Procurement Notice

TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToR)

AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON BUILDING ATTITUDES AND CORRESPONDING BEHAVIORS SUPPORTIVE OF YOUTH, WOMEN AND GIRLS, AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (PWD) ENTERING THE WORKPLACE

1. BACKGROUND

In January 2022 USAID, in partnership with the Ministry of Preschool and School Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan (MoPSE) launched the five-year Youth Workforce Development and Entrepreneurship Activity [now called Uzbekistan Youth Employment Skills (YES)] to increase youth work readiness and employability. The activity aims to equip youth in grades 8-11 with the necessary skills to enter Uzbekistan’s economy as competent employees or entrepreneurs. The activity addresses both school-based and after-school programs to ensure a successful school-to-work transition, while giving special attention to women, girls, and youth with disabilities.

The work focuses on the following three objectives:

Objective 1: Improving quality of school-based economics and entrepreneurship programs.

Objective 2: Improving quality of afterschool entrepreneurship, soft skills, and work readiness programs.

Objective 3: Strengthening the enabling environment to support and engage youth.

The Uzbekistan Youth Employment Skill (YES) Activity is implemented by American Councils for International Education, an international education non-government organization registered in the Republic of Uzbekistan since 2018. American Councils for International Education works closely with both private and public entities in Uzbekistan to ensure the implementation of quality educational program, exchange, and educational development activities. The Uzbekistan Youth Employment Skills (YES) Activity works in partnership with Ministry of Preschool and School Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan, World Learning Inc., Sharoit Plus, Startup Factory and ERGO Analytics.

  2. AWARENESS CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the Awareness Campaign are:

1.     Conduct a media campaign on building attitudes and corresponding behaviors conducive to youth, women and girls, and people with disabilities (PWD) entering the workforce.

 2.     Provide a high level of visibility to the YES Activity through branding, tools, and a comprehensive campaign.

3.     To contribute to raising the awareness of all target audiences in Fergana Region about importance of the entry for youth, girls/women, and people with disabilities into the workforce and onto entrepreneurial career paths.

 4.     Support the development of creatives and knowledge products based on learnings from the campaign.

Considering that the project is implemented in the Fergana Region as a pilot, the Awareness Campaign will focus more on the local media and channels, with involvement of parties from Tashkent.

Awareness Campaign Audience:

Ø Primary Audience – youth in grades 8-11 of the defined schools in the pilot region, Fergana, including people with disabilities.

Ø Secondary Audiences – parents of the youth from pilot schools; schoolteachers, school principals and administration, and afterschool club leaders; local business community; mahalla elders/chairmen; Mayor’s Office; regional branches of the Ministry of Preschool and School Education; and “Barkamol Avlod”

3. SCOPE OF THE AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

The successful media company will be contracted to roll out an awareness campaign for the YES Activity which will cover the following communication channels and materials (this list is cursory and is non-exhaustive):

Primary Target Audience Activities– Youth (Grades 8-11) in Fergana Region:

    Informative Social Media Posts. It is suggested to elaborate a series of special posts for youth to be published on project communication channels.

    Contest Activation (online). The contests can be based on Q/A from the information in new textbooks, as well as can evaluate the basic success of studying new curriculum (at the end of the year, based on students’ grades evaluation).

    Multimedia and Advertisement. Short Videos, virtual newsletters, billboards, posters around Fergana and pilot districts, on buses and banners with the slogans addressed to youth to think about their future career, importance of knowledge and skills, gender equality, social inclusion, etc. Special attention should be paid to the area near the pilot schools (list of pilot schools is enclosed).

Secondary Target Audiences – Parents, Teachers, School Directors, Business Leaders, Mahalla Leaders, Hokim’s Office, Community Stakeholders in Fergana Region:

    Media Events. To ensure that all secondary target audiences, as well as public, are informed about the project, its aims, goals, and achievements it is important to involve mass media representatives. The following events can be organized with their involvement: Media Tours, Media Briefings, Publications, Media Contest etc. 

Cross Target Audiences (Combination of both Primary & Secondary Audiences):

    Multimedia Production and Advertisement. A range of multimedia content should be created that will help increase the appeal of published articles and for distribution on social media, in both cases driving engagement with the Uzbek public. Multiple production targets can include:

v general video about the project.

v “success story” videos – will tell the achieved results and progress made by pupils, teachers, as well as show the involvement of local business community.

v event-based videos.

v final video – can be produced at the end of the project implementation, showcasing all achieved results.

v promo-videos/advertisement – can address parents and business community with relevant messages – hiring youth, gender equality (hire girls/women), social inclusion (people with disabilities can be skilled workers too and are part of labor force); 

v photo shoots and archives – should be taken during project activities and events of the project implementation period. 

v promo/advertisement banners – with slogans to address target audiences.

v social media posts – shall include information about project events and activities, progress, achieved results, importance of gender equality, social inclusion.

