Hiring of National and/or International PR and Public Policy Agency(s)

1.Background

About CDRI

The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is a partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and knowledge institutions that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks in support of sustainable development.

Vision

CDRI seeks to rapidly expand the development and retrofit of resilient infrastructure to respond to the SDG of expanding universal access to basic services, enabling prosperity and decent work.

Mission

To support countries to upgrade their systems to ensure the disaster and climate resilience of existing and future infrastructure.

Strategic Work Plan 2023-2026

CDRI's Strategic Work Plan 2023-26 describes the broad contours of its priority actions and planned initiatives in the next four years. The Strategic Work Plan sets out a clear direction for the Coalition to pursue a transformational agenda for DRI in response to a changing risk landscape and evolving on-ground realities of its members. In the next four years, the Coalition will continue to leverage the expertise of its Member Countries and partners to develop context-specific, innovative solutions for resilient infrastructure towards the achievement of national priorities and global commitments of its members.

With the Strategic Work Plan for 2023 - 2026, CDRI has set out the following strategic outcomes.

Strategic Outcome 1: A strong Coalition that has the membership, resources, and global leadership to drive global, national, regional, and local DRI action.

Strategic Outcome 2: Global DRI research, Coalition-led peer engagement, and CDRI-curated and generated knowledge promote risk-informed policy and practice.

Strategic Outcome 3: Enhanced capacities of government, private enterprises, and communities to implement post-disaster recovery and DRI action at scale.

CDRI Headquarters (Secretariat)

The CDRI Headquarter is established in New Delhi, India, to act as the Secretariat of the Coalition.

2. Terms of Reference

CDRI intends to hire National and/or International PR and Public Policy Agency(s) for national and international PR, strategic media, and public policy support to promote and advance its work and the cause of DRI in India and globally.

2.1 Objective

• Support CDRI's strategic communications, media relations, and public relations priorities in India and globally.
• Elevate the profile and influence of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
• Drive change through the production of high-quality documents on DRI and engagement with key stakeholders.
• Strategic outreach to build influence and advance CDRI's work by promoting its programmes, knowledge reports, and events.

The agency should have the capacity to provide strategic counsel and direction, actively share and promote our message, amplify our successes, and position the benefits of how DRI positively impacts lives and livelihoods.

2.2 Scope of Work

a. Media and public relations services

The selected agency(s) will execute the following:

• Create and implement a comprehensive media and public relations plan that adheres to CDRI's communication strategic framework, including target audience and standard operating procedures.

This will include, but not be limited to the following:

• Relationship building and in-person meetings with media, spokesperson speaking opportunities, and thought-leadership positioning.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive media list of all forms of media: print, broadcast, digital, podcasts, etc., and beats (environment, climate, infrastructure, adaptation, ESG, urban planning, disaster management, public policy, foreign policy and international relations, finance, education, health, data, IT).
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with reporters, columnists, editors, and publishers at media houses, publications, outlets, programs, feature stories, etc.
• Proactively pursue stories, opportunities for spokesperson quotes and bytes, and respond to inquiries - targeting all forms of media: print, broadcast, digital, podcasts, etc., and beats (environment, climate, infrastructure, adaptation, ESG, urban planning, disaster management, public policy, foreign policy and international relations, finance, education, health, data, IT).
• Actively engage with and develop relationships with influencers.
• Develop and implement a crisis communication plan, as needed.
• Develop media kits and decks, as needed.
• Draft and disseminate press releases.
• Draft messaging documents, talking points, FAQs, media Q&As, etc.
• Support CDRI in developing and executing media sessions in CDRI events. This includes developing and drafting session concept notes and facilitating speakers.
• Leverage CDRI events (ICDRI) and presence at global platforms (COP, UNGA, LAACW, etc.) to enhance awareness, visibility, and spokesperson speaking opportunities.
• Support in the development, drafting, and pitching of op-eds, blogs, and thought leadership essays on behalf of CDRI spokespersons and experts to targeted media houses.
• Monitor news coverage for issues that may impact CDRI and may be of relevance to CDRI.
• Provide strategic advice to CDRI leadership on positioning, messaging, and social media engagement opportunities that align with the objectives and enhance its visibility and influence.
• Provide media training for spokespersons and senior staff, as needed.

b. Policy Advocacy

• Support CDRI in capturing the outcomes from national and international high-level events.
• Draft key messages for and outcomes from CDRI's annual ICDRI conference and develop and implement a plan for dissemination and outreach.
• Plan and deliver state and national-level outreach in India for CDRI's critical infrastructure work for policymakers.
• Facilitate engagements with high-level influencers.

c. Account Administration

• Share a daily global DRI news bulletin capturing news of the day. This should be received by noon each working day.
• Provide a comprehensive plan for each month. This plan should be received by the 15th of the preceding month.
• Provide written weekly, monthly, and annual reports to show status/ results as compared to the plan and objectives.
• Weekly status reports should be received by 4 pm on each Friday.
  • Monthly reports should be received by the 5th of the succeeding month.
  • Annual report should be received by 28 February 2026.
• Provide an updated database each month. This should be received by the 31st of each month.
• Provide appropriate receipts for all monthly expenses related to billable services and out-of-pocket purchases. These shall be submitted monthly along with the monthly invoice and report.
• Store and maintain an adequate inventory of CDRI collateral and promotional items.

