Consultancy: Writer / Editor- CoVDP Team, PG Health Section (Geneva), PG/Remote- Req #553189

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, hope

Consultancy Title: Writer / Editor

Section/Division/Duty Station: CoVDP Team, PG Health Section (Geneva)

Duration: August 1, 2022, to 31 June 2023 (100 days)

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: To support the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership (CoVDP) in writing, drafting, and copy-editing of the Situation Report and other ad-hoc publications.

The writer/editor will be responsible for the development of several external-facing documents:

• CoVDP’s monthly SitRep which provides a monthly snapshot to partners and stakeholders on progress achieved by the 92 “Advanced Market Commitment” (AMC92) countries in delivering COVID-19 vaccines. The content for the report, incl. progress updates and key data, is provided by the various workstreams within CoVDP but requires a professional writer to develop convincing and engaging storylines that can be read by a non-technical audience and that makes the necessary connections to the broader picture of vaccine equity. The writer/editor is also expected to lead the pre-structuring of the report and manage the content collation process on behalf of CoVDP’s Coordination Office. Previous samples of the SitRep can be found here.
• CoVDP’s Country Profiles which are analytical briefs for each of the 34 countries of concerted support (countries at or below 10% coverage in January which CoVDP focuses on in particular) targeted at executive decision-makers within the organizations of the partnership. The one-pagers provide detailed information on coverage status and funding status and highlight vaccination strategies, challenges, support needs and advocacy ask for each of the countries. The content in the profiles will be refreshed every 2-3 months. The writer/editor is expected to support the Coordination Office in the refresh process and turn content provided by various teams, in particular CoVDP’s country engagement team, into factual and clear messages targeted at senior decision-makers. Samples of the CoVDP Country Profiles will be shared with the shortlisted pool of applicants.
• Learning products which summarize and synthesize learnings and success stories on COVID-19 vaccine delivery. There will be two outputs requiring copy-editing support. One-page syntheses of each of the 34 countries’ programmatic choices and learnings across a set of categories, and up to ten one-page syntheses of learnings and successful strategies by theme (e.g., vaccination strategies to reach the elderly or people in humanitarian situations). The products are targeted at leadership levels in Ministries of Health and partners working with Ministries of Health on COVID-19 vaccine delivery. The writer/editor will be expected to copy-edit the finalized documents and make language consistent and appropriate to the target audience.
• Report on the status of COVID-19 delivery ahead of the UN General Assembly in September 2022. CoVDP is planning to publish a 30 to 40-page report on the status of COVID-19 delivery. The report will likely be a multi-agency report, building on a previous report published by the CoVDP for the G20 in April 2022 (accessible here). The writer is expected to lead the pre-structuring, data collation and final write-up of the report, including the integration of several rounds of partner inputs.

For all of the above deliverables, the writer/editor is expected to manage final editing in direct coordination with CoVDP’s graphic designers.

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

Tasks/Milestone

Reporting to the Communication Specialist, the incumbent will support the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership (CoVDP) in writing, drafting and copy-editing of the Situation Report and other ad-hoc publications, as follows:

Deliverables/Outputs

Timeline

• The SitRep’s content follows a strong and convincing storyline that enhances its potential as a key communication tool.

Refreshed content, storylines for the SitRep

First week of each month, starting in August 2022

• The CoVDP Country Profiles are updated regularly with the information captured by CoVDP’s knowledge management systems.

High-quality briefing documents targeted at executive decision-makers

Every two to three months, starting August 2022

• Learning products use language that is pitched at the level of the target audience.

Final round copy-editing of pre-produced country one pagers (34) and up to ten thematic spotlight one pagers.

Mid-August to beginning of September 2022 (tbc)

• The report on the status of COVID-19 delivery is following a strong narrative and showcases progress on COVID-19 delivery in a convincing way.

Final report on the status of COVID-19 delivery

Mid-August to beginning of September 2022

Qualifications

• Education
• University qualification in relevant field English, Journalism, Literature, Social Sciences
• Work experience
• 5 years of relevant experience in editing/writing technical pieces
• Competencies
• Ability to digest technical content and reframe language to make it accessible to a broader audience.
• Excellent command of Word and PowerPoint.
• Previous experience writing and copy-editing publications for UN agencies, preferably in the area of health.
• Keen attention to detail.

Requirements

• Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• our daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference (can be downloaded here: https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_consultancy_assignments.html 
• travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
• Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
• Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa Information

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.