UNPD ISSUES MEDIA CAMPAIGN SERVICES IN KUWAIT

Purpose:

UN Women and UNDP are seeking to engage a local professional media / public relations / event management company to maximize the impact of a comprehensive advocacy campaign promoting women’s economic empowerment and the role of the private sector to ensure the equal contribution of women and men to sustainable economic growth of the country, in accordance with State Vision: Kuwait 2035 of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait, and the Kuwait National Development Plan.

Background:

Many governments in the Arab region are looking for new sources of economic growth and job creation: the challenge is to capitalize on the ‘demographic dividend’ of youthful populations in the face of the growth-dampening impact of low oil prices and ongoing regional conflict. At the same time, companies are looking to boost growth and innovation in increasingly competitive global and domestic markets. Increase of competitiveness requires attracting and retaining the best talent, and overlooking the potential of women in the labour market might translate in missed opportunities for the private sector growth. While many countries, including Kuwait, have made significant progress on closing gender gaps in education, and countries such as Kuwait now hosts a population of highly-educated young women, more needs to be done to benefit from the talents and skills of both women and men. Although women’s rate of participation in the labour force in Kuwait is one of the highest in the region, Kuwaiti women remain under-represented in senior management positions in both the public (12 per cent) and private (15 per cent) sectors.

There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that gender diversity support businesses in performing better. Companies with mixed management teams have reported increased productivity and innovation. Investing in better working conditions for women and men reduces the costs of staff turnover and absenteeism which is found to be relatively high even if often is not captured by the companies. By introducing gender sensitive policies at workplace as well as monitoring mechanisms that will help trace implementation and progress, companies will be able to increase the benefit from attracting and retaining talent as well as account properly for the costs and benefits from investing in human capital. Companies with more women on board have their customer base better represented and have better insights of their costumers needs and preferences. Having better relations and addressing better the needs of women and men in the local community lead to enhanced reputation and gains from expanding and accessing new markets. Women’s engagement and leadership is an important driver of development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Progress towards achievement of Agenda 2030 and the sustainable development goals (SDG) requires a revived global partnership, expeditious delivery on commitments already made, and an agile transition to a more environmentally sustainable future.

To support this and within the strategic partnership framework between the government of Kuwait represented by the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Planning and Development (GSSCPD), and the United Nations Development Programme, a project was put in place to support the state of Kuwait in implementing SDG5 on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, this in collaboration with the Women Research and Studies Center (WRSC) at Kuwait University and UN Women.

While there have been significant efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, progress has been much slower than anticipated. Advancing and supporting the empowerment of Kuwaiti women demands a multi-sector and multi-stakeholder approach, involving governing bodies, civil society and private sector. As the International Women’s Day on 8th of March 2018 is approaching, the government of Kuwait represented by GSSCPD along with other project and intentional partners such as International Finance Corporation, UN Global Compact, the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative etc are organizing the 4th Annual Ring the Bell for Gender Equality Ceremony.

Stock Exchanges around the world are invited to be part of a global event on gender equality by hosting a bell ceremony to help raise awareness for women’s economic empowerment. The aim is to have ‘bell ringings’ across the globe, to bring attention to the pivotal role the private sector can play in advancing gender equality to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and raising awareness about the Women’s Empowerment Principles.

Ring the Bell initiative is organized on the 8th of March at the stock exchange premises calling upon all businesses around the world to take concrete actions to advance Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality. This would be a good opportunity for Kuwait to join the list of 43 countries around the world that joined the initiative in March 2017.

In addition, for the first time in Kuwait, the private sector companies will learn more about the UN Global Compact Women’s Empowerment Principles. These principles are globally known as means to empower women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors and throughout all levels of economic activity. Since the launching of the WEPs in 2010 there are 1741 CEOs that have committed to the principles and have witnessed as a result increased competitiveness and productivity leading to sustainable growth.

Scope of Work:

1. Develop and implement a comprehensive campaign on the role of the private sector and other stakeholders to promote women’s equal participation and contribution to economic development and sustainable growth, in Arabic language
2. Showcase and document how the private sector in Kuwait is already taking concrete steps to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community – as role models.
3. Showcase how stock exchanges, businesses and government entities can help advance the SDGs by promoting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment by organizing the event “Ring the Bell” around the marking of the International Women’s Day on 8th of March
4. Showcase how private sector contribute to advancing equality between men and women in economy and society as whole by committing to implementation of Women’s Empowerment Principles
5. Ensure comprehensive local, regional and global coverage of the campaign and advocacy across all key media outlets (TV, radio, newspaper, social media such as Instagram, etc), though an integrated and innovative media plan
6. Convene and widely engage in dialogue (i.e. through social media) with champion business leaders, investors, government, civil society, youth organisations and other key stakeholders to highlight the growing business and economic case for gender equality utilizing different media channels
7. Demonstrate the linkages between gender equality, sustainable development and business and how these can support achievement of the Kuwait National Development Plan.

Due Date:

February 28th, 2018

Address:

https://etendering.partneragencies.org

PR firms with government experience includes APCO Worldwide.