International Consultant

Background

The federal democratic republic of Ethiopia has been undertaking general elections since 1995 aimed at re-enforcing good governance and electoral democracy. Currently, Ethiopia is due to hold its most anticipated sixth national election in 2020.  A total of 130 parties are registered in National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE); as the space for political participation is opening up, these political parties are now functioning in the country and a new political era seems to have begun.

Through democratic and fair elections, citizens freely exercise their right to choose their representatives and the kind of policy options that will shape and influence their lives and their community. However, for elections to be credible, transparent and peaceful, the stakeholders that have a role in election activities must have the capacity to participate and monitor elections.

Journalists, as key election stakeholders, have an important role to play in facilitating political discourse, fostering transparency and information-sharing, and serving as an effective forum for public debate, all of which strengthens the democratic process. Various challenges exist when it comes to placing gender equality at the centre of the public debate and the behavior, attitudes and perceptions of the citizens and all the actors. Equality is a concept that implies ‘equality of rights, responsibilities, and opportunities as between men and women …, to be able to participate in political, economic, social, and cultural development and benefit from their results in equal conditions’. Journalists can play key role in providing women, who do not get adequate media coverage and have less opportunity to communicate their message to their constituency, a platform to effectively participate in electoral process.

In order to fulfill these responsibilities, journalists must be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct accurate election reporting, and they must also be made aware of their duty to mitigate hate speech and incitement to violence that too often arise in election environments. Therefore, a training on election coverage and election reporting is crucial for media to be prepared for free, independent, inclusive and tolerant coverage.

To meet this need, National Electoral Board of Ethiopia in collaboration with UN Women has organized a three-day media training on principles of election reporting for media practitioners (editors, program owners, journalists ...etc) in Ethiopia.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the NEBE and in collaboration with the Women in Leadership and Governance team of UN Women Ethiopia, the international trainer together with a national trainer shall facilitate the training for media practitioners on gender sensitive elections coverage. The consultants will undertake the following tasks: 

• Develop a training program (training agenda);
• Prepare and compile training materials in collaboration with the NEBE and UN Women;
• Prepare impact evaluation tools for the training (pre and post training assessment);
• Facilitate participatory three days training for media practitioners;
• Prepare a final report that includes summarization of the pre and post training assessment and recommendations on future training needs for media practitioners;

Competencies

Key Competencies

• Knowledge in the area of gender and media and elections;
• Excellent training, facilitation and communication skills;
• Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines;
• Excellent mentoring capabilities;
• Cultural and gender sensitivity;  

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in a relevant field, such as journalism, law, gender equality, human rights, mass communication, or political science

Experience

• At least seven years of experience in facilitating capacity building workshops for media practitioners on gender-sensitive election coverage;
• Knowledge on gender, women’s participation in political process and gender sensitive reporting is essential;
• Knowledge of electoral process and election administration;
• Extensive experience in adult training facilitation skills;
• Experience in training journalists in election related reporting in the Africa context is mandatory.

Language

• Written and oral proficiency in English is required.