Communications Adviser to the Vice-Prime-Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration

Background

Ukraine’s vision of its strategic development may be defined by three conceptual frameworks – European integration, NATO Accession (Euro-Atlantic integration) and the Sustainable Agenda 2030. An adequate alignment of these frameworks as well as assessing their overlapping elements can address one of the key challenges of Ukraine’s long-term development planning.

Supporting institutional and policy reforms that foster inclusive, gender-responsive and sustainable human development in line with the national strategy and reform agenda is identified as Pathway I by the UNDP Country programme document for Ukraine (2018-2022) that identifies “Citizen expectations for voice, development, the rule of law and accountability are met by stronger systems of democratic governance” as one of the key objectives in enhancing inclusive and effective democratic governance in Ukraine.

Forming the responsive, efficient and accountable governance institutions that can respond to citizens' needs and provide high-quality public services is the key objective of Ukraine’s 2020 Strategy of the Public Administration Reform and the Action Plan for its implementation in line with European standards of good governance. Increasing the efficiency of government bodies and local self-government is also one of Ukraine’s indicators for achieving the SDG 16 according to the 2017 Baseline National Report on SDGs.

In Ukraine, 2019 is marked by both presidential and parliamentary elections, with the respective changes in country’s political leadership and transitions of power at senior positions in key state institutions. The newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who received a landslide victory in the second round of the Ukrainian presidential election on April 2019 with 73 percent  of the vote, called snap parliamentary elections after he was sworn into office.

The early parliamentary elections then took place on July 21, 2019 with 424 newly elected MPs (20.28 percent of which are women, vs 12.6 percent in the previous convocation). On 29 August, the newly elected Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine convened for the first time in its new composition, within which one party, Servant of the People, holds 254 of the currently occupied 422 seats in parliament, and 5 other parties are represented. The Parliament elected a new Prime Minister and a Cabinet of Ministers, this, having completed the extraordinary political shift at the central level of government in Ukraine. 

The new Government is smaller, younger (the average age of ministers is 39) and more gender-balanced (6 ministers are women) than any of its predecessors. It consists of 17 ministers, two Vice-Prime-Ministers with responsibilities for Digital Transformation, and European and Euro-Atlantic Integration respectively under the leadership of the Prime-Minister.

The Governmental Programme adopted in October outlines the human centric policy priorities, namely to provide a decent living quality for every Ukrainian, accelerate economic growth and attract foreign investments, including by the liberalization of the land market, fighting corruption and smuggling as well as curbing monopolies, and shift to digital communications within government. The new political leadership is generally continuing and deepening the reforms expected by Ukraine’s population and international partners.

The President of Ukraine has adopted the Decree on SDGs, which instructs the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine: (1) to conduct the analysis of forecast and programme documents taking into account the SDGs of Ukraine for the period of till 2030; (2) to implement an effective system for monitoring the SDGs implementation for the period of till 2030; (3) to recommend to the academic institutions to take into account the SDGs when defining the scientific researches; thus, making the Sustainable Development Goals the highest priority of government policy.

UNDP and the Government of Ukraine have successful partnership in implementing the reforms in many different areas for the achievement of SDGs, which also tackles the European and Euro-Atlantic integration, including the joint efforts in participatory, inclusive and democratic governance; social wellbeing and healthcare; integrity, transparency and fight against corruption; sustainable environment and energy efficiency; recovery and peacebuilding; and others.

The sustainable development, human development and Ukraine’s European integration agenda are embedded in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. Therefore, UNDP aims to support the Government of Ukraine, namely the Office of the Vice-Prime-Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, for effective implementation of Ukraine’s national SDGs plans, through better inter-ministerial coordination, development coordination, communication and regional outreach.

In this context, the United Nations Development Programme is recruiting a Communications Advisor with relevant experience and track record.

The Communications Advisor will be directly responsible for enhancing capacities of the Vice-Prime-Minister’s Office to better communicate the implementation of reforms leading to the SDGs achievement while also addressing EU and Euro-Atlantic integration as per the government’s priority.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities:

The incumbent will provide policy advice to the Vice-Prime-Minister of Ukraine on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and the VPM Office on communication, in order to enhance their ability to implement their reform agenda and  SDGs achievement aspirations.

The incumbent will report primarily to Vice-Prime-Minister of Ukraine on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, with a reporting line to the UNDP Ukraine and the Democratic Governance Team Leader. The Advisor will work closely with the other members of the team of VPM Office.

S/he will provide support to the VPM Office and its respective staffs in improving the result-based communications with the target audiences through the following functions:

• Develop a national SDGs communication strategy with input from all concerned national and international partners to Raise stakeholders' awareness of the policy implications of the Government's reform agenda and the implementation of EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in full alignment with the national SDG targets, with the focus on regional outreach and tangible results of these agendas for citizens;
• Provide expertise and practical daily support to the implementation of the Communication Strategy and yearly Communication Action Plan of the Government, including internal and external strategic communications of the VPM Office and monitoring of communication activities by other related bodies;
• Strengthen the institutional capacities of the beneficiary institution to design, manage and monitor communications’ policy, and introduce new practices in the VPM Office’s communications, with a focus on timely, clear and thematically-structured information;
• Facilitate knowledge management and provide the beneficiaries with examples of global best practices in communicating actions needed for European Integration related reforms and SDGs’ implementation;
• Contribute to the development of the content of thematic communication products in line with the agreed communication policies and help to establish the cooperation with opinion leaders and media assets for their effective channeling to the target audiences;
• Provide expert advisory services, and develop analytical products in the form of advisory notes, press releases, talking points, speeches, fact sheets, reviews, assessments leading to policy papers, as well as provide direct ad-hoc strategic advice as required by the VPM Office;
• Develop capacities of the VPM Office staff on best practices of citizen engagement and outreach;
• Liaise with other government institutions in terms of Communication component to ensure synergy, to promote effective downstream implementation of the policies and to avoid overlap and duplication, where appropriate and when requested by the beneficiary;
• Support the national authorities to network with international development partners through the UNDP Ukraine;
• Provide sectoral advice and report to UNDP, whenever requested;
• Assist the beneficiary to prepare an exit strategy on how the advice will be mainstreamed and consolidated once this technical support is exhausted;
• Ensure that UNDP’s visibility in this field of work is adequately visible as agreed between UNDP and VPM.

Measurable outputs of the work assignment/deliverables:

• Communication Strategy and yearly Communication Action Plan of the Government is timely implemented by the VPM Office, with an emphasis on measurable results and quality, and properly reported - monthly;
• Communication products, developed in cooperation with the VPM Office representatives, with proper reference to the SDGs – every second month;
• Progress reports are provided to UNDP - monthly;

Performance Indicators for evaluation of results:

• Communication Strategy and yearly Communication Action Plan of the Government is timely implemented by the VPM Office, with an emphasis on measurable results and quality, and properly reported;
• Number of communications products, developed in cooperation with the VPM Office representatives, with proper reference to the SDGs;
• Timely submission of the regular performance reports. 

Monitoring / reporting requirements:

Work-progress reporting/monitoring meetings will be held with the consultant on a weekly basis. UNDP will be the final authority to control the quality and evaluate the work. No reports or documents should be published or distributed to third parties without approval of UNDP.

The consultant will work under the daily supervision of the Democratic Governance Team Leader and will interact with UNDP to receive any clarifications and guidance that may be needed.

The satisfactory completion of each of the deliverables shall be subject to endorsement of the Democratic Governance Team Leader.

The Consultant will duly inform UNDP of any problems, issues or delays arising in the course of implementation of assignment and take necessary steps to address them.

All reports and results are to be submitted to the UNDP in electronic form (*.docx, *.xlsx, *.pptx, and *.pdf or other formats accepted by UNDP).

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Experience and qualification requirements

Education

• Master’s degree or equivalent in political science, public administration, law, media relations, journalism, international relations, social sciences or related field;

Experience

• 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in media sphere, public relations, communications or advocacy;
• Previous experience with a multilateral or international organization/foundation is helpful but not mandatory;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, good knowledge and experience in handling of web-based management systems (e.g. using Google analytics, planning and implementing promotional campaigns in social media (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter).

Languages

• Fluency in English and Ukrainian languages is required

Skills

• Strong managerial and leadership skills, notably planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling, problem solving and decision-making
• Mature judgment combined with a proactive, energetic approach to problem solving; excellent interpersonal skills;
• Integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Strong organizational and time management skills;
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
• Excellent analytical skills;
• Excellent writing, proficient communication and organization skills

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals 

• Letter of interest/proposal, explaining why the applicant considers him- or herself the most suitable for the work
• Personal CV or P11, including information about past experience in similar projects / assignments and contact details for referees
• Financial proposal
• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP

Contracts based on daily fee

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee and payments will be made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

Travel costs

Should any travel be necessary in connection to this TOR, UNDP will reimburse the expenses based on the duly authorized travel details, including travel and per diems.  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

Evaluation criteria

• Educational background – 10 points max

10 pts – PhD degree or equivalent in political science, public administration, law, media relations, journalism, international relations, social sciences or related field;

9 pts – Master’s degree or equivalent in political science, public administration, law, media relations, journalism, international relations, social sciences or related field;

• Relevant professional experience at the national or international level in media sphere, public relations, communications or advocacy – 25 points max

25 pts – more than 5 years with the experience at the international level;

20 pts – more than 5 years without the experience at the international level;

15 pts – 5 years.

• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, good knowledge and experience in handling of web-based management systems (e.g. using Google analytics, planning and implementing promotional campaigns in social media (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter) – 20 points max

20 pts – experience more than 3 years;

15 pts – experience 3 years;

• Previous experience with a multilateral or international organization/foundation – 10 points max

10 pts – the candidate has extensive previous experience;

5 pts – the candidate has limited previous experience;

0 pts – the candidate does not have previous experience;

• Language Skills – 5 points max

5 pts – Fluency in English and Ukrainian.

Maximum available technical score - 70 points.

Evaluation method

Cumulative analysis

Contract award shall be made to the incumbent whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) having received the cumulative highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight: 70%

* Financial Criteria weight: 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum 70% from the maximum available technical score (49 points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal and will equal to 30. All other price proposals will be evaluated and assigned points, as per below formula:

30 points [max points available for financial part] x [lowest of all evaluated offered prices among responsive offers] / [evaluated price].

The proposal obtaining the overall cumulatively highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal will be considered as the most compliant offer and will be awarded a contract.