy for the launch that details activities before, during and after the event and cover the launch of UN Women PERD Project (including briefing materials, press release and dissemination of the information via multiple channels (print, radio, TV, social media)
• Provide technical support to other communication activities of the Country Office

Deliverables:

• A full-fledged communication, advocacy and outreach strategy for the PERD project including the roll-out of the HeForShe Campaign at the State level to involve traditional male leaders in the project.  The strategy should detail the messages, target audience, channels, social media plan and a budget.
•  A detailed communications plan, Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for tracking the implementation of the communication components of the project.
• Project launch strategy leading to a successful coverage of the launch of the PERD project; detailed activities for before, during and after the event.
• Branding of the project in line with UN Women branding and Government of japan guidelines. Behavior change communication material designed and available
• Create a contact database for the project that is updated on a quarterly basis.
• A knowledge-management strategy for the PERD project
• Weekly media monitoring report on project relevant news; and shared with the key audience (contact database)

Technical Expertise:

• Understands advanced concepts of communication
• Continues to seek new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing his/her work
• Keeps abreast of new developments in communication and seeks to develop him/herself professionally;
• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.