National Consultant: Copy editor/Proofreader (Retainer contract)

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

UN Women in Bangladesh supports the government to implement commitments to international normative standards on gender equality and women’s human rights. The UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2022-2026, launched in 2021, and the corresponding UN Women Bangladesh Strategic Note (SN) 2022-2026, defines UN Women’s strategic engagement in Bangladesh. The country strategy focuses on strengthening the national structures and mechanisms for gender mainstreaming in policies, plans, and budgets; supporting efforts to prevent and eliminate violence against women; promoting women’s access to decent and safe work; promoting policies and government investment in women’s empowerment and resilience building in the context of climate change, humanitarian crisis as well as other threats to peace and security. UN Women works with a range of stakeholders in Bangladesh, including the government, civil society, women’s organisations, youth, UN agencies, and donors, to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.  

Objective:

UN Women in Bangladesh is seeking a consultant to provide high-quality Bangla copy editing/proofreading services of key documents pertaining to gender equality in Bangladesh.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of UN Women’s Deputy Representative and the direct supervision of the relevant Programme Analysts/Officers the consultant will be responsible for:

• Proofreading/copy editing in Bangla of key documents related to gender equality, up to 400 pages.    
• Suggest revisions to text and formatting as needed to ensure the documents are high quality and reader-friendly/accessible.
• The above should comply with the editorial guidance and guidelines shared by UN Women.

Duration of the assignment:

The assignment will commence as soon as possible in August 2024, for a duration of 1 year. This consultancy is under the retainer contract modality, with a maximum of 40 working days.  

UN Women will not be committed to purchasing any minimum quantity of the Services, and purchases will be made only if there is an actual requirement upon the issuance of a Purchase Order based on this retainer contract. UN Women shall not be liable for any cost in the event that no purchases are made under this retainer contract. Payment will be made on the basis of quality of the work actually delivered upon certification of satisfactory performance by the supervisor.

Deliverables: 

• The deliverables and a work plan for the service delivery will be discussed and confirmed upon the signing of a contract, and dependent upon the needs of the office throughout the duration of the contract.  
• Bangla proof reading/copy editing.

Duty Station(s): Dhaka.

Travel and DSA: No DSA will be paid at the duty station.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Proven prior experience – Should have proven prior experience of Bangla proof reading/copy editing.
• Experience to work with the Government – Prior experience working with the government organizations and have knowledge on the government document.
• Accountability – Takes ownership of all responsibilities and delivers outputs in accordance with agreed time, costs, and quality standards.
• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues – Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

Excellent knowledge in Bangla language, spoken and written.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, international development, and/or communications or similar fields.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of professional proven experience in Bengali proof reading/copy editing services.
• Demonstrated abilities of writing and reviewing high quality Bengali-language reports.
• Excellent knowledge in Bangla language, spoken and written.
• Experience in similar assignment for UN agencies, development organizations, or government entities is an asset.

Evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on the following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Criteria-01; Academic Qualification  – Max Point 10

Criteria-02; years of professional proven experience in Bengali proof reading/copy editing services.  Max Point 30

Criteria-03; Demonstrated abilities of writing and reviewing high quality Bengali-language reports.. Max Point 20

Criteria-04; Excellent knowledge in Bangla language, spoken and written. Max Point 20

Criteria-05; Experience in similar assignment for UN agencies, development organizations, or government entities is an asset.. Max Point 10

Interested Individual Consultants will submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

To be included as part of the proposal:

• Personal CV and  P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: ) 
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)  
• 1-2 samples of previously written work (such as analytical reports, research papers, briefing notes, and/or background papers) 

NB: 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 based on 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. (Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check).