CONSULTANCY SERVICES ANNOUNCEMENT

Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, Conservation International (CI) empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the well-being of humanity. CI’s strategy is to serve as a trusted advisor to decision makers at all levels to help societies establish healthy, sustainable economies that secure nature’s ability to provide enduring human well-being. We accomplish this through the four pillars of our work: • We innovate to identify and implement practical and effective solutions to problems. This innovation takes place throughout the organization and relates to all aspects of CI’s work including science, field implementation, policy, markets, partnerships, etc. • We promote healthy, sustainable economies to achieve those impacts • We demonstrate these impacts throughout CI geographies (including Liberia) • We work through global agents of change, the major partners that help us amplify and achieve global impact BACKGROUND Liberia is a signatory to the Paris Agreement Climate Agreement and has developed its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which present the roadmap for reducing Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in Liberia. To support mitigation, Liberia will need to reduce gross emissions from the land sector (e.g., deforestation and forest degradation) as well as increase the potential for carbon storage. The extent of implementation of the national contributions on mitigation and adaptation in Liberia are conditioned upon the provision of adequate means by the international community (financial resources, capacity building and the transfer of technologies). Given this context, there is clearly a need to strengthen Liberia’s national capacity to implement the different elements of the Paris Climate Agreement. Against this background, Conservation International and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia has received funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in support of the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) project “Strengthening the Capacity of Institutions in Uganda to comply with the Transparency Requirements of the Paris Agreement” in Liberia. The project will be executed through the Environmental Protection Agency and Conservation International- Liberia. The main objective of this CBIT project is to support institutions in Liberia to build and strengthen Liberia’s national capacity to implement the transparency elements of the Paris Climate Agreement. The main components of the project are: (1) Strengthen the capacity of national institutions to track NDC implementation and sustain transparency efforts over time; (2) Provide direct technical support to harmonize land use, agriculture, energy, transport and waste sectors data collection and reporting through training and assistance; (3) Integrated Platform for Data Sharing and Policy Making. SCOPE OF WORK (PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES) a) Purpose and objectives Conservation international- Liberia in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia seek to recruit a media expert to develop and design a comprehensive communication strategy. The overall objective of the communications strategy will be to generate awareness and discourse in line with Liberia’s CBIT. The consultant will work under the supervision of the Deputy Country Director of Conservation International-Liberia and supported by the CBIT Project Manager to deliver the Communications Strategy. The media expert is required to: • Work closely with the CI and EPA determine the communication requirements that must be met to support the goals for the CBIT; • Assess the communication capacities of all stakeholders including NDC hubs and sectors; • Identify and detail approaches for fulfilling the communication requirements in a comprehensive and coordinated strategy for the CBIT • Propose the use of various types of media products, in print and electronic, that can be related to the main sectors of the CBIT; • Prepare a list of the resource needs (human and financial) and estimated implementation budget; and • Prepare a complete implementation plan for the approved communication strategy b) Audience and use • Policy makers (Government Institutions) • Private Sectors • Development partners • Local communities – including women and youth. • Civil society – including organizations working with women and youth • Research Institution/ Academia • General Public c) Deliverable outputs The Consultant will be required to present: • A gap analysis of the communication needs for disseminating information, communicating information to and educating key stakeholders including the public on the CBIT of Action overall, and communication needs of the activities to be undertaken by the CBIT Project Management Unit (CBIT/PMU); • Goals and SMART objectives and targets of the proposed communication strategy • A detailed communications strategy identifying the target groups, messages and media and timeframe for implementation; • Detailed dissemination strategy outlining appropriate communication channels, dissemination methods and media such as video, print, web/online media, traditional media, and social media, among others to effectively communicate key messages to target stakeholders/audience; • Proposals, in outline, of the types of educational and informational materials suggested for use as part of the communication strategy; • Prepare a detailed list of resource needs (human and financial), implementation plan, and an indicative implementation budget; • A Gantt chart timetabling the roll-out of the strategy; • A draft evaluation instrument with indicators to monitor and evaluate communication tools and activities, in order to measure the goals, targets and impact of the Strategy; • Develop samples of visual aid and communication materials including brochures, leaflets, stickers; and • Develop key messages in line with the CBIT Project for reproduction in presentations and speeches by EPA and CI-Liberia. QUALIFICATIONS: • Eligible consultants must be formally qualified with bachelor’s degree in mass communication/ public relations/ advertising/ communication analysis & planning/social development communication/ marketing; • The individual consultant or leader of the consultancy team must have a minimum of five (5) years’ work experience in Liberia; • The consultant must have experience in conducting communications needs analysis and strategic design as well as managing communication campaigns; • Experience in producing communication materials (print and online) for a variety of media; • Experience in creating communications tools for a diverse multi-stakeholder sector DURATION: The maximum period of the contract will be 60 working days INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF TECHNICAL PROPOSALS a) Point of contact: the point of contact for this solicitation is CI Liberia Deputy Country Director. Proposal submissions and queries should be sent to his attention at pmulbah@conservation.org b) Right of award: CI may reject any or all bids that are not responsive to the scope of work. c) Language: Proposals must be submitted in English. d) Deadline for Submission: The deadline for submission of full RFP is 26th April 2019 e) Currency: proposals should be budgeted in United States dollars. Payment will be made in United States dollars. f) Cover and signature: Applicants should submit their proposals with a cover letter signed by an authorized representative of the applicant. g) Expert table: Proposals should include a table with the name, position title, and level of effort (in person-days) of all individuals proposed to work on the project. h) Resumes/CVs: proposals should include the resume of all named personnel corresponding to the table in item (h) above i) Timeline: proposals should include a work plan with detailed activities per deliverable for completing the communication strategy. N.B. All expressions of interest should include: • Cover letter: A short (maximum one page) letter addressing the baseline criteria • Technical Proposal (maximum eight pages) highlighting: brief explanation about the Consultant/s with emphasis on previous experience in this kind of work; profile of the Consultant/s to be involved in undertaking the Communication strategy; understanding of the ToRs, the task to be accomplished as well as draft framework, plan and methodology. • Financial Proposal: The financial proposal should provide cost estimates for services rendered including daily consultancy fees, accommodation, per-diems, transport cost, stationeries, supplies needed for data collection, and other costs related to data collection and data processing. • A copy of a report of similar work • Reference: Contact details of three organizations that the consultant/firm has had similar assignments. These will be contacted during the proposal review process. Interested and eligible applicants can send copies of their CVs, testimonials and a copy of a report of similar work, technical proposal and financial proposal to the address below: The Deputy Country Director Conservation International Liberia Email: pmulbah@conservation.org