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Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

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For every child, Hope

In Nigeria, UNICEF works in a complex humanitarian and development setting to fulfill and protect children's rights in partnership with government, civil society, children, and families.  UNICEF Nigeria is one of the largest UNICEF Country Offices globally - click the link to learn more about UNICEF in Nigeria: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/.

 

Organizational Context and Purpose for the job

Nigeria is among the countries with a high proportion of people living in hunger and suffering from food insecurity. As a result, the prevalence of malnutrition remains high.  Today, out of an estimated 49 million children under 5 years, about 20 million children in Nigeria are stunted, 10 million are wasted and 15 million are anaemic. These numbers underscore the need for effective nutrition programming and advocacy

The UNICEF Nigeria Nutrition Programme has an ambitious fundraising and advocacy strategy to support the achievement of results in the 2023-2027 Country Programme. UNICEF provides technical and financial support to the Government and partners. UNICEF communicates to advocate for the most disadvantaged children and to build a more coordinated, consistent, and cutting-edge global communication and public advocacy operation.

To facilitate communication and advocacy on child rights for nutrition, there is a need to create clear communication and publications that are aligned with UNICEF’s communication guidelines and brand. This requires editorial guidance and support, and therefore the services of writers, editors, copy editors, and proof-readers regularly. The nutrition programme relies mostly on external donor financing. This requires the use of data and evidence that are communicated in a clear and digestible format. As part of accountability, there is a need for high-quality donors and other periodic reports. 

By investing in quality communication and publications, UNICEF Nigeria Nutrition Programme aims to:

Enhance advocacy efforts:

• Effectively communicate the importance of nutrition programming and advocate for policy changes and resource mobilization.
• Improve donor reporting: Develop high-quality reports that demonstrate programme impact and accountability, ensuring continued donor support.

• Strengthen programme visibility: Showcase the programme's achievements and lessons learned, contributing to a more coordinated and effective global response to malnutrition.

On a need basis, UNICEF is seeking to hire a consultant to provide quality, timely, and professional writing, copy-editing and proofreading services for the nutrition section

How can you make a difference? 

Scope of Work:

Scope of work:

Category 1. Writing

• Develop and finalize clear, concise, and well-structured documents (e.g., proposals, donor reports, human interest stories, advocacy material). This includes writing, reviewing, and editing to ensure clarity and a logical flow of core themes and narratives.
• Review and consolidate material for knowledge products, in alignment with UNICEF nutrition programme.
• Produce digital media content as required, including project factsheets, webpages, stories of change, forewords, prefaces, and website blurbs, all in strict adherence to UNICEF guidelines and the UNICEF Style Book.
• Support the nutrition section by drafting clear and simple advocacy messages for meetings and public engagements, with initial drafts subject to technical review and fact-checking.

Category 2. Editing/Copy-editing

• Review and edit reports, publications, and digital products for clarity, readability, and consistency of message, keeping in mind the target audiences and appropriate writing style.
• Conduct comprehensive copy editing that includes checking for correct grammar, syntax, punctuation, and adherence to official UNICEF terminology and style conventions (e.g., spelling, capitalization, country and city names, acronyms, and abbreviations).
• Verify the correct and consistent use of footnotes, endnotes, references, bibliographic entries, and URLs; ensure that titles, headings, and subheadings are clear, concise, and logically ordered with complete front and back matters.

Category 3. Proof-reading

• Proofread layout files to ensure spelling accuracy, style consistency, and compliance with official UNICEF terminology and conventions.
• Check for proper formatting elements such as callouts, layout issues, cross-references, footnotes, pagination, and taglines, ensuring that all references are correct and consistent.
• Compare amended proofs against previous versions and incorporate any additional editorial alterations required, including ensuring that the table of contents accurately reflects the listed items within the text.

General Requirements

• Be available for prompt feedback and input as needed by the office.
• Deliver all assignments on tight, short timelines as required by project or office needs.

Deliverables/Outputs

Category 1: Writing/Editing/Copy-editing/Proofreading

• Develop and finalize concise written and digital content across proposals, donor reports, human interest stories, advocacy materials, and knowledge products,

• Review and edit reports, publications, and digital products for clarity, readability, and consistency; conduct copy editing for grammar, syntax, and
• Proofread layout files, ensuring spelling, style, and formatting consistency.
• Review and edit reports, publications, and digital products for clarity, readability, and consistency.

Category 2: Writing/Editing/Copy-editing/Proofreading

• Develop and finalize concise written and digital content across proposals, donor reports, human interest stories, advocacy materials, and knowledge products,
• Review and edit reports, publications, and digital products for clarity, readability, and consistency; conduct copy editing for grammar, syntax, and
• Proofread layout files, ensuring spelling, style, and formatting consistency.
• Review and edit reports, publications, and digital products for clarity, readability, and consistency;
• Support with internal end year reports (RAM, COAR etc)

Category 3: Writing/Editing/Copy-editing/Proofreading

• Develop and finalize concise written and digital content across proposals, donor reports, human interest stories, advocacy materials, and knowledge products,
• Review and edit reports, publications, and digital products for clarity, readability, and consistency; conduct copy editing for grammar, syntax, and
• Proofread layout files, ensuring spelling, style, and formatting consistency.
• Review and edit reports, publications, and digital products for clarity, readability, and consistency.

Category 4: Writing/Editing/Copy-editing/Proofreading

• Develop and finalize concise written and digital content across proposals, donor reports, human interest stories, advocacy materials, and knowledge products,
• Review and edit reports, publications, and digital products for clarity, readability, and consistency; conduct copy editing for grammar, syntax, and
• Proofread layout files, ensuring spelling, style, and formatting consistency.
• Review and edit reports, publications, and digital products for clarity, readability, and consistency

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

• A university degree in journalism, ommunication, politics, social sciences or a related technical field.. 
• English as a mother tongue (or equivalent level) is considered an asset
• Considerable (at least five years) writing/editing/copy-editing/proofreading experience on English language publications, preferably one or more United Nations or other multilateral or bilateral reports.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset. 
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. 

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

  

To view our competency framework, please visit here. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors 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. 

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:  

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 for ensuring 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. 

Please submit your all-inclusive financial and technical proposal along with the application. Application without these will not be entertained.