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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Generation Equality is a multi-stakeholder initiative convened by UN Women to catalyze partners, increase investments for gender equality, drive results and accelerate the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative also aims to sustain and expand a movement of support for gender equality with civil society and youth leadership and activism at its heart. Generation Equality is fully embedded in UN Women’s Strategic Plan and aims to accelerate the achievement of results contained therein, notably by operationalizing the Strategic Plan’s vision of achieving results through partnerships. Generation Equality is also recognized by the Secretary-General’s “Common Agenda” as an important initiative for the UN system to take stock of and build on.

During the 2021 Generation Equality Forum, the Action Coalitions were launched to take on six critical issues that underpin gender equality. Along with the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action (WPS-HA Compact), they are a set of global, innovative, multi-stakeholder partnerships mobilizing the world to catalyze collective action; spark global and local conversations among generations; drive increased public and private investment; and deliver concrete, game-changing results for girls and women. Concerted effort, investments and accountability together with sustained solidarity for action is required to secure the gains secured at the Forums in Mexico and Paris, as well as ensure new momentum and commitments. Critical for the success of Generation Equality and the Action Coalitions is a well-resourced Accountability Framework of the Action Coalitions. Established through consultations with Generation Equality Stakeholders, the Action Coalitions Monitoring and Accountability Framework outlines the efforts required to hold Action Coalition Leaders and Commitment Makers accountable for the pledges made towards a better life for women and girls. The Framework is anchored in the Action Coalition’s Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality that outlines bold results that are to be achieved for each Action Coalition by 2026. The Monitoring and Accountability Framework for the Action Coalitions include four elements:

• Annual reporting on implementation of COMMITMENTS
• Biannual assessment of progress towards the global TARGETS set by blueprints in the Global Acceleration Plan
• Assessment of the extent Generation Equality reflects transformative PROCESSES
• STORIES OF IMPACT that demonstrate experience of challenges and change

UN Women is the custodian of the Action Coalition Monitoring and Accountability Framework which is led by the Research and Data Section in the Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division. To support this work, UN Women is seeking a Senior Report Writer.

The consultant will be reporting to the Accountability Framework Lead in the Research and Data Section, and will be supported by Programme Associate, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Accountability Framework Lead, the Senior Report Copy-editor will be responsible for editing the 2024 Accountability Report. The 2024 report is the third edition of an annual flagship report produced and released at the margins of the UN General Assembly each year that will continue to assess commitments implementation, but also gather and disseminate stories of progress, and, for the first time, take stock of the progress towards achievement of the blueprint targets in the Global Acceleration Plan. This includes:

• Editing the 2024 Accountability Report in line with the 2022 Report and 2023 report and ensuring that the style and format is consistent with UN Women editorial guidelines and the UN Editorial Manual, as well as ensuring the use of correct gender-sensitive terminology as per UN Women Gender Term Lexicon.
• Liaise with the Accountability Framework team in producing the report
• Suggest a comprehensive set of key messages that should head each chapter, summarizing its most salient arguments
• Incorporate inputs and feedback provided by UN Women into the report

Deliverables

• First substantial copy-edited report (early July)
• Second substantial copy-edited report (Mid-July)
• Final copy-edited report (August/early September)

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

The consultant will be home-based. If travel outside the duty station is required such travel shall be at the expense of UN Women, in accordance with UN Women’s regulations, rules, policies and procedures

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

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 Core Values and Competencies:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Excellent communication skills with people in diverse, multi-cultural and international environments
• Attention to details and familiar with the latest trends in journalism and writing for international organizations

Ability to effectively organize, prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment is crucial

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master degree (or equivalent) in communications, journalism, writing, international affairs or similar

• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the

advanced university degree.

Experience:

• 7 + years of work experience in journalism, writing website content, and editing UN, academic and other reports
• Fluency in writing and communicating in English required; fluency in writing and communicating in French and Spanish are assets
• Familiarity of gender issue, Generation Equality and the United Nations is an asset

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of other UN official language is an asset.

V. How to Apply

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)