CFAs: Strategic Communications and Media Engagement Training Provider, Sawt Activity (Jordan)

The Strengthening Civil Society and Media Systems (Sawt) Activity is implemented by Internews in partnership with Mercy Corps and the International Center for Non-Profit Law (ICNL). Sawt aims to foster sustained civic engagement in Jordan through civil society and digital media innovations through two objectives:

• Good, Trusted Knowledge-Building Resources
• Participation & Advocacy

Objectives

• The envisioned Strategic Communications and Media Engagement Training aims to achieve the following objectives:
  • For CSOs with Basic Level of Media and Communications Capacities:
    • Foundational Knowledge: Provide CSOs with a sufficient understanding of the fundamental concepts of communications, strategic communications, and media engagement and advocacy, in the context of establishing effective partnerships for collaboration and positive contribution towards the information environment.
    • Community Listening and Engagement: Provide CSOs with the skills to conduct open and genuine conversations to actively involve community members in discussing their priorities, information needs, and information consumption preferences using the Listening Post approach (LP).
    • Capacity Building: Enhance the skills and capacity of CSOs to conduct effective community listening to address information needs, focusing on:
      • Information Gathering: Where possible, provide a platform for community members to share vital information, ensuring their voices are heard, and valuable insights are captured.
      • Stakeholder Collaboration: Encourage collaboration between local media, community stakeholders, and partner organizations to address community information needs and priorities collaboratively.
      • Awareness and Advocacy: Raise awareness on pressing community issues, enabling informed advocacy efforts to drive positive change.
      • Feedback Mechanism: Establish a continuous feedback loop between community members and stakeholders, ensuring responsiveness to evolving needs.
  • For CSOs with Advance Level of Media and Communications Capacities:
    • Strategic Communications and Media Partnerships: Assist partner CSOs in enhancing their existing media and communications strategies by helping them identify clear priorities in terms of their engagement with media and have the means and tools to engage them to achieve their advocacy or public policy goals.
      • Media Handling: Help partner CSOs deepen their understanding of how media operates as well as journalists and their outlook in terms of framing and coverage. This includes developing the capacity to map and identify relevant types and channels of media, understanding parameters that govern their work, including what policies they work under such as editorial policies and how it affects their coverage.
      • Deploying Media and Communications Tactics for Effective Advocacy: Provide partner CSOs with recommended organizational communication tools and activities (press release, media kit, newsletter, information sessions and briefings, events, sponsorships) to effectively engage with journalists and media partners as part of conducting media advocacy, leading to a deepened institutional understanding of how and when to share information with the media.

Priorities 

• The Strategic Communications and Media Engagement Training provider (henceforth referred to as provider) will contribute to realizing this priority by enhancing the media and communications capabilities of two specific groups:
  • Cohort 1: 44 CSOs who are enrolled in civil society capacity building programs known as Sawt Advocacy Partners and are already engaged in its capacity building activities.
  • Cohort 2: 15-20 CSOs Sawt is targeting to enroll in Sawt Advocacy Partners program during the fourth implementation year (1 October 2024 – 1 October 2025).

Scope of Work

• Preparation:
  • Review existing capacities assessments and conduct any additional knowledge or capacities assessment for partner CSOs to inform the design and delivery of training.
  • Reviewing and utilizing Sawt’s resources to develop training materials and activities suitable for the targeted trainees representing wide ranging groups of Jordanian CSOs.
  • Expected duration needed 14 working days.
• Training Delivery:
  • Conduct a 6-day training session for the Advance-level CSOs and a 3-day training session for the Basic-level CSOs.
  • The Advance-level training shall be conducted for 4 groups of CSOs depending on their geographic location.
  • The Basic-level training shall be conducted  once in a single location for all CSOs in that group.
• Reporting:
  • Providing a brief observation report following each training session, summarizing topics covered, participants’ engagement and feedback, and other notable developments.
  • Submitting a consolidated final report, integrating insights from all training sessions, and analyzing overall outcomes and impact and future training needs.

Eligibility Criteria

• The organization must be legally registered and has permission to operate in Jordan.

Required Qualifications

• The organization must have a documented record of employed staff or consultants with university degrees or recognized certification in media, communications, journalism, public relations or a relevant field of study or relevant certification.
• The organization must have a proven recent experience of designing and implementing impactful media and communication trainings, capacity assessments, and impact reporting in Jordan or MENA region, showcased through recent case studies, project reports, or client testimonials.
• The organization must have a proven experience of delivering trainings and mentor coaching in Arabic and produce reports on them in English, showcased through samples of recent training materials, project reports, or client testimonials.

For more information, visit Internews.