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, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Following the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in 2018, UN Women has supported gender‑responsive and human rights‑based migration governance globally. Since 2019, UN Women has implemented the Germany‑funded Making Migration Safe for Women (MMS) programme at global and country levels, aiming to strengthen gender‑responsive migration policies, improve sex‑disaggregated data, and generate evidence to advance migrant women’s rights. The MMS programme expanded to South Africa in 2025, recognizing the country’s central role in regional migration dynamics.

Gender shapes all stages of migration, with migrant women and migrants of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, expressions and characteristics (SOGIESC) facing heightened risks, including gender‑based violence, trafficking, limited access to safe and regular migration pathways, and systemic discrimination. Media narratives on migration often reinforce stereotypes and fail to reflect these intersecting realities, contributing to misinformation and exclusionary public discourse. In response, UN Women and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) jointly developed the training module “Stories that Move: Reporting on Gender and Migration” under IOM’s Global Migration Media Academy (GMMA). The module aims to strengthen gender‑responsive, ethical, and trauma‑sensitive migration reporting by equipping media professionals with practical tools to amplify the voices of migrant women and migrants with diverse SOGIESC.

South Africa piloted the in‑person media training in 2025 under the MMS programme. Building on key lessons and recommendations from the pilot, the 2026 training will deepen journalists’ capacities for accurate, inclusive, and human rights‑based reporting on migration, contributing to more balanced public narratives and increased accountability for the rights of migrant women. The main goal of this training aligns with the broader objective of equipping media professionals of South Africa with knowledge, practical methodologies, and best practices to advance gender-responsive reporting, amplify migrant voices, and promote inclusive, ethical storytelling that accurately represents the realities of migrants in all their diversity. More specifically, this training aims to strengthen the capacities of media professionals in South Africa to report on gender equality and migration, providing participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to integrate a gender-responsive approach into migration reporting.

Description of Responsibilities

UN Women seeks to engage an international consultant to build on the 2025 pilot media training on gender and migration and further contextualize the programme to the South African media landscape. The consultancy aims to strengthen ethical, gender‑responsive, trauma‑sensitive, and human rights‑based reporting on migration, with a particular focus on the experiences, leadership, and voices of migrant women.

Objectives

The consultancy will contribute to:

• Strengthening the capacity of journalists, editors, and media practitioners to report on migration using gender‑responsive, ethical, and trauma‑sensitive approaches.
• Promoting accurate, inclusive media narratives that reflect the agency and contributions of migrant women.
• Strengthening newsroom‑level editorial practices and leadership engagement to support sustained institutional change.
• Consolidating and expanding gains achieved through the 2025 pilot media training.

Specific Objectives (Building on 2025 Lessons)

In close collaboration with UN Women South Africa and using existing tools and resources, the consultant will:

• Broaden participation across media sectors, platforms, and geographic areas, including migration hotspots and border regions.
• Deliver in‑person training to strengthen engagement, skills development, and practical application.
• Expand the training into a structured learning pathway, including introductory and advanced modules.
• Strengthen experiential learning through practical exercises, including story development and editorial review.
• Address emerging challenges related to digital risks, hate speech, online gender‑based harms, and misinformation.
• Ensure meaningful participation of migrant women leaders and advocates as contributors and resource persons.
• Support the establishment of communities of practice to promote peer learning and sustain collaboration.

Scope of Work

1. Training Design

Building on the existing curriculum, the consultant will:

• Adapt and strengthen training content on gender‑responsive migration reporting.
• Integrate ethical, trauma‑sensitive, survivor‑centered, and GBV‑sensitive journalism approaches.
• Address misinformation, digital harm, hate speech, and emerging media risks.
• Incorporate multimedia and digital storytelling approaches.
• Develop a structured learning pathway with introductory and advanced levels.
• Integrate migrant women’s voices as experts, contributors, and/or co‑facilitators.
• Design hands‑on learning components, including story labs, editorial clinics, and peer‑review sessions.

2. Training Delivery

The consultant will:

• Deliver two day in‑person training sessions in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces.
• Facilitate interactive sessions using adult‑learning methodologies.
• Deliver a dedicated session for editors and producers to support newsroom‑level change.
• Prepare a training agenda and presentations.
• Organize a resource pack for participants (guidelines, checklists).
• Prepare and administer pre- and post-training evaluation tools.

3. Partnership Strengthening

The consultant will:

• Engage the IOM South Africa Country Office as a co‑design and implementation partner.
• Collaborate with journalism schools, media training institutes, and professional bodies to support longer‑term institutionalization of gender‑responsive migration reporting.

4. Post‑Training Follow‑Up

The consultant will:

• Support UN Women in establishing communities of practice, mentorship, or peer‑learning mechanisms.
• Provide remote technical guidance on story development and media outputs.
• Prepare a concise lessons‑learned summary drawing on the 2025 pilot and 2026 implementation.

Expected Deliverables

• Training agenda and materials.
• Conducted training session(s).
• Final report with key outcomes and recommendations.

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

• Define and apply key concepts of gender equality: accurately use terms such as gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), as well as gender-based violence and gender-responsive reporting; explain why specific formulations are preferred in contexts.
• Describe and explain gender gaps and biases in migration coverage: recognize personal and societal biases, and outline mechanisms for addressing stereotypes and framing gender-responsive reporting.
• Apply an intersectional lens to migration reporting: discuss and report on the experiences of migrant women and girls, including migrants with diverse SOGIESC, identifying how multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination shape those experiences.
• Develop gender-responsive, data-driven migration stories across all stages of migration: identify balanced narratives that use inclusive language, disaggregated data, and contextual analysis to avoid reinforcing stereotypes and to amplify the voices of migrant women and migrants with diverse SOGIESC.
• Address ethical and safety challenges in reporting: summarize key risks, relevant approaches, and practical strategies to protect both sources and reporters while covering issues related to gender and migration.

Duration

The assignment is expected to be completed within 10 days including preparation, delivery of the training and reporting.

Budget

The budget will be agreed upon based on the scope of work, deliverables and experience of the Consultant.

Location:

- A four-day in-person session first in Gauteng (2 days) and another two-day session in Western Cape. Venue will be determined for both sessions

Methodology

• Participatory approach with interactive sessions.
• Use of case studies and practical exercises.
• Incorporation of feedback from participants throughout the training.

The Consultant will produce the following deliverables: 

Consultant’s Workplace and Travel

This consultancy is home-based. In case of any official trip, approved by the office, the travel-related costs will be covered as per the associated duty travel policy. 

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 participatory training methods
• Understanding of gender frameworks
• Knowledge of migration dynamics

Education:

• Masters in social sciences, Gender Studies, International Relations, Development Studies or related field required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of a master’s degree.

Experience:

• Minimum five years’ working experience in Gender Studies, International Relations, Development Studies
• Expertise in gender, migration, and media.
• Proven experience in facilitating media training.
• Strong communication and participatory facilitation skills

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required. 
• Knowledge of any other UN official language is an asset.

Ethical Considerations

• The consultant must adhere to UN Women’s:
• Do-no-harm principles Safeguarding and ethical standards
• Data protection and confidentiality requirements
• Survivor-centered approaches when using any example relating to GBV or vulnerable groups

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.