Montenegro is an upper middle-income, high human development country.  The 2023 Gender Equality Index stood at 59.3, below some of its neighbours and the EU average of 68.6, but at a level comparable to some EU member states. According to its constitution, Montenegro is a secular, ecological and multicultural state, with people of many nationalities and religions living together. EU accession is the primary driver of reforms. As an EU candidate country since 2012, Montenegro has opened all the EU negotiation chapters and provisionally closed three of the 33 chapters. The pace of progress has slowed due to the slow implementation of rule-of-law reforms, which take centre stage in the new EU accession methodology. Montenegro adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which has strong synergies with the EU accession process, through the National Strategy for Sustainable Development (2016–2030).

In that context, UNDP in Montenegro is implementing several initiatives related to the development of local communities, civic participation and overall social cohesion.

The ReLOaD2 project is a continuation of the EU-UNDP partnership and previously supported initiative – ReLOaD1 implemented in the four-year period 2017 – 2020. ReLOaD2 continues to strengthen participatory democracies and the EU integration process in the Western Balkans by empowering civil society and youth to actively take part in decision making and by stimulating an enabling legal and financial environment for civil society. The programme will be implemented in the following IPA beneficiaries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.  Working across the region, ReLOaD2 will enhance capacities of local governments and civil society organisations (CSOs) to engage in productive partnerships and contribute to improved service delivery and realisation of local priorities in line with development strategies.

ReLOaD2 in Montenegro will through competitive process select 5 partner clusters of local governments and will focus on institutionalization of interaction between local governments and CSOs. It will incite partner local governments to use public funding for CSOs in a transparent and development-oriented manner, recognising local needs and embracing a project-based approach. Also, the Action will promote youth engagement and support implementation of youth initiatives and will work on improvement of their economic perspectives in partner localities.

Montenegro remains a predominantly patriarchal society with patriarchal values related to gender roles and stereotypes affecting acceptance of and respect for diversity. Additionally, the prevalence of violence among and against children and young people is high, with 66% of children estimated to experience some sort of violent discipline at home. Peer violence at school and outside of school – bullying – appears to be a growing trend. Hate speech and divisive narratives are widely present in most public discourses and are most pronounced against Roma and Egyptians, followed by women, LGBTQI+ persons, the poor, persons with disabilities and political opponents. The increasing use of divisive rhetoric and narratives has negatively impacted the state of social cohesion. These multiple challenges to social cohesion in Montenegro are exacerbated by the concentration of power into the executive branch, supported by a public administration that is perceived as mostly politicized, resulting in a declining level of trust in public institutions as a direct consequence of their perceived politicization.

In this context, UNDP, UNICEF and UNESCO are implementing the Joint UN project ‘’Enhancing citizens’ trust in institutions and building resilient communities‘’, funded through UN Peacebuilding Fund. Envisaged interventions will cover the two dimensions of social cohesion – horizontal and vertical. For a society to be truly cohesive, it requires both the horizontal dimension – ensuring peer understanding and connectivity among varied groups – and the vertical dimension – guaranteeing trust in and support from the governing institutions. The project aims to translate the potentially negative effects of a lack of trust and the existence of divisive narratives, violence and hate speech into favourable outcomes – engaging the community, especially disenfranchised groups in dialogue and thus contributing to building a shared vision of the common good, horizontal and vertical public trust and resilience. At the same time, the project aims at strengthening institutions by supporting them to be responsive to the results of the inclusive dialogues reflecting communities’ shared demands and in a participatory manner adopt and enforce inclusive, gender-responsive, rights-based, and people- and child-centred social cohesion policies.

This project adds value to the existing projects related to achieving social cohesion and approaches by introducing platforms for needs-driven and focused dialogue on common interests and solutions for improving the resilience of citizens and trust in institutions and social cohesion, thus enabling a collaborative and shared vision of the common good.

The work of the Communication and Outreach Associate will cover, in equal proportions, both above mentioned projects.

