WE’AM – Conflict Sensitive Communication & Media Consultancy

 

 

 

WE’AM

Conflict Sensitive Communication and Media Consultancy:

Development of Project’s Communication Plan & Capacitation of Journalists on Conflict and Gender Sensitive News Coverage

 

1. Background

Oxfam, in partnership with Right to Play, SHiFT and ALEF, is implementing a European Union-funded project titled “Working for Engagement, Acceptance and Mediation: A Community-based Approach to Social Cohesion in Lebanon – WE’AM.” The project is being implemented between March 2023 and February 2026 in Lebanon. WE’AM aims to leverage experiences and complementarities to build consensus and stimulate lasting social cohesion initiatives in Lebanon following three working streams: addressing drivers of tensions at the community level; disseminating gender-responsive conflict prevention and resolution tools and methods; mainstreaming community-level social cohesion into programming.

The partners operate in a total of 12 geographical localities, as per the following:

• Mashta Hammoud/Mashta Hassan – Akkar
• Fnaidek – Akkar
• Tikrit – Akkar
• Beddawi – Tripoli
• Jabal Mohsen/Tebbeneh - Tripoli
• Mina – Tripoli
• Deir el Ahmar – Bekaa
• Baalback – Bekaa
• Saida – South Lebanon
• Barja – Mount Lebanon
• Ein el Remmeneh/Shiyah - Beirut
• Hay el Gharbeh/Ghobeiri - Beirut

 

1. Objective(s) of the Consultancy

This Terms of Reference document serves to describe a Conflict Sensitive Communication and Media Consultancy assignment in the framework of the WE’AM project. The described consultancy falls within the project’s second outcome on Increasing Communities’ Access to Gender-Responsive Conflict Prevention and Resolution Tools and Methods to Sustain Social Cohesion, and more precisely under its second output of Mainstreaming/Promoting Conflict Prevention processes in Large-Scale Campaigns, Events, and Media.

The consultant is expected to lead the development of a national-level Communication Plan on social cohesion, based on four thematic campaigns to be implemented by Oxfam and Right to Play: (1) Sports (2) Music (3) Interfaith and (4) Traditional and Social Media.

The consultant will also lead on the last campaign on Traditional and Social Media, providing technical capacity, mentorship and coaching to a cohort of journalists and reporters through capacitating them on Conflict and Gender Sensitive reporting.

 

1. Description of Main Deliverables

Deliverable 1: Design of a national level social cohesion Communication Plan that stems from local level findings.

 

A national Communication Plan will be developed through (1) building on the groundwork and networking that the Consortium accomplished as of project kickoff and (2) considering the desired long-term impact that the project is seeking. Oxfam and partners will work closely with the selected consultant to provide them with the needed information, set of documents and support to accomplish the described assignment. 

 

Under this deliverable, the selected consultant is expected to lead on a series of meetings and workshops, creating opportunities for collaboration and joint planning among different stakeholders. The meetings/workshops will start at the level of Consortium partners and gradually involve additional relevant stakeholders who could contribute to the development of the said plan.

 

Supporting this endeavor is an extensive mapping conducted by the WE’AM Consortium as of project kickoff and covering all 12 localities of intervention. Mobilization efforts targeted a variety of actors and stakeholders: local and national authorities, public offices and institutions [including Social Development Centers, Public Schools, Primary Health Centers, etc.], academic and education establishments, sports associations, social enterprises, religious leaders and faith-based institutions, organizations and establishments working in the media sphere, local and informal groups [with a focus on women and youths], women-rights and women-led organizations, influential figures, activists, Development and Social Stability actors, local and international organizations.

 

The Communication Plan should be centered around Social Cohesion, and developed over 2 stages:

 

1. Thematic-Focused Preliminary Work based on the 4 pre-defined campaigns of WE’AM [Interfaith – social and traditional media – music – play], the consultant will meet with the Consortium partners and then organize 1 workshop per campaign* joining and consulting with different stakeholders operating in the field in question. Women, youth and other minority groups [especially those with a strong presence in specific field of work] should be represented in the workshops. This preliminary work will serve to map and involve major players in the four mentioned sectors, and ensure their buy-in and engagement in the different campaigns. In addition, this exercise will serve to define the key elements of each campaign plan, including its objectives, proposed methods and approaches, messaging, audience, outreach, effects, etc. A report summarizing the work that has been done under each campaign and proposing a way forward is expected at the end of this milestone.
2. 1 national Communication Plan as a final product resulting from merging the thematic-focused preliminary work. A national workshop will be organized and join the most relevant actors and stakeholders identified in collaboration with the project partners. This workshop will serve to consolidate the work, align the messaging around social cohesion and create synergies among different influential actors in the country [some of whom will directly be involved in the execution of the campaigns].

