Terms of Reference (TOR) for undertaking massive awareness campaign on COVID 19 through local FM, TVs, and installed mega-phones in rural areas, carrying out radio messaging on prevention of gender based violence (GBV) for parents/caregivers, students and the public, and awareness to parents on supporting their children in home schooling/ lessons/homework through radios.
1. About CARE international
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and providing lifesaving assistance in emergencies. Its programs go beyond meeting basic needs at the onset of an emergency to helping affected communities recover and rebuild their lives long after the crisis ends. CARE has been assisting communities in Somalia since 1981. CARE works in partnership with the government, international NGOs, civil society, leaders and local authorities in order to bring effective and lasting change to the most vulnerable communities. CARE currently works through three main programs: firstly, the Rural Women program which supports poor, rural women and girls in addressing long term underlying causes of poverty and vulnerability as well as social, cultural, political and economic obstacles towards positive change. We help women and girls improve their economic status, access education and support them to play a greater role in local leadership and conflict resolution. Secondly, the Urban Youth program focuses on job creation and livelihood opportunities for poor youth through interventions such as secondary education, vocational training, small business development and microfinance. Thirdly, the Emergency program provides direct humanitarian relief to victims of drought and conflict in Puntland, Mogadishu, Lower Juba and Galmudug state.
1.1. About Education Cannot Wait -First Emergency Response (ECW FER) project
On 16 March 2020, the Federal Government of Somalia announced the first case of COVID-19 thus joining the list of countries with confirmed cases of COVID-19 virus. This has prompted the respective governments (Federal, Somaliland and Puntland) to put in place precautionary and preventive measures to curtail the spread of the deadly virus. One such measure included immediate closure of all educational institutions (schools, colleges, Koranic schools and universities) to reduce the risk of exposure and contamination of the school children from the virus. Furthermore, as issued by the COVID-19 response task force recently formed by Puntland education stakeholders and led by Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE). Some of the notable existing gaps in the education sector include; that education staff are lacking the necessary expertise for online/radio based education, schools and education sector in general are not materially prepared to handle online/radio based education to ensure continuity of education. In addition to that, most of the schools do not have fully equipped hand-washing facilities with all the necessary items and worst of all, none of the teachers, parents and caregivers are trained/sensitized on the prevention and identification of COVID-19 cases.
Towards this effort, CARE and its partners SCI and SIDRA are implementing ECW First Emergency Response to COVID project.
The project results are as follows;
Outcome 1: Awareness and sanitization: Increased awareness of and cooping -mechanisms for COVID 19 pandemic
Outcome 2: Sanitation and Hygiene in 51 schools is improved: Improved safety and protection in learning environment
Outcome 3: Teaching and learning gaps are addressed through usage of technology: Continuation of education for crisis affected children
Outcome 4: Coordination and networking.
2. Purpose and objective of the assignment
Under this assignment, CARE seeks to engage a media agency to carry out the following three activities.
- Activity 1.4: Undertake massive awareness campaign on COVID-19 through local FM, TVs, and installed mega-phones in rural areas.
- Activity 1.6: Carry out radio messaging on prevention of gender based violence “”GBV for parents/caregivers, students and the public (Message for children on how to access protection reporting mechanisms during disruption to regular learning activities and specific messages for girls and other vulnerable children will be covered here)
- Activity 3.8: Conduct awareness to parents on supporting their children in home schooling/ lessons/homework through radios
Worth noting in relation to the outcomes is that activity 1.4 and 1.6 fall under outcome 1 while activity 3.8 fall under outcome 3. The activities (1.4, 1.6, and 3.8) aim to promote community awareness and ensure that children who are back in the community with the parents after the school closure are supported in home schooling, protected and safe from exposure to COVID 19 infections and gender based violence.
2.1. General Objective
The overall objective of this project is to increase community awareness on COVID 19 preventive and control measures, gender based violence preventive and control measures, and improve parent’s awareness on supporting their children in home schooling/ lessons/homework. In order to enhance the community awareness toward the increasing risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project aims to disseminate relevant messages on prevention and mitigation on Coronavirus and GBV to the wider public through the existing social media platforms. The messages will also target parents on supporting their children in home teaching and the Prevention of GBV messages.
2.2. Specific Objective
The specific objective of the project is to Increase community awareness on COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure education can play its crucial lifesaving and life-sustaining role for affected children and youth in emergency settings.
- To develop awareness campaign messages on COVID 19, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and home schooling/ lessons/homework for dissemination through the local FM, TVs, and installed mega-phones in rural areas
- To undertake a massive awareness campaign on COVID-19 through local FM, TVs, and installed mega-phones in rural areas.
