TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)
Public Communication Campaign - Design
Women’s Political Participation in 2018 Elections
- BACKGROUND
The long-term strategic vision of Oxfam work in Pakistan is a just society where poor women and men claim their rights and have equal opportunities. This vision can only be achieved through gender equality and good governance, which are both essential themes in all of Oxfam’s programming in Pakistan. Oxfam’s contribution to achieving this vision focuses on promoting the following four changes in the country: enhanced land rights and economic opportunities for poor women and men, an end to violence against women, access to quality education as a right for all girls, poor men and women’s increased resilience to disasters and climate change and their enhanced access to effective humanitarian assistance in emergencies.
The She Can Lead (SCL) project is being implemented by Oxfam in partnership with Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation (OAKDF) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baanhn Beli in Sindh, and Bedari in Punjab. SCL aims to address discriminatory social, political and cultural practices in the lead up to the 2018 elections by enabling women’s political participation, empowerment and leadership. The project aims to address women’s political marginalisation by:
a) strengthening networks and relationships with political stakeholders to promote women’s role in politics and governance;
b) use pre-post-election engagement by increase women’s voter turnout and promote women’s participation within political parties; and
c) engage with political parties to promote women’s rights through their manifestos and in their candidate lists, and provide women candidates with appropriate training and support.
B. RATIONALE
Women’s meaningful participation in elections as voters, candidates and election officials is essential for a truly democratic and representative political system. While the 2013 elections saw an increased participation of Pakistani women both as voters and candidates, women’s turnout greatly varied across districts. In at least 17 National Assembly constituencies, over 95 per cent of registered women voters did not cast their vote.
Two types of factors combine to prevent Pakistani women from exercising their constitutional right of electing their political representatives. Among them are social, cultural, traditional and religious factors as well as constitutional structures, regulatory arrangements and institutional mechanisms. Previous experience of Oxfam in implementing two multi-year projects aimed at women’s political empowerment showed that women remain largely marginalised not only as voters, but alsoas political candidates.
This can largely be attributed to: (a) The systemic and systematic discrimination against womenand lack of gender equality and equity in the society (b) overall misperception of community on the issues of women in politics, and (c) religious misinterpretations, restricted mobility, freedom of expression and independent opinion and awareness-cum-information about politics, political process and social restrictions and responsibilities, are cross cutting themes that further restrict women’s active participation in political field. Pakistani politics have not been conducive to a culture which promotes women’s political activism and leadership and therefore difficulties for women as voters, candidates and political activists remain.
Increasing women’s political participation in the upcoming elections as voters, contestants and decision makers in decision-making bodies requires well thought-out strategies, public campaigns for awareness raising on the importance of women’s political participation among women, as well as education and training to equip women for playing the leadership role equal to men. Recognizing the significant rise in useand consumption of different forms of media and communicationsand the role of social media as a platform to raise awareness,a public communication campaignon the importance of women’s political participationis essential to mobilisethe masses on women’s participation asvoters and contestantsto tackle negative social norms.
C. PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT
Oxfam in Pakistan is planning to launch a public communication campaign to increase women’s participation as voters and contestants in the 2018 elections focused in the 12 target districts where She Can Lead is being implemented namely Dadu, Jamshoro, Hyderabad and Shaheed Benazirabad in Sindh; Abbottabad, Haripur andMansehrain Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand Lahore, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum and Rawalpindi in Punjab.
The campaign will utilise a variety of techniques and strategies to engage with a variety of stakeholders and influencers including political parties, public officials, community leaders, sensitising both men and women about the importance of women’s political participation and mobilising women to cast their votes in the 2018 elections.
The planned campaign will use an organised set of communication activities and feature specific targeted messaging to achieve its goals. Communication activities will include a mix of mass-media, social media as well as interpersonal and community-based communication channels.
D. SCOPE OF WORK
Oxfam seeks the services of a consultant/agency to support in specific design deliverables required during the executionof a public communication campaign, launched by SCL partners to enhance women’s political participation in the 12 target districts. The campaign will highlight issues and challenges faced by women in relation to political participation in Pakistan and encourage women to realize and use their potential to exercise their right to vote and be leaders and decision-makers for strengthening democracy and development in Pakistan. Key messages will be developed to encourage and promote men and boys to support women political participation.
