I.  Position Information

Job Title: Partnership and Communication Associate

Department: UN Women Tajikistan Office

Reports to: UN Women Tajikistan Country Programme Manager/Head of Office

Current Grade: SB-3

Duration of contract: 1 year with possibility of extension

Location: Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Type of work: Office-based

II. Organizational Context

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.

Through its mandate, the programming of UN Women Office in Tajikistan includes support to the Government, civil society organizations, and other partners in the development and implementation of innovative approaches aimed at achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. In Tajikistan, UN Women supports efforts of the national partners and UN agencies in the implementation of gender equality commitments in compliance with international standards, the UN human rights conventions, resolutions, and agreements ratified by the Republic of Tajikistan. It provides a strong and a coherent expert and technical support to the implementation of gender equality’s priorities in national and UN efforts and building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. It strengthens coordination on gender equality and women’s empowerment programming, enhancing cooperation in the framework of the Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

Focusing on five strategic priorities, UN Women Office in Tajikistan is implementing a wide range of projects focused on strengthening global norms and standards, increasing women’s leadership and political participation, enhancing women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, engagement of women in all aspects of peace and security processes and Humanitarian Action.

Communication and advocacy represent an integral part of UN Women’s planning and implementation of the programme. UN Women collaborates closely with the UN Country Team to integrate women’s rights and gender equality in all spheres of the UN’s work in Tajikistan. The communication efforts derive from UN Women Corporate Communication Strategy and incorporate all relevant elements, including UN agencies and UN Women global campaigns (UNiTE, HeForShe, etc.), regional work, and in-country interventions. Activities will go in line with global and regional communication strategies and shall consider all important global goals such as implementation of the SDGs, UPR recommendations, CEDAW Concluding Observations, etc., as well as national developments (NAP 1325, etc.).

Partnership with the civil society organizations and working on gender is aimed at increasing their role in monitoring of State implementation of commitments and their advocacy at international and national levels. Considering the principle “Leaving no one behind” (LNOB), UN Women also partners with NGOs led by women and representing vulnerable groups.

UN Women Office in Tajikistan runs social media pages and contributes to the Europe and Central Asia regional UN Women website for amplifying any relevant information and results from UN Women-led and joint initiatives with other UN agencies and partners.

To support UN Women’s extensive portfolio and enhance the visibility of its work with the Government and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Tajikistan, as well as to effectively communicate the results achieved for women and girls, UN Women is seeking to engage a Partnership and Communication Associate. This role will support the implementation of visibility and communications activities, including events, campaigns, and the development of knowledge products. Additionally, the associate will provide programmatic support, contributing to the design, formulation, implementation, and evaluation of UN Women’s programs in Tajikistan. She/he will make specific contribution and efforts to build advocacy and communication interventions. In addition, she/he will establish strong partnerships with other stakeholders and manage UN Women’s programme communication platforms and networks.

The main goal of this assignment is to support UN Women Office in promoting its mandate through effective outreach raising awareness of the key stakeholders, target audience and donor community on its mandate, strategic goals, and activities. The Partnership and Communication Associate will work in close collaboration with programme staff to exchange information and ensure consistent service delivery, as well support the team on tasks related to the communications.

Learning objectives:

• Support maintaining files, databases, and systems relevant to the digital presence.
• Increase understanding of UN Women’s work and the UN system;
• Increase knowledge and understanding of issues related to gender;
• Build and develop professional relationships with UN Women colleagues and other UN agencies;
• Develop project management communication, donor engagement, administrative and organizational skills.

III. Functions and responsibilities

Provide coordination support in the development of a coherent Programme Office communications and advocacy strategy

• Provide inputs and background information for the development of the Programme Office communication strategy;
• Provide support to advocacy efforts and campaigns by organizing roundtable discussions, press conferences, and other publicity events and providing inputs to briefing materials and press releases;
• Provide support to programme and other Programme Office staff on UN Women corporate communications guidelines and printing norms;
• Track and monitor print and social media and report relevant information to senior staff to inform strategy development.

Provide coordination support to the development of Programme Office advocacy materials 

• Identify storylines and achievements within the Programme Office for online and print publications;
• Draft press releases, articles, key messages and other advocacy materials;
• Coordinate the translation, adaptation, or rewriting of information received for the local context; disseminate materials to appropriate stakeholders;
• Coordinate the publication of materials for final approval; maintain relationships with printing companies/ publishers;
• Follow guidelines from RO/HQ;
• Provide substantive inputs to talking points;
• Draft web articles on UN Women activities, concept notes and any other related documents;
• Draft and share meetings minutes, including staff meetings, coordination mechanisms meetings and any other meeting as required by Country Programme Manager/Head of Office;

Provide support in the management of the Programme Office’s social media presence and website

• Maintain media outreach and social media content creation (Facebook and Instagram).
• Identify stories, and provide input to the development of content for the website hosted at the Regional and Country level Offices and social media channels;
• Update the website and social media channels, ensuring consistency in branding;
• Research, compile and produce reports on web statistics on a regular basis and electronic surveys, as required;
• Maintain files, databases, and systems relevant to the Programme Presence’s digital presence.