 

*Oxfam foresees 1 workshop or meeting per campaign to be organized in Beirut and to bring together actors from all over Lebanon. In case needed, the number of meetings can be modified – with strong justification as part of the consultant’s suggested methodology of work. A different approach/methodology can be developed by the consultant based on their expertise and experience in conducting similar national-level work, including how the work will be organized, in which order and who will be involved.

The resulting Communication Plan should be comprehensive, clearly stating [at the least] the strategic objectives of the activities (in their long, medium, and short terms), target audiences, involved actors, resources to be invested, channels to be used, timeline of execution and responsible monitoring parties. The plan should also actively mention monitoring methods and tools to ensure the successful implementation of the Plan in accordance with the sought-out objectives.

 

Deliverable 2: Technical capacity building, mentorship and coaching for journalists and reports on gender and conflict sensitive coverage of events.

 

The selected consultant will be leading on the campaign on Traditional and Social Media, and this through the following activities.

 

Activity 1:  Contextualization and/or Development of a toolkit addressing conflict and gender sensitive journalism.

 

Social tensions are frequently associated with communal perceptions that are largely shaped by the media [in its different forms]. Journalists, reporters and media outlets are in many cases affiliated with certain groups and reflect their allegiance in their approach to news coverage. Fake news and biased reporting are often a main contributor to social instability and to a further deepening of negative inter-communal perceptions.

 

In its efforts to prevent further escalation of conflict and to equip communities with awareness tools for countering social tension, the project will be contextualizing/developing** a toolkit for reporters and journalists supporting a transition towards positive, objective, conflict and gender sensitive reporting.

 

**a primary mapping should be done to understand the existing toolkits/initiatives done in this space and to build on them for producing the requested toolkit.

 

The following considerations should be applied:

 

• The toolkit will have journalists and reporters as their primary audience and target different types of media outlets.
• The toolkit should integrate solid gender considerations into its design. The selected consultant should be able to build on the Consortium’s ongoing work in this space – including a Gender and Conflict Dynamics research study as well as a Gender Transformative Toolkit for peacebuilding project design. In line with all the activities under WE’AM, the toolkit should mind the role of women and other gender minorities within conflicts; it should focus on how these segments are affected by conflict and how they can eventually actively contribute to its dissipation and resolution.
• The toolkit should be adaptable to the coverage of any news topic, guiding reporters on the importance of conflict sensitive coverage and offering them concrete tools in this regard.

• When relevant, the toolkit should be digitized. The extent of the digitization is to be agreed on with the Project Team at the start of the collaboration, whilst remaining accessible and readable by journalists, reports and media specialists from different backgrounds.
• The toolkit should be developed in English and translated to Arabic by the consultant.

 

Activity 2. Train 30 journalists and reporters from different media outlets on the developed toolkit.

 

The consultant will train a minimum of 30 journalists and reports on the developed toolkit. The Consortium will lead on selecting the cohort based on pre-defined criteria of diversity, inclusion, representation and professional activity. The consultant is expected to support this process and to potentially support Oxfam and partners in longlisting potential beneficiaries. The training will be organized in Beirut over 1 or 2 days [based on the consultant’s recommendations and agreed-on training schedule].

 

The training day(s) will also be an opportunity for the selected consultant to gather attendees’ feedback on the toolkit – which will be incorporated into the final version that will be made public and disseminated to a larger audience as a valuable WE’AM product.

 

The selection of the 30 journalists will be led by Oxfam, with the consultant expected to support on the identification of the primary pool of beneficiaries as well as the selection criteria. 

 

Activity 3. Mentoring and coaching the journalists during the design, selection, execution and promotion of 6 media products.

 

Throughout the training, the consultant should support the trainees in designing media products as a direct application of the toolkit. These products will be funded by the project and can be initiated by individuals or by groups. The products can take different formats, including news reports for prime-time news on national TV channels, vlogs/snippets for social media that address social cohesion and are gender and conflict sensitive, etc. The products can cover different themes based on the country’s trends and priorities. All projects should be gender sensitive and to the extent possible, gender transformative – delving into the root causes of gender inequities and challenging existing gender norms.

 

The projects will be selected by Oxfam and partners – based on sound selection criteria and responding to conflict priorities.

 

The consultant will take the technical lead, ensuring that the developed media products have a conflict sensitive lens and follow the recommendations of the toolkit. The consultant will be expected to liaise with the cohort on a regular basis during the design of the media projects and be present during some parts of the execution to ensure products’ quality. If needed, small group meetings can be organized by the consultant. Using their network, the consultant will also contribute to broadcasting and promoting the media products. It is useful to note that these products will be fully financially funded by WEAM.

 

 

1. Responsibilities of Consultant and Timeline

The following is a breakdown of the tasks to be conducted by the consultant, in addition to their estimated timeline.

 

Deliverable

Timeline (in number of weeks)

Development of WE’AM Communication Plan

1. Submit an Inception Report detailing the methodology to be followed for (1) developing the Communication Plan and (2) capacitating a cohort of journalists and reporters on gender and conflict sensitive news coverage. Oxfam reserves the right for two rounds of comments at the least.

