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.

Governance and Participation in Public life is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work, recognizing the integral role of women in strong and stable democratic processes. Through its Governance and Participation Section, UN Women works to ensure that women lead, participate in, and benefit equally from governance systems.

The Women’s Legislative Caucus of Liberia (WLC) was formed in 2006 by women legislators of both Houses (Senate and House of Representatives) of the 52nd National Legislature of Liberia. Their purpose is to promote gender equality and women empowerment irrespective of political affiliation, religion, ethnic background, or other differences. The WLC seeks to take a common position on critical national issues affecting women and girls and to speak with one voice on such issues. Since its establishment in 2006, the WLC has focused on networking, capacity-building, and mainstreaming a gender perspective into national legislation and budgets; advocating for the passage and reform of gender equity legislation, such as affirmative action for women in politics; and raising awareness to focus public attention and gain public support on women’s issues important to women and girls.

UN Women supports the WLC, its gender-sensitive normative and legislative agenda, gender-responsive budgeting, and its promotion of women’s political participation and representation in national decision-making. In light of this, a key component of the support to the WLC is to ensure the work of the WLC is communicated to the public to promote gender equality agenda and positive portrayal of women leaders. To his end, UN Women is planning to recruit a communication and public relations consultant to support the WLC in the formulation and implementation of the communications, advocacy, and media strategies to increase the standing and awareness of WLC with partners, the media, and the public.

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Representative with direct reporting to the Programme Specialist, Women Political Participation and the Programme Coordinator of the WLC the Communications & Public Relations consultant supports the formulation and implementation of the communications, advocay, and media strategies to increase the standing and awareness of WLC with partners, the media and the public. The Consultant will also help the WLC to increase its visibility and communicate their mandate, strategic objectives, and achievements. The consultant will closely work with UN Women’s Programme Analyst, Women Political Participation, and Programme Coordinator of the WLC in undertaking the responsibilities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The candidate selected for this consultancy will be expected to develop and execute the following tasks working closely with WLC Coordinator and women legislators of both houses (Senate and House of Representatives) and their staff:

Provide support in the development of a coherent WLC communications and media strategy

• Track and monitor print and social media and report relevant information to WLC Secretariat and members’ staff to inform communications and media strategy development and implementation;
• Gather substantive inputs from WLC Secretariat staff and members to develop, and if relevant, update the WLC’s communication and media strategy and action plan;
• Include guidance and support to WLC Secretariat and members’ staff on UN Women and donor’s corporate communications and visibility requirements;

Provide support to the development and publication of WLC’s communications materials

• Identify storylines and achievements within the WLC for online and printed publications;
• Prepare press releases, articles, key messages, and other advocacy materials, in cooperation with WLC and UN Women
• Seek approval from WLC chair and UN Women and manage the publication of materials;
• Maintain library/ database of reference materials and photos and digital assets, as necessary;

Provide substantive support in the management of the WLC’s social media presence and website

• Identify stories, and develop/review content for the WLC’s website and social media channels;
• Update the website and social media channels, ensure consistency in branding;
• Research, compile and produce reports on web statistics on a regular basis and electronic surveys;
• Maintain files, databases, and systems relevant to the WLC’s digital presence, as necessary;

Provide media relations support to the WLC

• Serve as a focal point on WLC’s activities open to the press, as necessary;
• Establish and maintain relationships with press, maintaining and updating a database of relevant journalists/media houses, as necessary;
• Respond to requests for information and arrange interviews;
• Support media engagement by organizing press conferences and other publicity events and preparing briefing materials, talking points, and press releases;

Facilitate knowledge management and sharing

• Contribute to the identification of best practices and lessons learned;
• Conduct trainings and workshops on communication practices for WLC Secretariat and member staff, as relevant;
• Provide/exchange information with WLC members and UN Women

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is office consultancy. The consultant will be sitting at the WLC Secretariat office on a parttime basis three days per week.

Competencies

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/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Ability to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with clients
• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats, using appropriate IT functionality
• Excellent event planning skills
• Excellent knowledge of social media and communications strategy and methods
• Ability to identify relevant events and stories and communicate them to a mass audience
• Strong multimedia skills
• Knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in communications, public relations, journalism or relevant field is required
• First-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in providing support to the formulation and implementation of internal and external communications and advocacy strategies and related plans;
• Experience in the use of computers applications and software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) as well as web-based management systems;
• Experience in the use of social media and digital communications.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.

How To Apply

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.