National Consultant on Communication and Media (EU4Climate).

Vacancy Number: Pr19/01865

Location:Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline: 05 Aug 2019, 16:30 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:
09 Aug 2019, 16:30 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:Individual Contract
Starting date: 19 Aug 2019
Reference to the project: EU4Climate Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:September 2019 – December 2022 (up to 400 total working days: up to 120 working days per year and up to 10 working days per month)
Supporting Documents:
Terms of reference
Individual Consultant Procurement Notice
OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT
UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Mr. Marius Taranu.

marius.taranu@undp.org


Background

The goal of EU4Climate Project is to contribute to climate change mitigation & adaptation and the development towards a low-emissions and climate-resilient economy in line with the Paris Agreement in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

To realize this project goal, the following results should be achieved:

Result 1:  Finalized or up-dated nationally determined contributions communicated to the UNFCCC;

Result 2:  Improved inter-institutional awareness and coordination at political and technical level of the Paris Agreement and the corresponding national commitments;  

Result 3:  Established or strengthened MRV systems, with countries getting on track with Paris Agreement transparency requirements;

Result 4:  Advanced alignment with EU climate acquis as provided by bilateral agreements with EU and in the context of Energy Community Treaty on climate matters that are not covered by the EU4Energy programme;

Result 5:  Establishment of concrete sectoral guidelines for the implementation of the Paris Agreement in each of the Eastern Partners;

Result 6: Increased mobilization of climate finance;

Result 7: Enhanced adaptation planning. 

The primary objective of the Communication Strategy for the regional level is to communicate the positive results and achievements of the EU4Climate Project, focusing on outcome and the impact of results, in the conditions when the specific communications objectives would be as follows:

  • Raise awareness and increase visibility of the Paris Climate Agreement, the Climate Action and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the contribution of the project towards the climate action and SDGs;
  • Raise awareness on how climate change affects people lives;
  • Raise awareness of the Partner Countries' climate and sectoral policy reform more generally;
  • Facilitate and ensure strategic, coherent, coordinated, and unified approach to the communication between the Implementing Partners;
  • Increase interaction with other international organizations, financial institutions and donors active in the Partner Countries;
  • Promote the strategic approach of the EU in the region creating links with the Eastern Partnership architecture (in particular the Panel on Environment and Climate Change) and other relevant initiatives, when appropriate;
  • Build connections, as relevant, with other EU-led and funded Initiatives in the region, such as EU4Business, EU4Environment, EUWI+, Shared Environmental Information System II East, EU4Energy, SIGMA;
  • Increase visibility of the links of the project to other EU-UNDP projects and initiatives, and also other NGOs that are funded by EU grants who are undertaking projects linked to access to justice and human rights;
  • Facilitate development, adoption and implementation of reforms and relevant laws;
  • Raise awareness about the objectives and impact of the Project among the beneficiary Government, private sector and general public;
  • Increase visibility of the progress and achievements made by the governments of the Eastern Partnership countries, particularly the key beneficiary institutions responsible for the development and implementation of the climate policy in the beneficiary countries: UNFCCC Focal Points, national environmental ministries, national ministries of economy and finance, sectoral/line ministries, legislators; Contribute to the effectiveness of the national climate action and to the mobilization of climate investments in the beneficiary countries through raising awareness of donor agencies, climate funds and investors;
  • Inform local stakeholders as well as regional and international donor community of the progress and impact of the Project and encourage the scaling-up of the approach,
  • Increase visibility of NGOs’ participating in the Project, stimulate discussion on Climate Action;
  • Increase visibility of the EU-UNDP partnership as well as of the European Union as the donor and UNDP as the implementing partner of the Project and this message will be included in press releases and other communications work.

Scope of work

The national communications consultant shall be responsible to lead and monitor the implementation of the project’s Communication Strategy for 2019-2022.

The consultant is expected to:

  • Undertake a comprehensive review of the Project’s strategic documents and action plan and elaborate a detailed visibility and communication strategy and annual work plan, in collaboration with the UNDP Project team and in liaison with UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub and Brussels Representation Office;
  • Ensure compliance with all corporate rules and regulations of UNDP, EU Delegation/European Commission DG NEAR and the Government, in the field of communication and visibility promotion and reporting;
  • Develop press releases, news, blog posts, success stories, photo essays, social media posts, and other communication materials about the project’s most important achievements to be disseminated through the national media, as well as local and/or regional websites;
  • Design and implement raising-awareness campaigns to communicate how climate change affect people’s lives and about the actions of Moldova to implement Paris Agreement;
  • Design and produce layouts for project materials (e.g. reports, posters, infographics, illustrations, social media assets, images, dynamic presentations, etc.) using a variety of software including Canva, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Word and PowerPoint for internal and external audiences, and for presentation, print and online use;
  • Prepare materials for printing in line with UNDP, EU Delegation/European Commission DG NEAR and the Government’s editorial and visual guidelines, advising on print solutions, coordinating with printers and ensuring delivery of high-quality end products;
  • Identify and maintain close cooperation and communication with print, electronic and online media outlets;
  • Prepare periodical reports on communication/media activities and contribute to the UNDP Project’s reporting in part of communication and visibility issues;
  • Maintain the project’s event calendar of events and insert regularly updates into the UNDP event calendar;
  • Respond to requests for inputs from UNDP, European Commission and the beneficiary institution with respect to communication and visibility aspects of the project;
  • Develop monthly progress reports on the performed activities;
  • Undertake any other communication related tasks required on an ad hoc basis for the successful implementation of the assignment.         For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Referenc

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications: 

  • University degree in public relations, communication, journalism, social science or related areas. Additional training and certification in communication/new media is an asset .

Years of experience:

  • At least 5 years of experience in media and online communications, active use of social media, publication and report writing, including research or data collection (proven by a portfolio of promotional and visibility materials/content prepared by the Consultant – please submit links in the Motivation section);
  • At least 3 years of work experience in developing and implementing media/communications, visibility and awareness raising campaigns, drafting communication and awareness raising materials, writing articles, press releases, interviews and other communication products;
  • Proven understanding of mass media in the Republic of Moldova (please, include a database of media editorship (at least 10, for ex: 7 national and 3 local, without personal contacts);
  • Experience in similar positions in an UNDP and/or EU-funded project or other international organization would be an asset;
  • Experience in communication with different categories of people, including public officials, mass media and NGO representatives is an asset.

Competencies:

  • Good knowledge and understanding of the climate change phenomena, including mitigation and adaptation aspects and the need to develop towards a low-emissions and climate-resilient economy in line with the Paris Agreement of the UNFCCC;
  • Proven understanding of online media and new communication trends is a strong asset;
  • Ability to think creatively, to develop and implement innovative solutions for traditional issues;
  • Knowledge of the government institutions, NGOs and donors working in the area and mass-media outlets;
  • Excellent written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of analytical documents;
  • Capacity to build strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and to respond positively to feedback;
  • Computer literacy with professional experience in the use of Twitter, Facebook, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint;
  • Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status.
  • Fluency in Romanian, Russian and English languages

    UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

     

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

  1. Proposal:
  • Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
  • Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable);
  1. Financial proposal;

       3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references

Financial proposal

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.