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.

Consultants play an important role in contributing to implementation of the UN Women communication activities with a consistent visual communication. In order to increase effectiveness of contracting process and enable instant contracting in emergency and urgent situations, UN Women is launching a competitive process to create a pool of qualified consultants and experts to support. Photos serve as an essential tool to communicate UN Women’s mission and to provide visual evidence of our results. Photos are used throughout the organization to engage the different audiences we are trying to reach, from civil society to governments, from policy-makers to delegates, journalists, women and girls, men and boys.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The consultant will work in close cooperation with the UN Women Communications team, which will be responsible for the briefings, technical tasks, quality assurance of the deliverables.

The Photographer will be providing a comprehensive range of visual content to enhance UN Women’s visual story telling, communication activities and knowledge products. This content will encompass high-quality photos and short videos designed for various mediums, including human impact stories, reports, brochures, social media posts, briefs, and manuals.  Moreover, the Photographer will include photos/videos sourced from photo banks and news agencies, ensuring appropriate usage rights are secured, including providing robust visual support for UN Women’s social media platforms, website, and print materials.

The Photographer will work closely with UN Women Ukraine Communication team to perform the following tasks:

• Take, modify, revise and edit the photos and short videos to communicate key achievements of UN Women, partner and donors’ activities in consultation with UN Women Ukraine Communication team/program team;
• Provide delivery for minimum 30 of the best high-quality photos (in different types) from each assignment, with individual captions embedded in the metadata. In addition, the full take of all the original images should be delivered following the assignment;
• Provide sets of photos at 300 dpi maximum file resolution, all photos are taken in RAW with further processing and will be transferred to UN Women in JPEG format;
• The scope of materials/sources that will need good images, but not limited to: website and social media: key visuals, GIFs, designs to visualize key findings of UN Women and partners’ surveys and researches; advocacy materials, promotion materials.
• Select and purchase images, short videos from external photo stocks (including news agencies) if needed, support the selection of images from UN Women stock;
• Prepare final files for distribution through social media, website, printing materials, layouts etc.;
• Carry out ad-hoc photo services requests related work as instructed by the supervisor.

The consultant should:

• Follow UN Women Photo Policy;
• Explore the latest photo trends and use them in UN Women assignments considering with UN Women Photo Policy;
• Сonvey the human rights and dignity of the people he/she portray, aim to show active, empowered women and girls in simple, bold, optimistic images.
• Explore and propose ways to convey the message through image.

PRINCIPLES 

• Photos should be positive and empowering and reflect UN Women values, the programme’s principle of partnership with women’s organizations, gender sensitive, diverse and reflective of the UN Women activities and operational context;
• The photos should be consistent with UN Women Photo Policy;
• UN Women will hold non-exclusive world rights in perpetuity of all images taken during the assignment.

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a Kyiv-based consultancy. Travel, if required by UN Women, will be covered separately as per UN Women Travel Policy.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills;
• Ability to work independently and proactively solve problem;
• Capacity to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time;
• Capacity to engage with national and international staff, provide clear feedback and maintain effective rapport with different kinds of people;
• Actively work towards continuing learning and sharing with others to support local capacity development.

IV. Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• At least Bachelor’s degree in design, communications and/or visual arts, visual content profuction, film-making or other related field. A Technical degree in combination with 2 additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the bachelor’s degree.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of professional experience in photography;
• Experience working with national/international NGOs or/and UN agency is an asset;
• Solid creative skills and advanced command over a full range of photo editing software, including Adobe Photoshop Express, Lightroom CC etc.;
• Availability of the necessary specialized equipment (cameras, lenses, flashes, batteries, stands, computer, software, etc.) and experience in using it for professional photography at official events
• A portfolio of completed work, as well as at least 3 current contacts of persons who can provide their recommendations for cooperation, or letters of recommendation. 
• Applications that do not include references to complete photo projects—such as reportage, events and meetings, or expeditions—will not be considered. 

Languages:

• Fluency in Ukrainian;
• Proficiency in English is required;
• Knowledge of other UN working languages is an asset;

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.