2 weeks

1. Conduct a series of meetings with Consortium partners – with a resulting expanded mapping of key stakeholders and an engagement strategy feeding into the larger Communication Plan.

2 weeks

These meetings can start prior to submission of the Inception Report, informing the latter.

1. Conduct four workshops [one per campaign]: organize the workshops [responsible for the logistics, selection and invitation and invitees], prepare the content and facilitate them.

4 weeks

1. Share primary draft of Communication Plan [divided into 4 sub-plans, one per campaign] as part of the report summarizing the Thematic-Focused Preliminary Work. This deliverable should clearly report all the work that was done, including coordination and discussions with Consortium partners.

1 week

1. Hold workshop with Consortium partners to present the 4-sub-plans and present updated methodology for collating the different parts into the larger Communication Plan.

1 week

1. Conduct 1 national workshop for alignment: organize the workshop [responsible for the logistics, selection and invitation and invitees], prepare the content and facilitate it.

1 week

1. Submit a comprehensive Communication Plan, and finalization based on comments/suggestions from Oxfam and partners. This includes the needed rounds of reviews with Oxfam and partners.

3 weeks

Capacitation of Journalists and Reporters on Gender and Conflict Sensitive Journalism

1. Submit a primary version of the Gender and Conflict Sensitive reporting Toolkit for Oxfam’s review. Oxfam reserves the right to provide two rounds of comments for the submitted draft as a minimum.

3 weeks

1. Hold a workshop with Oxfam and partners for the presentation of the designed toolkit.

1 week

1. Compile feedback and produce final version of toolkit to be used in the training sessions, inclusive of an Arabic version.

1 week

1. Organize training for journalists and reporters. Consultant is expected to translate tool to Arabic at this stage (prior to training).

2 weeks 

1. Submit a final version of toolkit for dissemination with external stakeholders, inclusive of an Arabic version.

1 week

1. Support trainees in the design, execution, and promotion of the media products to be funded by the project.

12 weeks. Based on products, priorities and agreed-on timelines for production and dissemination

1. Submit a training report, describing both the training and support in developing media projects of trainees. The report should include (1) a trainees’ performance and evaluation of acquired technical skills throughout component [training + development of media products] (2) encountered challenges during training implementation (3) evaluation summarizing the feedback of participants at the end of the training + support program.

2 weeks. This is the very last deliverable of the consultancy.

 

It is possible for the second milestone to start, and some parts implemented prior to the finalization of the first milestone. This mainly concerns the preparatory phase for the selection of journalists and reporters and the first design of the toolkit. The timeline of both milestones and their potential overlapping will be discussed and agreed-on with the Project Manager at Inception phase.

 

1. Profile and Expertise of Consultant

 

• Solid expertise and studies in relation to Media, Communications, and/or Journalism.
• Previous work/consultancy(ies) with NGOs and Development Actors in developing Communication Plans in the context of complex and long-term projects involving large and diverse networks of actors and players.
• Strong knowledge on and demonstrated practical experience in working on projects countering negative reporting and biased media (i.e.: shadow banning, politicized media, oppressive and anti-feminist media, etc.).
• Experience in delivering trainings/media capacity building on similar topics – ideally in the framework of Development projects.
• Very good knowledge of Conflict in the Lebanese context [including geo-political situation of the country and main historical sources of conflict] as well as tools/approaches to counter conflict through responsible, unbiased and conflict sensitive reporting.
• Proven experience in providing gendered perspectives in Journalism and/or media work. 

 

1. Management of the Assignment

Oxfam and its partners will closely work with the appointed consultant and provide them with all needed support to carry on the work. The administration of and oversight to this assignment will be managed by Oxfam.

 

1. Expression of Interest (EOI)

Interested candidates can express their interest through submitting the following documents to Oxfam at  [email protected] by no later than the 26^th of May 2024 midnight.

 

• Portfolio, including CV(s) of expert(s) appointed to work on the described assignments in its various stages.
• A Technical Narrative Proposal which includes a detailed methodology for conducting the Communication Plan [and associated deliverables] as well as the development of the required toolkit, the training methodology [material to be used, pedagogical approaches, venue selection, practical exercise, assessment methodologies, etc.] and the support in the design, development and promotion of media products.
• At least 2 samples of previously developed national-level Communication Plans.
• 1 sample of previously developed training material in the space of conflict sensitive reporting and/or toolkit (on the same subject).
• At least 2 samples of media products incorporating elements of Conflict Sensitivity.
• A Financial Proposal detailing all costs associated with the assignment.

 

Oxfam in Lebanon reserves the right to reject any and all bids, including the Bidding processes, or not to award the contract at any time, without thereby incurring and liability to the affected Bidders.

 

Please note that the Q&A session will take place on Friday 17 May 2024 from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm to answer any questions you might have.

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