3. Qualifications

CDRI will require:

• The agency should have a minimum of five (5) years of experience in providing PR and communications outreach for clients in India and/or the International market.
• The agency should have provided PR and media engagement services for at least five clients on a retainer/project basis (at least three months) who are one of the following: International Organizations/Corporates/Government/UN Bodies/Public Sector Undertakings.
• Demonstrable network/liaison with influencers, bloggers, think tanks, opinion leaders, etc., in CDRI's programme space (power, climate, infrastructure, transport, financing infrastructure, etc.) will be an advantage.
• The agency should not have been blacklisted by any Government, International Organization, UN Agency, Multilateral body, or any other organization. An undertaking to this effect shall be submitted by the agencies.
• Proof of all the above eligibility criteria should be submitted with the proposal.

The bidder must provide a team to CDRI to execute the activities.

• Senior Account Director - This position should have a minimum experience of 15 years and will be the account lead, overseeing all activities in the scope of work. CDRI prefers this position to be identified in the proposal.
• Please identify other positions that will conduct day-to-day work (minimum experience of 5 years):
• Media and public relations
  • Crisis support
  • Administrative
  • Other recommended staffing
  • For all individuals assigned to this assignment, please provide an organizational chart and information on each team member that includes:
• Overall experience
  • Qualifications related to this RFP
  • Length of time with the agency

4. Period

The selected agency(s) will be engaged for an initial term of three years, commencing from the contract start date.

5. Clarifications by Bidders

• Bidders requiring any clarification on the RFP document may contact the Procurement Unit of CDRI in writing as per the format attached at 'Annexure-I' by email to [email protected]
• CDRI shall endeavor to respond to the queries raised or clarifications sought by the bidders. However, CDRI reserves the right not to respond to any query or provide any clarification in its sole discretion, and nothing in this clause shall be construed, taken, or read as compelling or requiring CDRI to respond to any query or to provide any clarification.
• At any time prior to the proposal due date, CDRI may, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to clarifications requested by the bidder(s), modify the RFP document by way of issue of Addendum/ Corrigendum/ Clarifications. Any Addendum/ Corrigendum/ Clarification thus issued shall be shared with all bidders by email and/or uploaded on the website of CDRI (https://app.cdri.world/tender/) and shall be binding on bidders and shall form part of the RFP document.

6. Evaluation

1. The agency(s) will be selected following a Quality Cum Cost Basis (QCBS) of selection.
2. Proposals shall be evaluated as follows: Evaluation Criteria for Technical Bids 100 points:

The agency with the highest Composite Score (S) will be considered for contract award and may be invited for negotiations if required.

Note: Alternatively, CDRI may opt to proceed with category-wise selection (e.g., PR/Public Policy-related work) by awarding contracts to the agencies with the highest composite scores in each category.

7. Terms of payment

The selected agency will receive payments on a monthly basis, subject to the satisfactory completion of assigned tasks as per the contract and approval from the competent authorities of CDRI.

8. Standards of quality

Information and data created according to the RFP should follow internationally accepted standards and practices.

9. Proposal Submission

Both national and international agencies are encouraged to apply. CDRI reserves the right to select one or more agencies at its discretion for PR and Public Policy-related work at the national and/or international level.

Please share proposals in two separate PDF files:

1. Technical Proposal (Open PDF file), which should include the following:

• Submission of documents as per the Technical Evaluation Criteria mentioned in Sl. No. 6 of the RFP.
• CDRI project case study with the following:
• Executive summary
  • Market Intelligence
  • Project Brief
  • A comprehensive communication and advocacy plan detailing how your agency will promote ICDRI 2025 (refer to ICDRI concept note). It should include:
• Strategy, objective, and goals
  • Duration
    • Identify CDRI spokesperson (s)
    • Targeted media list (s) and broader stakeholder (s) list
    • Proposed media pitch (es)
    • Messages and talking points
    • Draft press release
    • A strategy to influence change in key stakeholders
    • A case study of a previous project/client showing how earned media was successfully used to change public perception and/or influence a cause.
• Additional documents that can strengthen the proposal by demonstrating the company's credibility, experience, capabilities, or compliance with requirements.

2. Financial Proposal (Password-Protected PDF File): Agencies shall quote an all-inclusive lump sum monthly price that should cover the Scope of Work of the RFP.

Note: The Financial Proposal PDF must be password-protected. The password for FINANCIAL PROPOSAL MUST NOT BE SHARED ALONG WITH THE PROPOSAL. The password for the financial proposal will be requested separately.

The proposal must be sent to the email address [email protected] with the subject line: "Hiring of National and/or International PR and Public Policy Agency(s)."

Interested bidders are requested to submit their proposal by 23:59 hrs (IST) on 17 April 2025. Responses received after the stipulated time or not in accordance will be summarily rejected.

Please ensure that your proposal is sent ONLY to the ABOVE-MENTIONED email ID before the closing date & time. Proposals sent/copied to any other email ID (other than the above) OR received after the bid closing date & time (mentioned above) will not be entertained.