Child Journalist Training

Title of the assignment

Child journalist training

Purpose

To engage an organization to provide training and mentorship to child journalists and support them in producing content on UNICEF Advocacy priorities. The programme will enable UNICEF to advance its communication, advocacy, and child and youth engagement priorities while creating opportunities for children from diverse socio-economic and geographical backgrounds to share their perspectives and experiences.

Location

Twenty-four districts. To finalized.

Estimated Duration

The contract will be issued for one year from the date of signing the

contract.

Background

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child and support every child to survive, thrive and reach their full potential. For more than 75 years, UNICEF has worked with partners around the world to improve the lives of children and their families and to advance children’s rights.

UNICEF recognizes that children and young people have the right to express their views and to participate in decisions and issues that affect their lives. Providing children with opportunities to share their experiences, perspectives and ideas is an important part of meaningful child and youth engagement. Through communication, advocacy and partnerships, UNICEF seeks to amplify children’s voices and support them to contribute to a better world for every child.

Objectives, Purpose and Expected Results

As part of its child and youth engagement and participation agenda, UNICEF works to equip children and young people with the skills and opportunities to express their views, communicate on issues that affect them, and advocate for their rights. UNICEF also seeks to create meaningful opportunities for children’s voices and perspectives to reach wider public audiences.

Under this contract, the selected provider will train and mentor children to become child journalists and support them to produce content on issues relevant to children, including UNICEF’s priority areas. The provider will facilitate the publication of child-produced content through an established national journalistic news platform, giving children a meaningful platform to share their experiences, perspectives and views.

Through the training, mentorship and content-production process, the programme will build a diverse pool of informed and confident child journalists from different socio-economic and geographical backgrounds. This will strengthen their capacity to participate in national, regional and global child-focused activities and contribute regularly to public discussions through child-produced content.

The expected result is strengthened UNICEF capacity to communicate and advocate for children’s rights and priorities, while creating sustained opportunities for children to inform public discourse through their own voices and perspectives.

Description of Assignment

Through this contract the selected provider will deliver foundation and follow-up trainings for child journalists, support the child journalists to produce journalistic content that promotes their rights, build a pool of aware, communication-savvy, and eloquent children from a broad socio-economic and geographical spectrum, who can participate in UNICEF global, regional, and national activities.

Deliverables

Sl. No.

Description

Time frame

1.

Foundation Training: Conduct 24 two-day foundation training sessions (10 hours per training) in 24 districts for 480 children aged 13–17, within three months of contract signing. The training will cover: (i) knowledge and awareness of child rights and key issues affecting children, including child marriage, investing in children, climate change, health and nutrition, and education; (ii) content and story idea generation; and (iii) technical and journalistic skills, including mobile video/audio recording and editing, different forms of writing (including news reports and opinion pieces), photography, and promotion of U-Report in their communities.

The contractor will identify and select participants through a fair, transparent and systematic process. The participants will comprise 50 per cent girls and 50 per cent boys and will include children from minority, marginalized and diverse socio-economic and geographical backgrounds.

Within three months of contract signing

2.

Follow-up Training: Conduct 24 one-day follow-up training sessions (5 hours per training) in 24 districts for 240 of the most active child journalists . The sessions will reinforce key issues covered during the foundation training, explore selected child rights issues in greater depth, and address technical and journalistic questions and challenges faced by the child journalists.

Over a three-month period, beginning three months after contract signing and ending six months after contract signing

3.

Child-produced Content: Throughout the contract period, proactively and responsively support trained child journalists to produce content on child rights and UNICEF priority issues, including specific topics requested by UNICEF. The provider will facilitate the production of:

i. 960 text-based journalistic stories, accompanied by photographs;

ii. 960 journalistic video reports.

At least 100 stories and/or video reports will focus on child marriage , 100 stories on Health and Nutrition

Throughout the contract period

4.

Content Curation and Publication: Throughout the contract period, proactively identify and, upon request from UNICEF, submit high-quality stories and video reports produced by child journalists for publication on UNICEF platforms. The provider will submit at least four suggested stories and/or video reports each month for UNICEF’s consideration and publication.

Before the end of each calendar month, starting from the 4th month of the contract

and four suggested videos will proactively be shared

with UNICEF before the end of each calendar month.

5.

U-Report Promotion: Throughout the contract period, the provider will support trained child journalists to promote U-Report polls within their communities and encourage children and young people to participate.

Throughout the contract period

6.

Publication of Child-produced Content: Throughout the contract period, the provider will regularly publish the content produced by child journalists through an established national journalistic news platform with a significant and verifiable reach. A minimum of 960 text-based stories and 960 video reports will be published during the contract period.

Throughout the contract period

7.

Maintaining a Pool of Child Journalists: Following the foundation training and throughout the contract period, the provider will:

a) Maintain a pool of at least 50 informed, confident and communication-savvy children from diverse socio-economic and geographical backgrounds, with appropriate representation of the target districts, genders, age groups and children with disabilities, who can participate in UNICEF global, regional and national activities involving children.

b) Upon request, recommend children from the pool who are suitable for specific UNICEF activities and activations, facilitate contact with them, and provide any additional orientation, training or support required to enable their meaningful participation.

c) Provide UNICEF, upon request and at the end of the contract period, with an updated list of the children in the pool, including relevant profile information and contact details.

Throughout the contract period

Reporting requirement

The agency will submit a progress report along with each payment request.

Payment Schedule

20% of the payment will be made in the first month of the project duration once the training plan, module, and list of the children to be trained are submitted

25%of the payment will be made in the second month after completing 12 trainings in 12 districts

25% of the payment will be made in the third month after completing the rest of