The actual type and number of various creative outputs will be guided by the communications strategy elaborated by YES Activity staff. The YES Activity contact person, Farida Nasirova (fnasirova@americancouncils.org) will provide all information needed to accomplish the scope of work.

4. DURATION & LOCATION

The Awareness Campaign will be implemented within the initial period of October 17, 2023 to

October 16, 2024 (with possible prolongation subject to satisfactory performance).

The geographic focus of the Awareness Campaign is Fergana Region (Fergana, Uchkoprik and Oltiariq districts of Fergana region), Uzbekistan. Special attention should be paid to the area near the pilot schools (list of pilot schools is enclosed).

5. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES & PROPOSED TIMEFRAME

This section will be further elaborated with the successful candidate.

6.CANDIDATE EXPERTISE & REQUIREMENTS

Minimum expertise and skills the media company must possess:

·       At least five years of domestic and / or regional experience in implementing similar tasks, with experience in communicating/conducting media campaigns aimed at school children and/or parents.

·        Proof of experience in designing and implementing awareness-raising campaigns and public campaigns, focusing on PR and social networks.

·       Knowledge and experience of working in the field of education and/or inclusion will be considered an advantage.

·       Expressed a creative and innovative approach and ability to find cost-effective alternative methods of communication and message transmission.

·       In-depth knowledge and understanding of different social media platforms.

·       Located in Uzbekistan preferably with an office in Fergana.

·       Availability during the above-stated time period.

·       Ability to negotiate free broadcast of the TV spot at one of the most influential national and regional TV stations is a significant advantage.

7.APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Interested applicants should provide a complete application (both a technical and financial proposal) to Shakhnoza Kholbekova, YES Activity Administrative Assistant (skholbekova@americancouncils.org) no later than October 11, 2023. Incomplete applications that do not address all required components of each proposal will not be considered. American Councils for International Education reserves the right to review, and contact interested applicants with further clarification, questions, or comments regarding proposal submissions. The two-part application should include:

 Ø Technical Proposal:

Applicants shall prepare a proposal as an overall response to ToR ensuring that purpose, objectives, scope, criteria, and deliverables of the project are addressed. The proposal shall include detailed breakdown of how the process of managing the deliverables mentioned above will be fulfilled.

Proposals shall contain (but not limited to) the following required documentation:

·       Tentative Work Plan and Time Schedule (required)

·       2 Examples of the firm’s engagement in similar activities and current portfolio (required)

·       Updated profiles/CV of the team available for engaging in the Awareness Campaign (at least 3 people

o  1. Team Leader (Media Manager),

o  2. Communication and Social Media Marketing (SMM) Specialist,  

o  3. Film and Audio-Visual Expert).  (required)

·       References/links to two most recent projects  (social media activations, digital campaigns, creative concepts)  (required)

·       Sample of content development for social media including multimedia content (required)

 Ø Financial Proposal:

A financial proposal with a breakdown of all costs that are to be charged to the Youth Employment Skills (YES) Activity based on deliverables is required. The financial proposal shall be submitted in a separate file using a templated pricing schedule (required), clearly named Financial Proposal. No financial information should be contained in the Technical Proposal.

 In addition, the institution should consider the following in the submission:

·       Company Profile (Company Charter, structure, fulltime team composition, organogram…etc.) (required)

·       A complete copy of the latest Audited Financial Statements with comparative figures for the last two years with auditor’s opinion on the financial statements. The financial statements are to include, but not limited to, the following:

-                 Balance Sheet (required)

-                 Income Statement/Profit and Loss Statement (required)

-                 Statement of Cash Flows (required)

-                 Management Letter (required)

·       Copy of Company’s Certificate of Legal Registration (required)

8. Ethical Issues

·       Cultural, religious, linguistic sensitivities in the geographic focus as well as gender issues should be kept in mind while designing pre-testing and rollout of communication tools.

·       Designs, scripts, storyboard should be original and not be copied or duplicated from any other sources. Music/background score should be original and not tracks that are pre-recorded/ downloaded/loops.

9. Contract management  

The contractor (service provider) will report regularly to the Youth Employment Skills (YES) Activity at American Councils for International Education. The YES Activity reserves the right to set meetings, communication schedules, and track the progress of the Awareness Campaign in collaboration with the contractor (service provider) during the performance period.

 A successful technical and financial submission does not denote a formal contract. A formal commercial agreement will be provided to the successful applicant upon review and selection by American Councils for International Education.

  The selection notification and commercial agreement will be executed by American Councils for International Education. The key point of contact for contract management is Shakhnoza Kholbekova, YES Activity Administrative Assistant (skholbekova@americancouncils.org). Contractual support will be provided by Bekhzod Azamov, Operations Manager (bazamov@americanconcils.org).

 American Councils for International Education is grateful to all interested applicants; however, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted during the review and selection process. The YES Activity will not field phone calls, social media, or emails regarding the follow-up comments or questions once a technical and financial proposal has been submitted.