Terms of Reference

Public Relations and Media Consultant

1.Overview

The Southern African Development Community Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) is a newly established regional center of excellence on groundwater hosted by the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa on behalf of and under the strategic guidance of the SADC Secretariat, Directorate of Infrastructure and Services – Water Division, in Gaborone, Botswana.

The vision of the SADC-GMI is to ensure the equitable and sustainable use and protection of groundwater, as well as being a center of excellence in the areas of groundwater management and management of groundwater dependent ecosystems in the region. The role of the GMI will be to:

  • Promote sustainable groundwater management and solutions to groundwater challenges in the SADC region through building capacity, providing training, advancing research, supporting infrastructure development, and enabling dialogue and exchange of groundwater information.
  • Conduct and support SADC Member States in groundwater research, and serve as a focal interlocutor with national, regional and international groundwater initiatives.

To achieve these objectives, the project would consist of the following components:

Component A: Operationalising the SADC Groundwater Management Institute (GMI) as a regional center of excellence hosted by the University of the Free State in South Africa on behalf of and under the strategic guidance of the SADC Water Division and the SADC Subcommittee on Hydrogeology (consisting of national representatives).

Component B: Enhancing institutional capacity of governments in SADC Member States and transboundary organisations.

Component C: Improving availability of and access to knowledge, scientific research and data on groundwater.

Component D: Promoting infrastructure solutions for sustainable groundwater management.

SADC GMI is established as a not-for-profit company under South African law. For the coming 5 years the SADC-GMI will act as the implementing agency of the Sustainable Groundwater Management in SADC Member States Project funded by the World Bank (through the support of the Global Environment Facility and the Cooperation in International Waters in Africa trust fund). During this period the SADC-GMI is expected to secure long term funding to become a sustainable center of excellence and groundwater expertise in the region providing research, training and advice to public and private sector clients.

Under Component A of this project, SADC-GMI has to implement an intensive public relations and media communications programme in order to raise its profile as a centre of excellence in its field of practice. SADC-GMI already has a brochure and a website. While the process of recruiting a dedicated Communication Expert to be among the SADC-GMI staff is underway, it is necessary to outsource some of the tasks foreseen under that job description in order to jump-start the public relations and media communications programme. These Terms of Reference are for hiring a consultant to assist SADC-GMI with this responsibility.

2.Objective of the assignment:

The Public Relations (PR) and Media Consultant is to support SADC-GMI in the proper function and impact of public relations tools in all activities carried out during the period of engagement.

3.Roles and Responsibilities:

The key responsibilities for the PR and Media Consultant are:

  1. Assist the SADC-GMI Director and the team in developing information, education and communication materials using mass-media techniques. The process will include:
  1. Education and awareness materials such as posters, flyers, calendars and newsletters
  2. Television and radio spots as needed
  3. Website, LinkedIn and Facebook update and maintenance
  4. Films
  5. Newspaper articles
  6. Any other suitable modern techniques and tools
  1. Ordering the preparation of promotional materials. Tasks would include but not limited to:
  1. Coordinate the bidding and purchasing processes with SADC-GMI Director and his staff members
  2. Monitor the realization and distribution of promotional material as agreed
  3. Assist in the development of promotional tools concepts and designs in coordination with the SADC-GMI Director
  1. Assist in organizing working meetings, events, conferences and media meetings with concerned staff members
  2. Monitor PR and Media activities and projects in coordination with the SADC-GMI Director. Tasks would include but not limited to:
  1. Assist in developing and updating monitoring tools and tracking sheets
  2. Documentation of all SADC-GMI Public Relations and Media projects and activities.
  1. Assist in day to day PR & Media activities as deemed necessary and in coordination with the SADC-GMI Director and his team.
  2. Eligibility of Potential Service Providers:

The successful Service Provider will ideally be an individual or a registered company operating within the SADC region with the following minimum qualifications and skills:

  1. Possession of a university or college degree in media and communication or any related field
  2. Experience working with both online and print media platforms
  3. Proven experience of at least 10 years in media work and event management
  4. Good command of English Language
  5. Ability to work in the other SADC languages (Portuguese and French) is a distinct advantage
  6. Geographic experience in PR and Media covering several SADC Member States is required
  1. Timeline

The Consultant will deliver services from the date of contract signature with SADC-GMI until 30 June 2017 with the possibility of contract extension subject to good performance and eligibility under the SADC-GMI procurement procedures applicable at the time.

6.How to apply?

Eligible Service Providers wishing to be considered for this assignment should send the following documents:

  1. A Technical Proposal describing how the Service Provider intends to deliver the services foreseen in these TOR. Particularly the technical proposal should contain at least the following section
  2. Service Provider’s interpretation and understanding of these Terms of Reference. In this section include any suggestions on improvement of the Terms of Reference
  3. Service Provider’s (SP) Method Statement. How the SP intends to execute the tasks foreseen. A proposed workplan of specific activities that the SP will implement during the period should be included
  4. The CV(s) of the key staff that will be deployed for the assignment
  5. Supporting documentation for the SP e.g. Testimonials from work previously successfully executed; Company registration documents (where applicable); Vendor registration details (where applicable), brochures
  6. A Financial Proposal which should contain a breakdown of costs for the respective activities that will be delivered by the SP. There should be a clear distinction between internal and outsourced services that the SP proposes to provide. VAT should be shown in the calculations.

Interested potential Service Providers should send their Technical and Financial proposals, both in MS Word format to:

The Director

SADC-Groundwater Management Institute

E-mail: .

On or before 12:00noon (Pretoria Time) on 30 December 2016.

Only requests for clarification received at the above email address before 17:00hrs on 21 December 2016 will be responded to.