- To carry out radio messaging on prevention of gender-based violence “GBV for parents/caregivers, students and the public (Message for children on how to access protection reporting mechanisms during disruption to regular learning activities and specific messages for girls and other vulnerable children will be covered here)
- To conduct awareness to parents on supporting their children in homeschooling/ lessons/homework through radios.
3. Scope of the assignment
The activities target all the nine districts of Puntland – meaning parents/caregivers, students and the public residing in these districts will be reached through awareness campaign messages on local FM, TVs, and installed mega-phones in rural areas. The media agency will be expected to consult with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), Puntland education stakeholders, COVID-19 response task force, and Ministry of Health (MoH), WASH sector teams the Consortium partners (SCI and SIDRA)
4. Expected outcome of the activities
S/n | Activity | Outcome |
1 | Activity 1.4: Undertake massive awareness campaign on COVID-19 through local FM, TVs, and installed mega-phones in rural areas. | Increased awareness of and cooping -mechanisms for COVID 19 pandemic evidenced by results from feedback sessions |
2 | Activity 1.6: Carry out radio messaging on prevention of gender based violence “”GBV for parents/caregivers, students and the public | Increased awareness of prevention of gender based violence (GBV) evidenced by results from radio/TV feedback sessions |
3 | Activity 3.8: Conduct awareness to parents on supporting their children in home schooling/ lessons/homework through radios | Increased awareness of home schooling evidenced by results from radio/TV feedback sessions |
5. Work plan for the Assignment
S/n | Activity | Timeline |
1 | Activity 1.4: Undertake massive awareness campaign on COVID-19 through local FM, TVs, and installed mega-phones in rural areas. | The nine (9) massive campaigns will be conducted for a period of two months This should comprise the following;a) Radio sessions – twice per day for 8 weeks
b) TV Sessions – twice per day for 8 weeks c) mega-phones – d) online media platforms – for two months based on TV and Radio engagements |
2 | Activity 1.6: Carry out radio messaging on prevention of gender based violence “”GBV for parents/caregivers, students and the public. | One radio messaging continuous for a period of two months. This should comprise the following;a) Radio sessions – twice per day for 8 weeks
b) online media platforms – for two months based on Radio GBV topics and messages |
3 | Activity 3.8: Conduct awareness to parents on supporting their children in home schooling/ lessons/homework through radios | One awareness to parents continuous for a period of two months. This should comprise the following;a) Radio sessions – twice per day for 8 weeks
b) online media platforms – for two months based on Radio GBV topics and messages |
6. Skills required of the media agency
The media agency will be selected based on the quality of the technical and financial proposal. Listed below are some of the selection criteria that will guide the process.
- Track record in conducting media campaigns through radio, TVs, Mobile FMs and public address and online media platforms such as twitter, Facebook and YouTube
- Have a wide range of geographical coverage and outreach.
- Access to hard to reach areas with vehicles mounted with speakers and mobile FM
- Organizational profile and samples of similar assignments done showing evidence of the work done.
- A detailed work plan with timeframesfor developing messages and conducting the various campaigns
- Technical and financial proposal detailing itemized airing fee charges and administrative costs.
- Understanding the local context of the community
7. Deliverables/Outputs of the Assignment
S/n | Activity | Deliverable |
1 | Activity 1.4: Undertake massive awareness campaign on COVID-19 through local FM, TVs, and installed mega-phones in rural areas. | Recorded messages on COVID-19 prevention.Activity reports with estimated reach figures, online social media links and feedback from the audience |
2 | Activity 1.6: Carry out radio messaging on prevention of gender based violence “”GBV for parents/caregivers, students and the public. | Recorded messages on GBV prevention mechanismsActivity reports with estimated reach figures, online social media links and feedback from the parents/caregivers, students and the public |
3 | Activity 3.8: Conduct awareness to parents on supporting their children in home schooling/ lessons/homework through radios | Recorded messages to parents on supporting their children at home.Activity reports with estimated reach figures, online social media links and feedback from the parents |
4 | photographs and video clips of the project for use in advocacy and communications | High quality project photos and production of video clips of success stories |
8. Expected Time Frame for the Assignment
The assignment will run for a period of two (2) months to ensure the contracted media agency delivers all the three activities mentioned above satisfactorily. The task will begin immediately we identified and contractthe right media agency.
9. Application:
Qualified media agencies should send their technical and financial proposals to SOM.Consultant@care.org with subject line indicating “Massive Awareness Campaign on COVID-19 Through Local Channels”. The applications should be submitted latest by 22 June 2020 and applications received after the deadline would not be considered.