Consultancy (communication training)

Terms of Reference

For the development of a communication training package for country-based public relations/communication and programme staff in West Africa, Asia, Latin America.

A. Context:

Plan has been working since its early days in the area of disaster response; however, it is only since the Asian Tsunami that the international child centred development organization has made significant efforts to increase its organizational capacity and credibility in the area of disaster risk response. In 2009 Plan adopted an international Disaster Risk Management Strategy which clearly outlines the organization’s vision, mandate and approach for responding to emergencies. The Strategy also defines the role of communication in disasters and sets clear outcomes, indicators and milestones for this area of work in the disaster risk response context.

Developing our staff’s capacity in the area of communication and ensuring that there is closer cooperation between program and communication staff has been identified as a key strategy to achieve our objectives set.

Plan’s communication staff on the ground come from a variety of backgrounds and the need to further enhance their skills to be able to respond to the needs of international media has been identified; working in a disaster risk management context however, creates additional demands on country communication staff and their capacity to communicate on time and to high quality to internal and external audiences about disaster situations and Plan’s organizational response and position.

In addition, it has been acknowledged that communication staff alone cannot ensure adequate communication work to help profile Plan as an organization with experience in Disaster Risk Management. Program staff have therefore the need to understand better their role in communications in emergencies and build strong teams with Plan’s communication staff.

B. Objectives for the Consultancy:

Develop and implement a communication training package for Plan Country Communication/PR and selected program staff in Africa (with potential to further roll-out of the package in Asia and Latin America) with a specific focus on communication in disasters.

C. Outputs and Outcomes expected:

C.1. Learning Outcomes
The training will target two staff groups directly responsible for coordinating or involved in communication on disasters.

C.1.a. Country Communication Advisors/Coordinators:
Desired learning outcomes for this group include:
• Strengthened skills and knowledge on the use of basic tools and techniques for public relations and media work in the NGO sector
• An enhanced understanding on the purpose, principles, specific requirements and challenges of communication in Disaster Situations; and of their role in putting Plan’s Disaster Risk Management Strategy into practice
It is expected that this group will benefit from 5 days training under the package.

C.1.b. Country programme staff with a role in communication in disaster case; this includes technical advisors, program managers and selected senior management staff

Desired learning outcomes for this group include:
• An enhanced understanding of Plan’s Disaster Risk Management Strategy in regard to the role of communication in putting it into practice
• Improved skills in communicating in Disaster Risk Response Situations work relevant for their job roles. It is expected that this group will benefit from approximately two days of training as part of the training package, conjointly with communication staff.

C.2. A print-ready 5-day training package in English, French (and potentially Spanish) including:
• audio-visual resource materials showing best practice
• a tool box for communication and program staff and
• an online training module to provide follow-up training staff.

Please refer to Appendix 1 for a list of potential questions to be covered by the training package. The training should take a participatory, adult learner oriented training approach which puts participants exploration and analysis of learning content at the heart of the learning process and provides learners with ample opportunity to practice gained skills and apply new knowledge.

C.3. Facilitation of a minimum of 5 training sessions to staff organized in English and French speaking country clusters in West Africa to pilot the package
Any further roll-out of the training to other regions will depend on the success of training in the West African pilot as evaluated by Plan and the service provider.

C.4. On-line training support over a period of 4 months, consisting of reviewing and providing feedback on communications produced by country
PR/communication staff after the training.

D. Time-frame: April 2010 – December 2010

E. Activities for the Consultant/Consultancy Team:

• Develop a technical and financial proposal for the work at hand including a general outline of the training and a proposed training methodology.
• Develop in consultation with a team of Plan staff an adjustable and hands on training package on communication / communication in disasters including:

a) a detailed training agenda.
b) a description of facilitation methodology.
c) a list of resource documents and materials needed for the training.
d) an information note on preparations needed for the training.

• Review/amend and finalize the training package based on a pilot training carried out in a French speaking country cluster in cooperation with Plan.
• In collaboration with the relevant Plan staff, identify and enlist the support of key resource people for the facilitation of the relevant sessions of the training workshop.
• Provide four months on-line coaching for a selected number of participants in the training workshops, helping them put into practice what they have learnt during the training workshop.
• Provide a final financial and narrative report on the consultancy including lessons learnt from the training activities.

F. Qualification and experiences of the consultancy group:

F. 1. Human resource capacity to include as a minimum:
• an experienced journalist with a minimum of 3 years experience reporting in disasters/emergency contexts, sound knowledge on the Humanitarian Framework and its implication for communication; and ideally work experience in the NGO sector.

• An established communication/media trainer with a minimum of 3 years experience in developing and facilitating participatory training programs in the area of media, communication and PR, including training in the non-for-profit sector.

F.2. Track record in conceptualizing and delivering similar trainings in the past:
• Proven experience in producing high quality training guides with a focus on adult learning and participatory workshops.
• Proven experience in delivering trainings in the non-for-profit/Humanitarian sector.
• Proven experience and ability to develop and deliver on-line training applications.


F.3. Ability to deliver the training in multiple regions:
• Ability to deliver the training in English, French and potentially Spanish.
• Solid understanding of the (West) African, Asian, South American and international media scene, needs and dynamics.

G. Submission of technical and financial proposals

A technical and financial proposal needs to be submitted digitally by 10th April 2010 to:

Plan West Africa
Abdoulaziz.faye@plan-international.org
cc: Frederic.bambara@plan-international.org and Stefanie.conrad@plan-international.org

It should include:

1. a technical proposal providing information on the proposed training approach, calendar of work, general outlines of modules with training content.
2. examples of training manuals produced in the past by the consultancy group.
3. CVs of core trainers and other staff working on the conceptualization and delivery of the training package
4. Two references of organizations previously worked for
5. a detailed financial proposal in excel providing costs and budget explanations for the following budget categories:
- costs for conceptualization of the package
- costs for delivery of the package in West Africa
- costs for lay-out of the package, including collection and assembly of the resource pack

Appendix 1

Non-exclusive list of Questions to be considered for the development of the training package:

1. What is a disaster and what role does communication play in a disaster and its management?
2. Plan’s Disaster Risk Management (DRM) strategy and its implications for communication.
3. Where to best access information on the disaster outside of Plan for data verification purposes?
4. How best to gather information on the disaster and Plan’s disaster response from inside the organization?
5. The crucial element of speed: timeliness in DRM communication.
6. How to write excellent Situation Reports on Disasters?
7. How to identify and write compelling stories on the disaster?
8. Plan’s child protection policy and ethical guidelines for reporting in disasters.
9. How to make efficient use of data-gathering tools (image/voice) – how to take high-quality and compelling pictures, produce photo features, how to record testimonies that illustrate Plan’s work and working approach in disasters?
10. How to write press releases and to balance between provision of information, profiling and positioning Plan?
11. How to develop Q&A sheets?
12. How to write case stories?
13. How to produce opinion pieces for national and international audiences?
14. Disaster preparedness for communications.
15. How to get interviews/deals with the press; the needs of national/international media?
16. How to craft key messages and opinions?
17. How to talk to the media?
18. How to handle journalists/the media?
19. Relevant tools exist which they could use to disseminate disaster information internally (intranet, internal updates, website, etc.) and externally disseminate the information (partners ‘email addresses, websites, media mailing list etc.).
20. Security and safety advice for communication staff in disasters.


Appendix 2

Plan’s Disaster Risk Management Strategy 2009-2013.