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.

UN Women’s Country Office, based in New Delhi, India, works to accelerate the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of women through the strengthening of strategic partnerships, technical and policy advisory services and advocacy with governmental, inter-governmental and civil society partners. In addition, UN Women CO is also leading and coordinating the UN system’s work on gender equality, including through ensuring accountability for results through its India Country Strategic Note 2023-27.

Government of India has prioritised the growth narrative from ‘development of women’ to ‘women-led development’, recognising women’s substantial and active contribution to global growth as well as enhancing the scope for their participation, leadership and decision-making.

UN Women India Country Office (ICO) has ‘profiled stories of Women’s Leadership’ to reflect the transformative change and curated 75 Stories of Women’s Leadership in the form of a coffee table book titled ‘Hum’: When Women Lead. The ICO plans to disseminate it across networks to inspire and strengthen the voices of women-led development across platforms.

In this context UN Women is seeking the services of a Consultant for proof reading of the stories.

Context:

The coffee table book weaves together 75 stories of women leaders from diverse backgrounds in India who have made lasting impacts on their communities, highlighting their role in nation-building. It celebrates their achievements on STEM, agriculture, entrepreneurship, arts, sports, and other fields. Coinciding with India’s G20 Presidency in 2023, the book emphasizes women’s leadership as a key trigger of social transformation and progress, beyond being just a collection of stories.

The assignment under these terms of reference will involve ensuring that these narratives are proof-read, fact-checked before its final publication. The Consultant is expected to ensure that these stories are presented in the most compelling and accurate manner.

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of this assignment is to support UN Women India country office in editing and proof reading for printing the final version of the ‘Hum: When Women Lead’ coffee table book.

It will consist of the following stages:

1) primary reading through text and correcting typographical errors, punctuation, spelling and easily corrected grammatical errors.

2) review in-depth grammar and stylistic corrections.

• Thoroughly review written content to identify and correct typographical errors, punctuation mistakes, spelling errors, and easily fixable grammar issues.
• Ensure consistency in formatting, such as line spacing, paragraph structure, and table formatting.
• Dive into the text to make comprehensive grammar and stylistic improvements.
• Enhance sentence structure, coherence, and overall readability.
• Raise any queries or inconsistency with the Programme Lead and Communications Lead.
• Ensure that the text aligns with the publisher’s house style, including consistent use of hyphens, capitalization, and optional spellings which in this case is the UK.
• Maintain the appropriate writing style for the intended audience.
• Verify that photographs and captions are correct and relevant.
• Pay attention to vernacular words and ensure their correctness.
• Conduct a final review to ensure error-free texts before publication.

Deliverables:

• Edited manuscript submitted for Approval – 25%
• Proof reading the manuscript – 50%
• Submission of a Print Read File – 25%

Competencies

Core Values / Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Functional Competencies:

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.
• Effective networking and liaison skills across governance sector.
• Competency in report writing, evaluation and analytical documentation.
• Organizational abilities in managing local level events involving community participation and convergence of different sectors of governance and justice administration.
• Focuses on impact and result for the partners and responds positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Minimum Bachelors degree.
• Master’s Degree or equivalent in English, Gender Studies, Economics, Political or Social Sciences or related field will be an asset.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years experience in publishing and copy editing.
• Some experience working for the United Nations in support of normative intergovernmental processes is an advantage.
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and in handling web-based management systems.

Languages:

• Fluency in English.

Application:

Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment;
• Applications received after the close date will not be accepted;
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Evaluation and Selection Criteria

Criteria for shortlisting of CVs will be based on the following assessment:

• Required Degree and Qualification;
• Expertise and Experience relevant to the assignment;
• Demonstrable experience on policy advocacy with the government and other stakeholders.

The evaluation process for selection of the candidate will be based on the following assessment:

• Writing Samples Assessement (detailed list of publications which the candidate has worked on) – 100 points

Please Note:

• For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy.
• Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.
• The consultant is expected to use their own computer equipment. The office will not provide any computer equipment for this assignment.
• This is a full-time assignment. The consultant is expected to disclose any outside activity and shall not be permitted to take up any outside work during this assignment.

Note:

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.