Provide media relations support to the Programme Coordinators

• Serve as a focal point on UN Women’ activities open to the press, as necessary;
• Maintain and update database of relevant press in country;
• Provide support to advocacy efforts and campaigns by organizing roundtable discussions, press conferences, and other publicity events and providing inputs to briefing materials and press releases;
• Create infographics and video reels by using relevant applications.
• Write success stories, data collection, creation of photo bank, take photos during events; awareness raising on programme activities and support with social media posts.
• Communicate with partners on media-related work;
• Maintain library/ database of reference materials, photos, and digital assets;

Facilitate knowledge management and sharing

• Contribute to the identification of best practices and lessons learned;
• Organize training sessions and workshops on communication practices;
• Prepare training, workshop or advocacy actions;
• Provide/ exchange information with UN Women Europe and Central Asia office (ECA RO) and HQ.

Provide technical support to the programme implementation and management in networking and partnerships area

• Ensure well maintained and continually developed contact-list and database of suppliers, partners, state agencies, organizations and entrepreneurs, useful in achieving advocacy and communication objectives. Ensure the effective development of working relationships with UN Women Team and UN communication counterparts (including Government, UN and other entities);
• Ensure effective partnership, networking and coordination between UN agencies and partnering programmes and activities in the country for a more holistic and coherent approach to programme implementation;
• Collaborate with partners to develop and implement joint communications strategies, maintain and update relevant database/ contact-list; collect all needed materials in order to support the partnership development process;
• Ensure consistency and appropriateness of country-specific communication materials, activities, processes and messages shared with partners;
• Assist to develop and improve the process of working collaboration with partners, including conducting the meetings, joint projects, information sharing, etc.;
• Identify opportunities to strengthen capacity of partners through appropriate advocacy and communication events, access to information, supplies, equipment and through knowledge sharing;
• Monitor, evaluate and share results and findings with partners.

Provide technical inputs to the monitoring and reporting of the programme

• Provide inputs to quarterly and annual reports, donor reports and other reports on outputs, results outputs and outcomes if requested.

Other

• Perform other tasks as assigned by supervisor;
• Provide support on special web/digital/media projects undertaken by the Office upon request.

IV. Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and quality inputs to programme design
• Timely and quality inputs to workplans and budget
• Adherence to UN Women standards and rules
• Timely monitoring and tracking of communication strategies
• Timely organization of events and global priorities for conducting campaigns
• Effective networking and partnerships
• Efficient media communication.

V. 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

Functional Competencies

• Ability to create, edit and present information in clear and presentable formats, using appropriate IT functionality;
• Strong events planning, multimedia and proven excellent communication and facilitation skills;
• Strong knowledge of social media and communication strategies and methods;
• Ability to identify relevant events and stories and communicate them to a mass audience;
• Ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to details;
• Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with staff members of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Ability to work independently, or under pressure meeting tight deadlines;
• Highly computer literate with capability in email, MS Office, and related business and communication tools;
• Experience in using Adobe and Canva application for creating infographics and video reels;
• Content writing experience for media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, FB, Tik-Tok);
• Experience of written and oral communications and editing skills; proven ability to position issues effectively, both orally and in writing; ability to write clearly and concisely.

VI. Recruitment Qualifications

Education:

• University degree in the areas of communications, gender studies, journalism, public relations, graphic design, communications reporting & writing, digital photography, website building, information technologies, other area relevant to this ToR;

Experience:

• At least 6 years of work experience at the national or international levels in public relations, journalism, communications or advocacy, international relations, or partnership building.
• Experience in the production of multimedia materials for social media, use of social media and digital communications, graphic design.
• Experience in coordination and coverage events; writing success stories and reports is an asset.
• Experience in usage of PC and MS Office software packages (MS Word, Excel, PPT, etc.), as well as proven experience in the development of all relevant IEC documents using Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Canva apps, web-based management systems.
• Proven experience in photography and videography, with expertise in post-production editing and cutting using Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects.
• Experience in working/liaising with UN agencies, other international organizations, government agencies, partners and/or donors; knowledge of the UN system, policy and procedures is an advantage.

Language Requirements:

• Proficiency in oral and written English, Tajik and Russian is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official language is an asset.

Statement:

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.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements