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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, the 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.

Peace and security represent one of the key thematic areas of UN Women’s mandate. Based on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and nine subsequently adopted resolutions, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, recognizes the gendered nature of conflict and peacebuilding. Accordingly, one of the goals of the WPS Agenda is to promote gender equality and strengthen the participation of women in all aspects of conflict prevention, peace processes, peace operations and peacebuilding. Participation of women in peacebuilding and conflict resolution is one of the four pillars of UNSCR 1325 and WPS agenda. Though efforts are being made to include Women in Peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts, women are still absent from peace processes. This is due to absence of comprehensive response on the participation of women in peace and security among other hindrances such as gender inequality at all levels.

Ethiopian Government, through the leadership of Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, started the development of comprehensive mechanism to respond to Peace and Security needs of Women in the Country, through preparation of Nation Action Plan on Women Peace and Security. To make the process of development and implementation of the National Action Plan inclusive, Ministry of Women and Social Affairs in collaboration with UN Women Ethiopia Country Office was conducting consultation with different stakeholders to collect inputs to draft NAP on WPS. Consultations have been held with Federal Ministries, Civil Society Organizations, Communities at grassroot level in the regions around the country. Currently, the first draft of Nation Action Plan on Women Peace and Security has been drafted and being reviewed by different Ministries to further enrich the plan. 

In order to successfully implement the NAP on WPS, one of the components is a to develop a communication strategy to reach out to key audiences to support its objectives, to create awareness about the NAP, and to contribute to its implementation. Ethiopia is developing the National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security. Comprehensive and nation-wide communications efforts have to be made to reach out multiple key stakeholders Ethiopia and create awareness on National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security objectives.

The strategy document will outline the communications approach to be followed to build awareness of and support for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security in Ethiopia. It will also establish a shared understanding of the situational context within which the Ethiopian NAP on WPS will be implemented. The strategy will map media landscape, and recommends approach for target audiences, lay out priority messages propose activities in line with key strategic objectives; estimate outcomes; measurement and evaluation framework; and the estimate budget for communication.

This ToR therefore is prepared to hire a consultant to develop Communication Strategy for Ethiopian National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security.  

Organizational setting, reporting and collaborators.

The consultant will be reporting to Program Specialist, WPSHA, and will be supported by WPS Programme Officer, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. Inputs on the documents will be provided by UN Women and MoWSA and Technical Committee members on National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security. 

Monitoring and including reporting requirements 

The consultant will work closely with UN Women and MoWSA and Technical Committee on National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security. The inception reports, the strategy and final documents will be shared in advance to UN Women and MoWSA and technical committee members for comments and close follow up. The reviewed materials will be shared back to the consultant who will incorporate comments as a way forward before finalizing at each stage.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

The national consultant will be engaged in developing Communication Strategy for National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security is expected to carry out the following tasks: 

The Main tasks of the consultancy are the following: 

• Prepare Inception report: the inception Report should Review existing literature, reports, Programme documents, strategy and policy documents, Programmatic guidelines and frameworks; core tasks and proposed methods to carry out the tasks; proposed sources of data and data collection procedures together with data analysis techniques; proposed schedule of tasks, activities, and deliverables. The inception report should indicate whether additional support is required to develop communication strategy. The consultant should present the inception report to UN Women, MoWSA, Technical Committee members and other relevant partners for feedback and include the feedback on the final inception report. 
• Develop communication strategy for national action plan on women peace and security in Ethiopia. It should include situational analysis, communications objectives, target audience analysis, communications approach, risks and mitigation measures, timeline for the implementation of the strategy, resources management plan and monitoring and evaluation plan. 
• Present the Strategy at validation Workshop and finalize the strategy after incorporating input given at the validation workshop and prepare a policy brief on the assessment. 

Deliverables 

• A comprehensive Inception report 
• Draft Communication strategy 
• A final Communication strategy after incorporating inputs from validation workshop

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. As part of this assignment, there will be a maximum of 1 trip outside of Addis for the validation of the strategy

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:

• Strong background in communications,
• Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively and creatively across different constituencies
• Sound knowledge of the current policies and practices in the field of gender equality, Women Peace and security and humanitarian action
• Knowledge of social media platforms and experience in social media outreach
• Ability to work under pressure and within limited time frames
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectively, and creatively across different constituencies.
• Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach/advocacy.
• Focuses on results for the client and responds positively to feedback.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
• Sensitivity to regional political, gender and cultural balance
• A high standard of professionalism.

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in communications, public relations, or journalism or related field. PHD is an added advantage. 
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience and skills

• Minimum 7 years of progressive experience in journalism, communications, and/or outreach at the national, regional and/or international level.
• Experience in developing communication strategies. 
• Technical expertise and strong understanding of gender and the role of women in Peacebuilding and conflict resolution and communication. 
• The consultant should have in depth knowledge Women Peace and Security Agenda, Peacebuilding and conflict resolution and Advocacy in peacebuilding in Ethiopian Context.
• Experience in working with UN agencies or UN Women is a strong asset.
• Experience in working in a diversity team is an asset.
• An ideal candidate should have creativity, strong organizational ability, capacity to deliver on time, excellent presentation skill and be responsive to feedback.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Amharic is required.
• Knowledge of any other Languages an asset.

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.