National Consultant on Gender-Sensitive Communication and Media

Background:

UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, is an active advocate for the interests of women and girls at the global level. UN Women assists UN Member States in setting international norms and standards for achieving gender equality and collaborates with governments and civil society in developing laws, policies, programs and services necessary to implement these standards.

UN Women actively promotes the equal participation of women in all spheres of life, focusing on five priority areas of action: strengthening women's leadership and participation in society; elimination of violence against women; involvement of women in solving the whole range of issues of ensuring peace and security; empowering women in the economy; ensuring the central role of gender equality in national development planning and budgeting processes. UN Women also coordinates work to promote gender equality throughout the UN system.

In 2025, UN Women in Kazakhstan in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Information and with support of the National Commission on Women's Affairs and Family and Demographic Policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, launched a new project for the period of 2025-2027: "Promoting increased legal protection for women, strengthening gender equality, and ensuring women's full participation in the socio-political life of the country".

As part of the project, in 2025 within the project UN Women with support of national partners established a Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Knowledge Center (GEWE Knowledge Center) in Almaty. The GEWE Knowledge Center will become a national platform for capacity building, policy dialogue, and evidence-based implementation. It will serve as a hub for capacity development, research, dissemination of best practices, and knowledge sharing.

The GEWE Knowledge Center's activities will ensure the long-term sustainability of project initiatives by providing stakeholders with the necessary tools and resources to maintain momentum in advancing gender equality. Institutionalizing gender-responsive budgeting and integrating gender equality policies into national and regional strategies will promote equitable governance, improved resource allocation, and systemic, long-term policy change

In 2025, UN Women under umbrella of GEWE Knowledge Centre strengthened the professional competencies of 26 representatives of press services of state bodies and media outlets in the field of gender-sensitive communication. The training helped build skills for the accurate coverage of gender equality topics, prevent the spread of discriminatory stereotypes and victim-blaming, and reinforce the role of the media as a tool for shaping public discourse grounded in the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

In 2026, UN Women plans to continue last year's initiative and develops it with a qualitatively new component. In addition to training editors and senior media staff, UN Women, together with the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, plans to integrate standards of gender-sensitive communication into existing normative and editorial practice. This will make it possible to establish common principles for covering gender topics and to define clear criteria for assessing publish ed content, while enabling the authorized body to carry out monitoring and identify violations, including the dissemination of gender stereotypes and discriminatory rhetoric.

The national consultant will be reporting to Programme Specialist and supported by Project Manager, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under the direct supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist and Project Manager, the National Consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables:

• Review existing training package developed in 2025, review UN Women’s thematical reports and guidelines
• Develop draft Guideline for Gender Responsive Reporting Media based on international standards (UN Women, UNESCO), including clear criteria for assessing media content for gender stereotypes and discriminatory rhetoric;
• Develop the methodology, agenda and training materials (presentations, exercises, pre- and post-tests, practical guide) for a one-day training on gender-sensitive communication;
• Deliver the one-day training (on or around 6 August 2026) for press services of state bodies and editors/senior staff of state and non-state media in Astana;
• Analyze the national legislation on Media (including but not limited to Code of Ethics for Journalist of the Republic of Kazakhstan approved by Union of Journalists and Head editors club through Minutes #1 from October 30, 2012) and formulate recommendations for integrating the Guideline for Gender Responsive Reporting Media into existing normative and editorial practice and a monitoring approach for the Committee of Information of the Ministry of Culture and Information;
• Conduct a validation meeting for the Committee of Information of the MCI and National Commission to present the developed recommendations on legislation and the draft Guideline for Gender Responsive Reporting Media;
• Prepare a final report summarizing activities, results (including pre-/post-test analysis) and recommendations.

Deliverables

The consultant will produce the following deliverables. Final dates and the payment schedule may be adjusted by mutual agreement.

 UN Women support to the national consultant:

UN Women Kazakhstan, within its capabilities, will provide support to a National Consultant to facilitate communication within the project National Consultant will work under the direct supervision of UN Women Kazakhstan Programme Specialist and Project manager. Final report should be submitted in Russian.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

National Consultant is expected to work remotely and travel to Astana to conduct the training as well as meeting with the Committee of Information of the Ministry of Culture and Information, National Commission and other relevant partners. All expenses related to travel will be included in the contract sum.

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 technical knowledge of gender equality, gender-sensitive communication and media ethics;
• Proven training facilitation and adult-learning skills, including interactive and practice-based methods;
• Excellent analytical, drafting and editing skills for guides, standards and policy recommendations;
• Knowledge of the international and national media landscape, relevant international standards in Media, legislation and regulatory environment in Kazakhstan;
• Stakeholder engagement skills, including with government bodies, media outlets and civil society.

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in journalism, communications, gender studies, social sciences, law or a related field is required.
• Specialized training or certification in gender, media or communications would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in media, communications, journalism or gender equality.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and facilitating trainings for media professionals or public officials is required.
• Experience in developing guides, standards, codes of ethics or policy/analytical documents on gender and/or media is required.
• Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
• Excellent writing, editing and communication skills in Kazakh and Russian; samples of previous relevant work will be required.

Languages:

• Fluency in Kazakh and Russian is required.
• Knowledge of English 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.