Under the direct supervision of the respective Project Manager on the designated projects, the incumbent will carry out the following general duties:

Support the Project Teams in implementation of the Project’s communications and visibility strategies and plans:

• Support implementation of communications activities in line with the mandate, Communications Strategy and work plans of the respective projects.
• Support implementation of PR, outreach and awareness-raising activities including support in organizing media events and press conferences and ensure they are in line with relevant and prescribed communication and PR guidelines and approaches fully aligned with the visibility needs and interests of the principal partners.
• Coordinate PR and communication activities and events with UNDP Communications Unit and keep management of related projects informed about potential reputational risks or developments which may affect UNDP’s or donors’ image.
• Coordinate communication activities with ReLOaD2 Regional Office and produce national products in line with Programme strategies.
• Participate in joint meetings and coordinate communication activities with the Joint programme team of the project ‘’Enhancing citizens’ trust in institutions and building resilient communities‘’.
• Contribute to the design and delivery of joint communication and outreach activities and products of the project ‘’Enhancing citizens’ trust in institutions and building resilient communities‘’, in cooperation with communication and programme staff of the participating UN agencies.
• Support outreach and awareness-raising activities of ReLOaD 2 project and ensure they are fully aligned with the visibility needs and interests of the EU.
• Support outreach and awareness-raising activities of the project ‘’Enhancing citizens’ trust in institutions and building resilient communities‘’ and ensure they are fully aligned with the visibility needs and interests of the Peacebuilding Fund.
• Support crisis management plans and actions, per instructions of immediate supervisor and in coordination with UNDP’s Communications Unit.

Produce or support production of various PR and communication products for the respective projects:

• Develop communications products and conduct activities that ensure effective communication with targeted audience(s) from both projects, to include:
  • Drafting media advisories and press releases.
  • Producing success stories (human interest stories) and other communications products for distribution via national and local media, websites, social media and via UNDP MNE CO communication channels.
  • Support disseminating communications products to appropriate recipients.
  • Monitoring media and informing designated staff on issues of relevance to the respective projects.
  • Drafting talking points, key messages and speeches for respective staff.
  • Providing background information and briefing materials per request.
  • Photographing and producing content to promote the project, project’s partners and results to targeted audiences.
  • Capturing high resolution images and videos of individuals, groups, companies and events at field locations related to the implementation of the project.
• Support organization of project related related events in Montenegro, from the communications and PR perspective.
• Produce periodical and ad-hoc reports on communications activities, including analysis of media coverage/clipping.
• Support awarded non-governmental organizations in producing visibility materials in line with the Programme strategies and donor visibility requirements.
• Review and proofread NGO materials and check their alignment with EU and UNDP standards and ReLOaD Communication and Visibility Guidelines for NGOs as well as PBF communication guidelines.
• Establish and maintain archive of photo and video materials.
• Support and oversee production and postproduction, including editing, of video materials in all formats intended for TV broadcast and web video platforms – and support to dissemination via Facebook, YouTube and designated websites.
• Propose creative graphic and technical solutions including creative and innovative ideas for print, web and interactive presentations.
• Provide support to the design process for reports and presentations to be published by the projects, using a wide range of media.

Provide inputs and proposed texts/articles for programme website subpages and social media:

• Develop Communications content tailored for online communications.
• Regularly communicate with NGOs for collection of appropriate contents for programme and other websites.
• Support of mapping all interested NGO project activities and use different occasions to prepare articles and stories and promote project activities.

Support knowledge building and knowledge sharing: 

• Support of knowledge building and knowledge sharing within other Communication Experts and staff working within the programme.
• Participate in trainings on the UNDP CO’s communications and PR procedures.
• Provide guidance to NGOs in project’s Communications Strategy and Communication Guidelines, best practices, UNDP, PBF and EU standards, etc.
• Organize training and information sessions for NGOs on ReLOaD and PBF visibility and communications and advocacy.

Support in mainstreaming gender equality:

• Support the Project Manager in effectively mainstreaming the gender equality throughout project activities, work plans, budgets, reports, research, analyses and, where specifically relevant, analyzed in detail.
• Ensure that communications and PR project documents prepared by the incumbent are written using gender sensitive language.
• Ensure that all the communications material and media related to the project, are gender sensitive and evaluated from the gender point of view.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

The Communications and Outreach Associate will be responsible for daily support to respective Project Manager. The incumbent will be based in UNDP Country Office in Podgorica, Montenegro.

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline.
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements.
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback.
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible.
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident.
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships.
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination.

• Business Management- Communications
  • Ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and chose communication methods depending on the audience.
  • Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media, and other appropriate channels.
• Business Management-Customers Satisfaction/ Client Management
  • Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers’ needs. Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy. Look for ways to add value beyond clients’ immediate requests. Ability to anticipate client’s upcoming needs and concern.
• Business Management- Digital Awareness and Literacy
  • Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed.
• Administration and Operations- Event Management
  • Ability to manage events, including venue identification, accommodation, logistics, catering, transportation, and cash disbursements, etc.
• Business Direction and strategy Effective – Decision Making
  • Ability to take decision in a timely and efficient manner in line with one’s authority, area of expertise and resources.
• 2030 Agenda: People- Gender
  • Gender Mainstreaming