Terms of Reference – Senior Strategy Writer

Global Communication & Public Advocacy Strategy

UNICEF Division of Communication
Introduction
With the full support of the Executive Director, UNICEF is developing a Global C
ommunication & Public Advocacy Strategy as a corporate priority. This will be th
e first-such strategy that UNICEF has had in over 14 years. Much work has been d
one so far, including the establishment of a senior-level Reference Group repres
enting UNICEF Divisions, Regional Offices, Country Offices, National Committees
and including external experts; additionally, the assessment phase of the strate
gy development process is now complete.
UNICEF is seeking a qualified Senior Strategy Writer to participate/consult with
the various working groups providing substance for the global strategy, and to
then pull substantive papers provided by the working groups together, along with
other substantive reference and assessment source documents already available,
into a Global Communication & Public Advocacy Strategy document for presentation
to the Office of the Executive Director. This would be on a consultancy basis a
t the P4/P5 level depending on experience, and the time frame will be for six mo
nths, from late-April to late-October 2011.
Please read the attached TORs for more details on this consultancy opportunity.
How to Apply:
Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter, CV and P 11 form (w
hich can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/in
dex_53129.html) to kpage@unicef.org and npasajlic@unicef.org with subject line “Se
nior Strategy Writer/DOC ” by 12 April 2011. Please indicate your interest, experi
ence and availability to undertake the terms of reference above.

(See below)
Draft Terms of Reference – Senior Strategy Writer
Global Communication and Public Advocacy Strategy
UNICEF Division of Communication
Introduction
With the full support of the Executive Director, UNICEF is developing a Global C
ommunication & Public
Advocacy Strategy as a corporate priority. This will be the first-such strategy
that UNICEF has had in over
14 years. Much work has been done so far, including the establishment of a senio
r-level Reference Group
representing UNICEF Divisions, Regional Offices, Country Offices, National Commi
ttees and including
external experts; additionally, the assessment phase of the strategy development
process is now complete.
UNICEF is seeking a qualified senior strategy writer to participate/consult with
the various working groups
providing substance for the global strategy, and to then pull the substantive pa
pers provided by the
four working groups together into a Global Communication & Public Advocacy Strat
egy document for
presentation to the Office of the Executive Director. This would be on a consult
ancy basis at the P4/P5
level depending on experience, and the time frame will be for six months, from l
ate-April to late-October
2011.
Functions
Guided by the Global Strategy Core Team (Director, DOC; Deputy Director, DOC; Se
nior Advisor-Strategic
Communications); the Senior Strategy Writer’s work will include the following:
•
Participation/consultation with the working groups that are being established to
develop
substance for the strategy; the working groups will be convening by email/teleco
ns between April-
July 2011, at which point each of the working groups will submit a zero-draft su
bstantive paper
Work with the core team and an external consultant in July to review and revise
the working group
papers
Develop a first-draft of the Global Communication & Public Advocacy Strategy fro
m August-
October based on the working group papers, assessment phase research (already co
nducted),
and relevant documents (e.g. 1998 Communication Policy; 2006 draft Global Commun
ication
Framework, etc.), for presentation to OED in October/November 2011
•
•
Outputs
• Participation/consultation with the various working groups, including contributi
ons to the zero-
draft substantive papers
• Review and revision of the working group papers to a first-draft stage
• A first-draft version of the Global Communication and Public Advocacy Strategy f
or presentation to
OED in October 2011
Reporting Line
The Senior Strategy Writer will report to the Senior Advisor, Strategic Communic
ations, Kent Page. The
Senior Strategy Writer will work in close collaboration with UNICEF DOC’s Director
, Khaled Mansour, and
Deputy Director, Wivina Belmonte. The Senior Advisor-Strategic Communications re
ports directly to the
Director, DOC and is responsible for managing the overall strategy development p
rocess with the core
team.
Location
The consultant will be based in New York for the six-month consultancy.
Background Information
Four working groups under three themes are being established to produce substanc
e for the development
of the Global Communication & Public Advocacy Strategy. Working groups of 7-9 UN
ICEF staff have an
inter-divisional composition. Each working group will have a coordinator, and is
 encouraged to reach
out and consult with broader networks throughout UNICEF, including relevant staf
f at all levels in various
divisions, regional and country offices, and National Committees. The three them
es and four working
groups are as follows:
Theme: Communication & Advocacy Objectives
• Working Group: Communication & Advocacy Objectives re: Equity/Strategic Results
Areas
Theme: Communication Approaches
• Working Group: Communication Around UNICEF’s Knowledge Leadership
• Working Group: UNICEF’s Master Narrative
Theme: Communication Techniques
• Working Group: Participatory, Engagement Communication/New Media Content Innovat
ion
Output
•
Each working group is required to prepare a zero-draft, substantive paper which
would then be
reviewed by a broader group for feedback/comments.
The document would then be pulled together with the inputs of the other working
groups towards
the development of the Global Communication and Public Advocacy Strategy.
•
Working Group Timeline
• The deadline for the zero-draft paper will be beginning July 2011.
• The zero-draft will then be shared with a wider group for comments/inputs in Jul
y 2011, with a
first-draft ready by beginning August 2011.
Proposed Overall Strategy Development Timeline
•
•
•
April 2011
Beginning July 2011
July 2011
•
•
•
•
•
Beginning August 2011
August - October 2011
October 2011
November 2011
December 2011
Remuneration
The Senior Strategy Writer remuneration will be at the P4/5 consultancy range, d
epending on experience
and in line with UNICEF consultancy contracts.
Timeline
The timeline for these TORs is for the period mid-April to mid-October 2011 for
the development of the
first draft of the Global Communication and Public Advocacy Strategy for present
ation to OED.
Working Groups Established
Zero-Draft of Working Group Papers
Review/Revision of Working Group Papers by Core Team/Senior
Consultant/Senior Writer
First Draft of Working Group Papers
Strategy Development by Senior Writer
First-Draft of Strategy for OED
Final Review/Revision of Strategy
Presentation/Launch of Strategy
TOR Review
These draft Terms of Reference may be reviewed and revised if necessary by the D
irector, DOC, based on
development and progress and the needs of the Division.
Deep Background
UNICEF is in the process of developing a five-year, global communication and adv
ocacy strategy. The
process consists of two phases: Phase 1: Assessment and Phase 2: Formulation. Ph
ase 1 is now complete
and was conducted in collaboration with Waggener-Edstrom-Dalberg). The key findi
ngs, risks and
recommendations of the assessment phase are highlighted below.
The analyses conducted in phase 1 revealed that UNICEF has great assets to build
from, including a strong
culture of communications and the fact that the organization is a well-respected
and credible source
of information, especially with regard to data. While UNICEF is still ahead of i
ts peers in overall brand
perception, there are significant areas for improvement that the five year commu
nications strategy will
need to address. In particular:
the lack of strategic priorities and goals for the communications and advocacy f
unction, especially
at a global level;