The consultant will be expected to design a range of communication products, merchandise, short message service (SMS), social media posts grounded by factual evidences/research about the target audience-primarily women but also men in these 12 districts, with varying socioeconomic and cultural conditions. Following the approval of the campaign plan, complete with key messages (to be provided by Oxfam), stakeholder analysis, social media, print media and web advertisement and a media buying plan, the consultant will be expected to produce the planned advertisements, public-service messages, IEC material and other communication products detailed below while also ensuring its appropriate dissemination through the respective mediums/platforms. All content developed is to be shared with Oxfam before external dissemination and comply national regulatory laws (Cybercrime laws) in relation to social media and ensure appropriate visibility and branding as required.
E. OUTPUTS:
The deliverables include two sets of outputs 1) Campaign Design 2) Campaign Deliverables.
OUTPUT / DETAILS OF OUTPUTS1) Campaign Design [1] / i) Campaign Plan
- The campaign plan will consist of detailed documents describing the goals and communication activities attached to each component of the campaign.
- Define and detailtarget audience including media consumption habits, socioeconomic conditions, culture, values, motivations and barriers in each district.
- Listcommunication products chosen to reach the target audience – different for each province
iii) Staged Implementation Plan should include a calendar of activities in line with national election activity.
iv) Social Media Campaign Plan
- Socialmedia messages, posts and activities to engage with social media users and create campaign hype
- A social media amplification plan for the campaign
- Social media & web advertisement plan
vi) Evidence-based distribution plan detailing appropriate dissemination of communication deliverables through respective mediums/platforms.
vii) A monitoring & evaluation plan for measuring campaign success.
2) Campaign Deliverables / i) Poster designs (10 unique designs) (Quantity-To be determined) carrying key campaign messages grounded in research into barriers to women’s political participation and the rights of women, citizens of Pakistan. Each poster to be made in Urdu, Pashto, Punjabi & Sindhi.
ii) Badges or pins and fabric bags for on ground campaigning with campaign key messages
iii) Flyer Designs (8 unique designs) (Quantity-To be determined)carrying key messages in Urdu, Pashto, Punjabi and Sindhi
iv) IEC Material (e.g. Flip books)
v) Billboards (5 unique designs) (Quantity – 5)
- Five billboards are to be designed carrying key campaign messages of women’s political participation and the rights of women.
- To highlight the importance of women political empowerment.
- To celebrate women political role models (District to National Assembly) and their achievements so far
- Present infographics and facts about women’s political participation in Pakistan, including target areas
viii) Branded Car Window Blinds (Quantity – 1000) to be displayed on taxi cabs carrying key messages of the importance of women political empowerment
ix) Printing and production of merchandise of all the communication material and items required for this campaign including posters, flyers, social media posts, billboards, IEC Material, badges/pins &fabric bags.
F. IMPORTANT NOTES:
- The consultant/agency will be expected to work closely with Oxfam staff at each stage of the campaign.
- All rights for the content produced for the campaign including designs and other material will remain with Oxfam. The consultant will be responsible for ensuring the quality and dissemination of the deliverables. The consultant must also ensure that it is understandable by a first-time viewer.
- For all communication products, the consultant will be bound to adhere to the branding and sensitivity guidelines of Oxfam.
- All content to be shared with Oxfam for screening and vetting before external dissemination
- Advocacy and communication to comply with national cyber laws.
- The consultant to ensure that references be cited when sharing facts and figures.
G. TIMELINES
The engagement is expected to commence once a contract has been signed between the Consultant and Oxfam. Campaign-design should not take more than 7 days and all campaign activities must be planned to culminate in June 2018 (expected date for General Elections in July 2018).
H. PROCEDURE FOR APPLICATION:
Interested consultants/firms should submit the following in sealed envelopes:
1) Detailed technical proposal comprising creative methodology, innovative approach, resume/profile of the applicant
2) Itemized financial quotation
3) Sample of Previous Work (Only similar, relevant samples of national-level public communication campaigns will be considered).
Proposals must be sent in envelopes marked ‘She Can Lead- Media Campaign’ to the following address:
HR at Oxfam Pakistan,
Oxfam House
St 11-A, Idrees Market F-10/2
Islamabad, Pakistan.
I.SELECTION PROCESS & CRITERIA:
The proposals will be evaluated through a competitive selection process. Following criteria will be followed:
Consultant’s profile: 50 points
Methodology:30 points
Proposed Budget:20 points
- Experience with International Development Organisations/ UN agencies is essential.
- Experience executing a national level public communication campaign is essential.
- Failure to submit relevant samples of previous work will lead to disqualification from the application process.
J. DEADLINE for submission of proposals______.
Oxfam reserves the right to rescind this agreement due to unsatisfactory performance by the consultant.
[1]Specific deliverables of this component will feed into the overall media campaign