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For every child, a voice.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

Before the Ukraine refugee crises, Slovakia has not been a traditional final destination for refugees and migrants. Since the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, more than 162,200 refugees from Ukraine have applied for temporary protection or asylum in Slovakia. Municipalities in Slovakia have promptly responded to the challenge of welcoming large numbers of refugee children and women from Ukraine and providing support to address their basic needs. Cities of Nitra and Bratislava now host up to 47% of refugees from Ukraine with granted temporary protection in Slovakia. The share of migrants and refugees in both cities increased from 7-8% in 2020 up to 14-15% of the overall population in 2023.

The arrival of Ukrainian children and women created additional demands on public services that were already over-stretched before the war, particularly in the social, education and health care sectors. While local authorities, in collaboration with partners, have established services to meet the immediate needs of displaced children and caregivers, they are also working towards their long-term inclusion in host communities. These efforts include setting up local coordination structures that meet regularly, conducting comprehensive assessments of refugees' needs, and developing local long-term inclusion strategies for the inclusion of refugees and migrants.

Despite these efforts, municipalities in Slovakia continue to face challenges with refugee integration. Municipalities of Nitra and Bratislava have together with municipalities in Poland and Romania requested support from the European Commission under Regulation (EU) 2021/240 establishing a Technical Support Instrument ("TSI Regulation"). The objectives are to support municipalities in improving access to quality and inclusive services for children and caregivers with refugee and migrant backgrounds: moving forward from an emergency approach to long-term inclusion strategies. The multi-country request for technical support was assessed by the European Commission in accordance with the criteria and principles referred to in Article 9 of the TSI Regulation and was selected for funding with UNICEF as the partner of choice for the TSI project implementation.

As part of the TSI project output 5 on Guidelines/Recommendations for the development of integration strategies at sub-national level, also in light of national and regional strategies where available, municipality of Bratislava and Nitra in Slovakia will be supported with development of communication strategies to promote social inclusion and integration of refugees and migrants at the local level. The objective is to strengthen the communication efforts towards the wider public (host community) in support of social cohesion and sensitization of the topic of refugee and migrant inclusion.

UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia is seeking a Communications Consultant to support development of the local communication plans in Bratislava and Nitra. The consultant will report to the ECARO partnership (with dotted lines to Regional Communication Advisor) and will work with the Project Management Consultant responsible for the implementation of the TSI project in Slovakia.

The consultancy is based in Slovakia, ideally in Bratislava or Nitra. Travel to support the development of communications strategies is also expected.

Scope of Work

Under the supervision of the Partnership specialist and working closely with the Project Ce-consultant, and in coordination with municipality representatives, primarily from the refugee integration/departments of support to people of foreign origin and municipal Communications departments, the consultant will support development of the communication plans for the municipality of Nitra and Bratislava.

More specifically, the consultant will:

1. Support development of the communication plans:

• Develop communication plans for the Municipality of Nitra and Bratislava focused on social inclusion and integration of refugees and migrants at local level.
• Conduct development of plans in a participative manner with municipal representatives (all relevant departments), ensuring that plans meet high standards and align with UNICEF values and are realistic for practical use by the municipality.
• Conduct municipal consultation meetings for communication plans development in collaboration with Center for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK) the CSO project partner.

2. Organise communications workshops:

• Deliver workshops for both municipalities separately to review and finalize municipal communication plans designed to promote social inclusion and integration of refugees and migrants at the local level.
• Provide a platform to validate the communication plans and capacitate the municipal staff on their implementation.
• Showcase municipalities with good examples and best local level practices with outreach towards the refugee population), tailored digital communication, community management and components of social behavior change (misinformation and polarization of the topic).

3. Provide Communication consultations:

• Offer communication consultations to each municipality. Discuss with municipal communication departments/focal points concrete activities for the implementation of the communication plans.
• Support the municipalities to ensure high standards of communications outputs.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / Milestone	Deliverables / Outputs	Timeline / Deadline
1. Support development of the communication plans:	Desk review and inception meetings to familiarize with the municipality context, existing communications strategies, previous work with refugee and migrant population and draft proposal of the work with both municipalities (in Slovak language) Conduct at least one inception meeting with both municipalities. The meetings should be held jointly with municipal communication departments and responsible departments/focal points for refugee and migrant integration. Concise summary on the review of all available materials related to communication and municipality work with refugees and migrant population. Prepare the draft plan of work for both municipalities.	6 working days; By 15 July 2025
	Communication plan for the municipality of Nitra (delivered in both Slovak and English languages) Co-create and deliver the communication plan with focus on social inclusion and integration of refugees and migrants at local level (up to 10 pages). Conduct at least 2 consultation meetings with relevant stakeholders to discuss the development of the plan (communication department, department responsible for the integration of refugees, CSO partner CVEK). Have at least 2 rounds of feedback from representatives of the municipality of Nitra and CSO partner CVEK.	12 working days; By 15 October 2025
	Communication plan for the municipality of Bratislava (delivered in both Slovak and English languages) Co-create and deliver the communication plan with focus on social inclusion and integration of refugees and migrants at local level (up to 10 pages). Conduct at least 2 meetings with relevant stakeholders to discuss the development of the plan (communication department, department responsible for the integration of refugees, CSO partner CVEK). Have at least 2 rounds of feedback from representatives of the municipality of Bratislava and CSO partner CVEK.	12 working days; By 15 October 2025
2. Organise communications workshops:	Workshop for municipality of Nitra (in Slovak language) Support the municipality of Nitra with 1 capacity building workshop for municipal staff to support implementation of the communication plan. The tailored workshop should be focused on outreach towards the refugee population, digital communication, social behavior change and other specific communication topics requested by municipality representatives.	2 working days; By 30 October 2025
	Workshop for municipality of Bratislava (in Slovak language) Support the municipality of Bratislava with 1 capacity building workshop for municipal staff to support implementation of the communication plan. The tailored workshop should be focused on outreach towards the refugee population, digital communication, social behavior change and other specific communication topics requested by municipality representatives.	2 working days; By 30 October 2025
3. Provide Communication consultations	Provide at least 2 capacity building communication consultations to municipality of Nitra to support the implementation of the communication plans and the evaluation of activities (in Slovak language)	2 working days; By 30 October 2025
	Provide at least 2 capacity building communication consultations to municipality of Bratislava to support the implementation of the communication plans and the evaluation of activities (in Slovak language)	2 working days; By 30 October 2025

Estimated Duration of the Contract

38 working days between August and November 2025

Consultant's Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be based home-based in Slovakia.

As part of this assignment, some local travels are foreseen. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.

Travel Clause

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSAFE certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in EUR) based on 38 working days to undertake this assignment, without travel fees as these will be reimbursed as and when they take place.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Required:

• University degree in communication, international relations or related field.
• Minimum of 3 years of relevant experience in communications.
• Minimum of 1 year of relevant experience in drafting/implementing communication strategies and plans.
• Fluency of English is required.
• Fluency of Slovak is required.
• Experience working with local governments/municipal authorities is required.

Desired:

• Experience working with UNICEF is a strong asset.
• Experience working with refugee and migrant integration is a strong asset.
• Background in at least one of the following fields would be an asset: journalism, media relations, campaigning, marketing and PR.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family 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 be expected to adhere to these standards and principles 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.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV, a Cover Letter, and 1 sample of relevant previous work (attachments or hyperlinks) in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in EUR) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.