UNFPA Kenya Country Office Request for Consultancy: Terms of Reference for the Country Office Communication Strategy

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Request for Consultancy – Advert No. VA/FPA/KEN/21/2009

Terms of Reference for the Country Office Communication Strategy

General Information

UNFPA Kenya Country Office (CO) recognises the need to have a comprehensive communication strategy.

The purpose of a strategy is to raise awareness, increase the effectiveness and visibility of UNFPA CO work to stakeholders and the public.

The strategy will ensure that everybody in the CO is on the same page when they communicate with the rest of the world.

It will also help in developing better media plans and in integrating all communications work on a particular issue. It is true that an organization cannot have positive visibility and a clear identity if it does not communicate strategically to its stakeholders.

The two are crucial ingredients for any organization to survive in today's competitive environment.

The Communication Strategy when developed will act as a framework guide through which the CO can plan for internal and external communication, including identifying communication strategies that will enable the CO to communicate its strategic objectives, identify key messages for different audiences, and build relationship with the media, so as to increase the visibility of its profile and mandate.

Similar to the organization's mission, the strategy will serve as a blue print for achieving specific communication godls critical for the UNFPA's success in improving the well being of Kenyans.

UNFPA CO is therefore looking for a communication consultancy firm to provide consultancy in developing an internal and external communication strategy.

Objectives of the Consultancy

The main objective of the consultancy is to increase the effectiveness of UNFPA internal and external communication through the development and operationalisation of a communication strategy including to:

• Support UNFPA Country Office (CO) to develop and coordinate internal communication systems so as to empower and keep staff up-to-date on priorities;
• Improve the understanding and visibility of UNFPA vision, mandate and priorities, to key stakeholders and the public;
• Consolidate and strengthen strategic partnerships and networks;
• Support advancing the implementation of the ICPD agenda within the context of the Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) 2009-2013 and United Nations Development Assistance Framework for Kenya (UNDAF) 2009-2013; and
• Produce user-friendly materials on key thematic areas and disseminate to the media, key stakeholders and the public.

Duties and Responsibilities Expectations

The Communication Consultancy firm will perform a number of duties pertaining to external communication, media relations and public information on the UNFPA Country Office.

More specifically, the consultancy firm will be responsible for the following outputs;

• Development and start off implementation of a Country Office communication strategy which encompasses a media advocacy framework;
• Strengthening of CO relations and networking with the media and other national partners;
• Development of a proposal on how the CO can most effectively use and share UNFPA's global information resources with the media, key stakeholders and the public;
• Production and dissemination of UNFPA CO-related information and promotional materials, such as brochures, leaflets, fact sheets, etc.; and
  
• Development of a planning, monitoring and evaluation plan for communication activities.

Qualifications and Experience tor the Firm

• Proven track record of developing external communication and visibility of a company or organisation.;
• Senior Staff with following qualifications: Advanced university degree in any of the following: Strategic Communications, Mass Communication, Press and Media Degree, Public Health, Social Sciences, Communication Sciences or other relevant disciplines;
• Names and qualifications of the staff who will undertake the consultancy (if not part of the senior staff);
• Business licence of not less than five years' experience in communication; Proven track record of professional management of previous consultancies;
• Good knowledge of information systems softwares such as MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.);
• Good knowledge of Kenyan Media networks;
• Excellent analytical, communication and advocacy skills; and
• Names and addresses of previous clients who will be contacted for reference.

Duration of the Consultancy

• The consultancy is expected to last for 40 days.

Application Process

A sealed envelope containing the technical proposal (explaining how the firm intends to carry out the consultancy including methodology and timeframe) and the financial proposal in separate sealed envelopes clearly marked "RFP/03/09 "Consultancy of Communication Strategy Development" should be delivered/sent to:

The Representative
United Nations Population Fund,
Room Q.217 UN Complex, Gigiri
P.O. Box 30218, Nairobi

(Both sealed envelopes should bear the names of the firm.)

The closing date for submission is Thursday, 12 November, 2009 at 12.00 noon, Kenyan Time.

A pre-bidding conference will be held on Thursday, 5 November, 2009 at 2.30pm at the UNFPA Conference Room.

Interested bidders are requested to send their names to dorcas.muthengi @ undp.org by c.o.b on Tuesday, 3 November, 2009 for purposes of being booked for entry into the complex for the pre-bidding conference.

Any bidder wishing to drop their proposals is also requested to send his/her name to dorcas.muthengi @ undp.org a day before, to facilitate access into the complex through the UN Security.

UNFPA reserves the right to accept or reject any submissions.


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