BBC MEDIA ACTION

BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development charity. We believe in the power of media and communication to help reduce poverty and support people in understanding their rights. Our aim is to inform, connect and empower people around the world. We reach more than 200 million people a year, helping them make sense of events, engage in dialogue and take action to improve their lives.

To achieve this BBC Media Action partners with civil society, local media and governments to produce creative programmes in multi-media formats which inform and engage audiences around key development issues. Additionally, BBC Media Action strengthens the media sector through building professional capacity and infrastructure.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

BBC Media Action Somalia/Somaliland is currently implementing an 18 month intervention known as ‘Bringing Unity, Integrity and Legitimacy to Democracy’ (BUILD) which seeks to contribute to “increasing participation and trust in political processes among Somali citizens, mainly those located in Puntland and South Central Somalia”. BBC Media Action will contribute to this by using media and communications to improve understanding of the role and relevance of government institutions, processes, and issues relevant to people’s lives, as well as to create space for constructive dialogue.

To contribute to the above impact, BBC Media Action will produce a weekly national radio magazine programme, broadcast on selected partner stations. The program will be a national and local platform among six states along South-Central Somalia and Puntland. BUILD project aims to create space for good governance systems, accountability and government institutions, freedom of expression, protection of freedom of expression and a quality independent media, for all Somalis take personal responsibility for their role in the development of the country by participating in political processes (including voting).

BBC Media Action seeks applications from experienced service providers to deliver audience feedback that will inform and enhance the programming.

PURPOSE

Interactivity will sit at the heart of BBC Media Actions programming. This will help assess audience uptake of key messages and thus prompt ongoing adaptive modifications to programmes based on whether listeners are truly understanding the information or not. This approach of using ongoing feedback is especially important when informing on sensitive issues but also enhance audience engagement and allows for assessment as to whether or not the messages will eventually achieve the intended outcomes.

Apart from taking advantage of social media platforms to gauge audience reactions to the programme, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform is desired to get ongoing, rapid feedback from listeners, data that can be used in the programmes. This should be able to poll listeners every week about what they would like to hear on the programme and whether they agree or disagree with what is presented. It should be able to ask the callers whether they would like more programs on a topic, thus helping the station to gauge the popularity of different themes. Callers can also be asked their opinion on the guests/experts and their opinion on their delivery.

It is envisaged that this interactive component of the project will stimulate meaningful discussions of the programmes and thereby reinforcing the impact of the information being dissemination and make the anticipated behaviour change more likely.**

Description of required services

· Creation of an IVR platform to ask questions and record responses of national programmes.**

· Creation of 2 short codes for call-ins and SMS for callers from South-central Somalia and Puntland.**

· Creation of an online portal which will record and store calls and SMS.

• BBC Media Action staff should have access to this portal

· Provision of training services to BBC Media Action staff on the online portal.

· Detailed biweekly analytics reports with analysed data as well as quarterly reports. The analysed data system should be filtered by gender, age and location

· Provide a system where the question is changed on a biweekly basis, both coded questions and open ended.

DESIRED SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

· Knowledge of South-Central Somalia and Puntland

· Demonstrated experience of conducting previous similar activities

The following documents to be submitted:

· Profile of service provider.

· Proof of an existing relationship with the main telecommunication providers in South Central Somalia and Puntland with necessary established infrastructure.

· Technical and financial proposal: this should include security and risk mitigation plan, functionalization and data protection plan.

· Proof of experience in similar activities (past reports, contracts).

· Evidence of licence to operate in South Central Somalia and Puntland.

· CVs of key personnel to be involved in the proposed activities demonstrating relevant experience in such fields.

· Evidence of a system to filter data by the demographics reported by the system’s users

Research ethics, data protection and confidentiality

Agencies working with BBC Media Action need to adhere to a strict code of ethics and address major concerns around consent, confidentiality, and anonymity.

BBC Media Action also adheres to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) principles and expects the agency to adhere to do the same when handling both research data and participants’ personal data. When managing and storing data, it is very important to take steps to protect participants’ identities and ensure anonymity.

Steps to achieve this include:

· Data and personal data of participants should only be accessed by the agency’s staff members assigned to this project.

· Data should only be shared using safe and secure means of communication to reduce the risk of data being accessed by persons who are not authorised. For example, data should not be shared via personal emails of team members.

· Use of password protection for folders containing datasets, audios, data coding to help secure data.

Following completion of the contract, the agency must not share the data supplied by BBC Media Action with any other organisation/person and the sample must only be used for the purposes of the BBC Media Action contract.

All documents prepared during the assignment will be treated as BBC Media Action’s property. The documents or any part, therefore, cannot be sold, used and reproduced in any manner without prior written approval of BBC Media Action. The contracted agency will submit all original documents, materials and data to BBC Media Action.

All proposals should include a section describing how the agency plans to meet the above- mentioned principles, specifically:

• How the agency will ensure confidentiality and the anonymity of data and personal data of users; and
• Procedures relating to how data will be stored and shared with BBC Media Action.

Expectation for the tender

Overall assessment of proposals will be concerned with value for money, taking account of the cost and quality of each research proposal. Assessment will focus on:

· Relevant skills and experience of the agency.

· Proposed services detailed against requirements listed above.

· The acceptability of the proposed workplan.

· The proposed costs against the tender requirements.

· Quality assurance and project management approach.

· Agency data protection protocols.