RFAs: Media and Adolescent Voice for Child Protection in Tripura (India)

Deadline: 23-Sep-2026

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is seeking organizations to strengthen child protection in Tripura, India by improving ethical and accurate media reporting and increasing adolescent participation in child protection communication. The initiative will support journalist training, collaboration between journalists and Panchayat representatives, adolescent-led reporting, child protection documentation, safeguarding, and long-term institutional integration. The UNICEF child protection initiative in Tripura builds on previous efforts to strengthen systems and community action for child protection. The initiative focuses on two interconnected areas: The program is designed to strengthen collaboration among journalists, local governance representatives, district officials, and adolescents while creating mechanisms for child protection awareness and action. The initiative is structured around four major outcomes: Together, these outcomes are intended to strengthen communication, prevention, accountability, and adolescent participation in child protection. One of the central components is improving the capacity of journalists to report on child protection issues accurately and ethically. Workshops will be organized in high-burden districts and will focus on strengthening journalists’ knowledge and reporting practices. The program will use pre- and post-workshop assessments to measure changes in participants’ knowledge and understanding. Training is expected to contribute to more responsible reporting on issues affecting children and adolescents. The initiative will establish stronger links between journalists, Panchayat representatives, and district officials. Joint activities will bring these stakeholders together to create functional prevention interfaces. The collaboration will involve triads consisting of journalists, Panchayat members, and district officials. These triads will be assigned specific child protection actions and responsibilities related to public accountability. The approach is intended to create stronger connections between media reporting, local governance, and child protection action. Adolescent participation is another key element of the initiative. Existing adolescent clubs will be supported to produce: District consultants will provide support to adolescent clubs as they develop and disseminate their content. The initiative will assess whether adolescent-led reporting contributes to greater awareness and action related to child protection. The program seeks to integrate the Young Reporters model into official guidelines. This approach is intended to create a more sustainable mechanism for adolescent participation in reporting and communication. Embedding the model within formal guidelines can help ensure that adolescent engagement continues beyond the immediate project period. The program will assess the outcomes of adolescent-led reporting to understand its contribution to child protection awareness and action. Assessment will consider the impact of adolescent-generated content and related activities on: The findings can also contribute to documenting approaches that may be useful in other settings. The initiative will document effective practices and lessons from implementation.

It will produce:

Documentation will help capture practical experiences and provide resources for future child protection programming. Safeguarding is embedded throughout the initiative. Organizations implementing activities will need to establish appropriate safeguards when working with children and adolescents.

Key measures include:

These safeguards are particularly important when adolescents participate in content creation or when media activities involve children. Any content involving children that is intended for publication must be supported by informed consent. Confidentiality must also be maintained to protect children from unnecessary exposure or identification. Organizations should ensure that media and communication activities follow appropriate child protection and safeguarding procedures. The initiative requires clear referral pathways for child protection concerns identified during activities. This means participants and implementing organizations should know how and where concerns can be referred for appropriate follow-up. Referral procedures are an important safeguard when journalists, adolescents, community representatives, and officials engage with child protection issues. Long-term sustainability is a central consideration of the initiative. The program proposes to embed a full-time State Child Protection Consultant within the Department of Social Welfare and Social Education. This institutional placement is intended to help maintain coordination and child protection capacity beyond individual project activities. The initiative also seeks to integrate the Young Reporters model into official guidelines. This can provide a formal framework for continuing adolescent engagement and reporting activities after the initial implementation period. The approach emphasizes institutional ownership rather than relying only on short-term project structures. Established media partnerships will be used to support continued reporting on child protection. These relationships can provide a mechanism for ongoing communication and help sustain attention to child protection issues beyond the project’s workshops and activities. The call seeks organizations capable of implementing activities related to: Organizations should demonstrate the institutional capacity and relevant experience needed to work with journalists, adolescents, local governance representatives, and government stakeholders. Organizations preparing an expression of interest should clearly demonstrate how they can deliver the four expected outcomes.

A strong proposal should explain:

Applicants should demonstrate how activities will lead to measurable improvements in child prot