an unclear and unfocused core narrative for the organization as a whole;

a limited understanding of audiences and of the ways in which they receive infor
mation, especially
in program countries;
a communications culture that emphasizes tried-and-true approaches over more cre
ative forms of
engagement and story-telling;

and a lack of coordination of the structures and processes that support communic
ations and
advocacy in the organization.

These weaknesses strengthen the business case for developing an aggressive, bold
, decisive
communications strategy. The main risks of not acting decisively and strategical
ly at this time include:

a lack of understanding on the part of key stakeholders of the issues facing the
worlds’ vulnerable
children – UNICEF’s core constituency -- in the 21st century, potentially resulting
in a weakened
awareness of the issues that are at the heart of UNICEF’s mission;

a dilution of the UNICEF message, resulting in a potential loss of reputation an

d support at a time
when a growing number of organizations are competing for scarce resources and at
tention in the
sector;
a lack of engagement with important audiences, especially youth, who don’t have th
e same
allegiance with UNICEF than other stakeholders do, and are also early adopters o
f new
communications and information dissemination platforms; and,

an inadequate allocation and use of scarce organizational and financial resource

s.
For all these reasons, it is imperative for UNICEF to develop a communications a
nd advocacy strategy that
defines clear goals and provides focus for how these goals will be achieved. The
communications strategy
needs to acknowledge and fully account for the fact that UNICEF is a complex org
anization. Therefore, the
strategy will define an overall framework, and provide clear guidance for global
efforts, while leaving room
for flexible implementation at the regional and country levels. In particular, w
e recommend that the global
communication and public advocacy strategy address the following elements:
Set out priorities and goals for global communication and public advocacy, clear
ly linked to
supporting the achievement of UNICEF’s overall strategic priorities and goals;

Present a master narrative and core messages consistent with this positioning an
d UNICEF’s global
strategic priorities, as well as guidance on how to weave that narrative into da
y-to-day
communications;

Define carefully the balance in positioning of UNICEF for communications purpose

s (i.e., between
service deliverer, partner and advisor to governments, strong advocate and guard
ian of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, etc.).

Identify key audiences, channels and content needs given UNICEF’s communications g
oals, and
develop a “change plan” for shifting away from the current over-focus on traditional
audiences
and channels; and

Propose processes to ensure better planning for and assessment of impact of comm
unications
activities at all levels, including measurement and evaluation.
End text.