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.
The overall aim of the ECALearn Initiative is to construct a regional approach to learning which harnesses the skills and expertise of personnel across the region, while enhancing the capacity to deliver on gender equality results for women and girls. The Initiative will run from July 2024 until the end of December 2025.
The objectives of the Initiative are to:
Develop the skills of ECA personnel to deliver on UN Women’s mandate for women and girls
Increase the capacity of ECA personnel on key areas of expertise, including delivering training to colleagues and stakeholders, thus reducing the next for external expertise
Nurture talent within the region through the provision of career development opportunities, thus increasing retention and attracting the best candidates in the future
Build a feminist learning culture, where space and time are created for personnel to reflect on learning, increasing the ability to deliver on UN Women’s mandate
In July 2024, a comprehensive learning needs assessment was conducted, including a personnel learning survey and a review of all learning plans. The key findings of the learning needs assessment form the basis of the structure and approach of ECALearn, as set out in this implementation plan. Building on the findings of the learning needs assessment, the ECALearn Initiative is made up of four components: Skills Development; In-house Capacity; Talent Development; and Learning Culture.
Taken together, these components form a coherent, holistic approach to learning across UN Women Europe and Central Asia. While different activities and types of learning take place under each component, they are guided by an Initiative-wide monitoring and evaluation process. The ECALearn Initiative is ground in a feminist pedagogical approach to adult education. This is based on four key principles, as elaborated in the UN Women Training Centre Working Paper Feminist Pedagogies in Training for Gender Equality (2019): Participatory learning; Validation of personal experience; Encouragement of social justice, activism and accountability; and Development of critical thinking and open-mindedness.
These principles form the basis of quality criteria for all learning activities conducted during the ECALearn Initiative.
The consultant will be reporting to HR Business Partner, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. The consultant will also work in close collaboration with the ECALearn Team and the Regional Office Communications Team. There will also be close collaboration with the Communications Department of UN Women Headquarters in order to ensure consistency of messaging and approach.
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work
Deliverables
Design and develop a Learning Package for UN Women Europe and Central Asia personnel on “Communicating for Gender Equality.” The package will be delivered virtually, using the latest innovative methods and tools in online training. The course should be developed specifically for UN Women ECA, and the copyright will remain the property of UN Women.
A total of four courses will be developed:
Course 1: Introduction to Communicating for Gender Equality, 1 day (available for all personnel regardless of function, approximately 30 participants per cohort) Course 2: Gender-responsive Internal Communications, 1.5 days (for Operation personnel, maximum 18 participants per cohort) Course 3: Communicating for Gender Equality Results, 1.5 days (for Programmatic and Communications personnel, maximum 18 participants per cohort) Course 4: Communicating Gender Equality for Senior Management (1 day, for senior management and Communications personnel, maximum 18 participants per cohort)
The exact content of the courses will be defined in collaboration with the ECALearn team. However, we expect the course to cover at least the following aspects:
Understanding AI and algorithms Constructing strategic political messaging Dealing with gender misinformation, disinformation, and the anti-rights backlash Maximising social media platforms for gender equality communications Understanding intergenerational approaches to communications Identifying appropriate stories for communications Developing clear messaging for maximum impact
The assignment will be broken down into the following stages:
Development (approximately 20 working days) Design and develop 4 virtual courses Preparatory meetings with ECALearn team Revisions to training materials and training plan
Delivery (approximately 30 working days)
Deliver 5 cohorts of Course 1 Deliver 2 cohorts of Course 2 Deliver 2 cohorts of Course 3 Deliver 1 cohort of Course 4
Follow-up, evaluation and reporting (approximately 10 working days)
Deliver 90-minute follow-up session for each course Ongoing evaluation, revisions and reporting Delivery of training report and final training materials
Expected outcomes:
150 personnel successfully completed Course 1 35 personnel successfully completed Course 2 35 personnel successfully completed Course 3 18 personnel successfully completed Course 4Expected outputs:
Final training materials for each course Participant booklet for each course Final training report including individual and overall evaluationsThe estimated time commitment for this assignment is approximately 60 days total.
Deliverable
Expected completion time (due day)
Payment Schedule (optional)
First draft training materials
12/5/2025
Payment 1 (10% of total)