About Sawt

The Strengthening Civil Society and Media Systems (Sawt) Activity is implemented by Internews in partnership with Mercy Corps and the International Center for Non-Profit Law (ICNL). Sawt aims to foster sustained civic engagement in Jordan through civil society and digital media innovations through two objectives: 1) Good, Trusted Knowledge-Building Resources: Citizens and civil society build knowledge through accessing and engaging critically with accurate and fact-based information and 2) Participation & Advocacy: Citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Jordan effectively participate in civic spaces and advocate for policies through knowledge-based collective action.

About Internews

Internews is an international nonprofit operating in 100+ countries. At Internews, we believe everyone deserves trustworthy news and information to make informed decisions about their lives and hold power to account. We train journalists and digital rights activists, tackle disinformation, and offer business expertise to help media outlets become financially sustainable. For more information about the organization please visit: www.internews.org.

Summary

Enhancing the media and communications capacities of Sawt partners is a key priority. The Strategic Communications and Media Engagement Training provider (henceforth referred to as provider) will contribute to realizing this priority by enhancing the media and communications capabilities of two specific groups:

Cohort 1: 44 CSOs who are enrolled in civil society capacity building programs known as Sawt Advocacy Partners and are already engaged in its capacity building activities.

Cohort 2: 15-20 CSOs Sawt is targeting to enroll in Sawt Advocacy Partners program during the fourth implementation year (1 October 2024 – 1 October 2025).

The provider will deliver the capacity building through training programs that meet the level of capacities targeted CSOs have (Advance and Basic). The advance level will offer an additional training component that focuses on mentor coaching to apply the gained skills and knowledge, whereas the basic level will focus on transferring the knowledge. The level of capacities will need to be determined by the provider based on training needs assessment or other assessments proposed and serve the same purpose.

Sawt conducted multiple assessments in the previous implementation year of the advocacy capacities for its partner CSOs. The assessments found that CSOs and media organizations, the two key groups Sawt targets, have short-term and ineffective partnerships. This situation is further exacerbated by a lack of capacity and strategies to promote collaboration. Additionally, through the assessment of trainings offered in the previous implementation year to CSOs on Listening Post (LP)[1] activities and Strategic Communications, partner CSOs noted a need to receive additional, deeper, and longer term training that helps to strengthen their internal strategic communications capacities, as well as improve their understanding of media operations, their ability to reach out more effectively to media organizations, and establish meaningful partnerships with them.

Accordingly, Sawt identified an existing need to enhance collaboration between Sawt’s partner CSOs and digital media platforms by equipping them with the needed capacities and skills to break away from traditional approaches driving the working relationship between CSOs and the media, focused primarily on how the media reports on and covers CSO events, and encourage CSOs to pivot steadily towards more meaningful civic–media partnerships, in which both parties collaborate and support one another’s efforts to enrich the information space, and improve the flow of information that enables advocacy initiatives and public policy reforms.

Accordingly, Sawt is seeking to work with a local training and capacity building service provider to design and implement a training to partner CSOs that focuses on enhancing how CSOs conduct their own communication efforts and activities as well as how they identify, develop, and implement partnerships with media platforms who share a similar focus area to develop information campaigns, initiatives, and partnerships, benefiting from Internews’ LP and other approaches.

Objectives

The envisioned Strategic Communications and Media Engagement Training aims to achieve the following objectives:

For CSOs with Basic Level of Media and Communications Capacities:

1. Foundational Knowledge: Provide CSOs with a sufficient understanding of the fundamental concepts of communications, strategic communications, and media engagement and advocacy, in the context of establishing effective partnerships for collaboration and positive contribution towards the information environment.
2. Community Listening and Engagement: Provide CSOs with the skills to conduct open and genuine conversations to actively involve community members in discussing their priorities, information needs, and information consumption preferences using the Listening Post approach (LP). 

• The Listening Post (LP) approach was initially developed by Internews to address community information needs in areas impacted by natural disasters and disrupted information flows. It focuses on bridging the gap between information supply and demand through the creation of spaces (both digital and offline) for sharing vital and easily digestible content. The LP encourages the emergence of civic media initiatives where they are absent and supports their growth where they already exist.
• Sawt has localized the LP approach to the Jordanian context, producing resources to equip partner CSOs with tools to enhance their communication capabilities, collaborate more effectively with media platforms, and enrich the information space to strengthen advocacy efforts. The implementation of upcoming trainings will primarily rely on these localized resources, aiming to further support media-CSO partnerships and improve the flow of information for advocacy and public policy reforms.

1. Capacity Building: Enhance the skills and capacity of CSOs to conduct effective community listening to address information needs, focusing on:
   1. Information Gathering: Where possible, provide a platform for community members to share vital information, ensuring their voices are heard, and valuable insights are captured.
   2. Stakeholder Collaboration: Encourage collaboration between local media, community stakeholders, and partner organizations to address community information needs and priorities collaboratively.
   3. Awareness and Advocacy: Raise awareness on pressing community issues, enabling informed advocacy efforts to drive positive change.
   4. Feedback Mechanism: Establish a continuous feedback loop between community members and stakeholders, ensuring responsiveness to evolving needs.

For CSOs with Advance Level of Media and Communications Capacities:

1. Strategic Communications and Media Partnerships: Assist partner CSOs in enhancing their existing media and communications strategies by helping them identify clear priorities in terms of their engagement with media and have the means and tools to engage them to achieve their advocacy or public policy goals.   

• Media Handling: Help partner CSOs deepen their understanding of how media operates as well as journalists and their outlook in terms of framing and coverage. This includes developing the capacity to map and identify relevant types and channels of media, understanding parameters that govern their work, including what policies they work under such as editorial policies and how it affects their coverage.
• Deploying Media and Communications Tactics for Effective Advocacy: Provide partner CSOs with recommended organizational communication tools and activities (press release, media kit, newsletter, information sessions and briefings, events, sponsorships) to effectively engage with journalists and media partners as part of conducting media advocacy, leading to a deepened institutional understanding of how and when to share information with the media. 
• Media Outreach: Help partner CSOs develop practices and processes needed to ensure strategic long-term relationships with the media. This includes showcasing and adopting institutional tools and practices needed to ensure a proactive approach to media engagement such as media stakeholder list, a designated capable spokesperson, templates for recurrent communication activities, conducting regular monitoring practices, media appearance skills (on-camera, media delivery, and public speaking skills).
• Practicing Gained Knowledge and Networking: Help partner CSOs apply the transferred knowledge to become actual skill and capacity by exposing them to successful examples of media advocacy and conducting hands-on training guiding them to develop a civic-media initiative. Support partner CSOs in connecting with media organizations within Sawt’s media partners network and invite media guest speakers to tackle best practices in media engagement from their perspective.

Duration and Management:

This capacity building and training program is envisioned to be delivered during January - September 2025 and is subject to extension if needed. Sawt will be overseeing the delivery of this training, according to Internews resources and guidelines.

Scope of Work (SoW)

1. Preparation:

• Review existing capacities assessments and conduct any additional knowledge or capacities assessment for partner CSOs to inform the design and delivery of training. 
• Reviewing and utilizing Sawt’s resources to develop training materials and activities suitable for the targeted trainees representing wide ranging groups of Jordanian CSOs.
• Expected duration needed 14 working days.

1. Training Delivery:

• Conduct a 6-day training session for the Advance-level CSOs and a 3-day training session for the Basic-level CSOs.
• The Advance-level training shall be conducted for 4 groups of CSOs depending on their geographic location.
• The Basic-level training shall be conducted  once in a single location for all CSOs in that group.

      3. Reporting:

• Providing a brief observation report following each training session, summarizing topics covered, participants’ engagement and feedback, and other notable developments. 
• Submitting a consolidated final report, integrating insights from all training sessions, and analyzing overall outcomes and impact and future training needs.

Trainees:

The program aims to engage and support a total of approximately 120 trainees from 64 CSOs distributed across Jordan’s northern, central, and southern regions.

Eligibility Criteria

• The organization must be legally registered and has permission to operate in Jordan.

Required Qualifications

The organization must have a documented record of employed staff or consultants with university degrees or recognized certification in media, communications, journalism, public relations or a relevant field of study or relevant certification.

• The organization must have a proven recent experience of designing and implementing impactful media and communication trainings, capacity assessments, and impact reporting in Jordan or MENA region, showcased through recent case studies, project reports, or client testimonials.
• The organization must have a proven experience of delivering trainings and mentor coaching in Arabic and produce reports on them in English, showcased through samples of recent training materials, project reports, or client testimonials.

Proposal Content

Service providers interested in participating in this solicitation must provide the following:

1. Registration Certificate: provide proof of legal registration in Jordan.
2. Technical Proposal detailing the approach and methodology:

1. Explain the proposed approach and methodology for conducting media and communications trainings.
2. Describe how the service provider will design and implement impactful trainings, including capacities assessments, training structure, mentor coaching, and project reports. 
3. Provide the composition, names, and bios of the team members with relevant expertise in media and communication training.

1. Financial Proposal: Include a comprehensive financial proposal outlining the detailed budget for the proposed project.
2. Provide a previous sample showcasing the following:

1. Previous experience in designing and implementing impactful trainings, organizational assessments, mentor coaching showcased through recent case studies, project reports, or client testimonials.
2. Examples of training materials, resources, tools, and programs, related to media engagement and strategic communications.

Application Instructions

Interested service providers are invited to submit their technical and financial proposals, addressed to: [Click to show email] by November 27, 2024, at 17:00 Amman time making sure to write “Strategic Communications and Media Engagement Training Provider, USAID Sawt Activity “ in the subject of your e-mail.

Inquiries

For any inquiries or clarifications regarding the assignment, reach out to [Click to show email]

by 17:00 on November 19,2024.

For more information about deliverables and evaluation criteria, please visit this link Call for Applications: Strategic Communications and Media Engagement Training Provider, Strengthening Civil Society and Media Systems (Sawt) Activity - Information Saves Lives | Internews