RFP : Survey on Youth & Media in Palestine

UNESCO: Request for Proposals - Survey on Youth and Media in Palestine

Deadline: 4 June 2017
Assignment finalization period - 15 June 2017 to 15 September 2017

The UNESCO Ramallah Office is requesting a written proposal to engage an experienced organization/party to conduct a Survey on Youth and Media in Palestine, in the context of the NET-MED Youth project, which is funded by the European Union and implemented by UNESCO.

INTRODUCTION

The Youth and media survey is being conducted in the framework of the Networks of Mediterranean Youth project, (NET-MED Youth) funded by the European Union and implemented by UNESCO. The objective of NET-MED Youth is to contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for young women and men to develop their competencies, exercise their rights and meaningfully engage as active citizens, particularly in decision-making relating to political, social, economic, educational and cultural policy and planning processes. Toward this overall aim, the project supports actions that encourage mainstream media to become supportive of young people’s interests, to ensure a public space for youth voices to be heard, and to raise awareness of youth rights. It promotes a fair and objective coverage of youth news, rights, achievements and perspectives in mainstream media (with attention paid to fostering a gender and disability sensitive approach), along with the strategic positioning of youth vis-à-vis national policies and programmes particularly affecting them.

In order to contribute to the above, NET-MED Youth will support the implementation of a survey on Palestinian youth’s perceptions regarding national and regional media, in order to facilitate a better understanding on how youth relate to media, how they engage with and are represented in different media platforms.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SURVEY

-Provide an analysis about Palestinian youth’s perception of media in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as in the region, while also assessing the manner in which media portray young women and men.

-Provide information on Palestinian youth’s media use, their opinion about the reliability, credibility, fairness and objectivity of information coming from different media sources; the quality and originality of news media content; as well as their level of trust in media and journalists, among other aspects of relevance.

-Contribute to the development of a youth-led outreach strategy targeting Palestinian media, based on the identification of gaps in existing coverage in terms of mainstreaming youth issues (with special attention paid to youth employment), as well as to the design of media campaign focused on issues of priority for youth and other relevant actions to enhance youth representation in media.


EXPECTED RESULTS OF THE ASSIGNMENT

-Outcome of the assignment:

Palestinian young women and men, national and regional youth development organizations, other civil society actors concerned with youth issues, the media community, national governmental bodies, UNESCO and other international organizations gain understanding on the perceptions of youth in relation to the media in Palestine and in the region. Findings from the survey will serve to promote the improved representation of young women and men in media, the increased frequency in which issues of relevance to them receive coverage, and their access to media platforms. Aiming towards this end, the results of the survey will feed into a youth-led outreach strategy targeting media, as well as to a media advocacy campaign and other media-focused activities contributing to the objectives of the NET-MED Youth project.

-Outputs of the assignment:

A discussion paper presenting:
a) The results of the national survey undertaken through a survey questionnaire delivered among youth aged 18 to 35 years old, covering various Palestinian Governorates.
b) The complementary findings emerging from focus groups organized among young people as well as among other relevant stakeholders, including youth organizations, media professionals, and media focused CSOs, etc. 
c) Recommendations on the design of an outreach strategy targeting media and a media advocacy campaign on the basis of the survey and focus groups findings, as well as regarding the development of other actions in line with the NET-MED Youth project’s component focused on improving youth’s representation and participation in media.

METHODOLOGY

The interested organization/party is expected to include a detailed methodology and a timeline for the assignment in its proposal, based on, but not limited to, the following expected activities to be implemented during the course of the contract with UNESCO:

-Present to UNESCO a detailed work plan proposal and budget.

-Identify a Team Leader for the research, and constitute the team that will undertake it.

-Conduct a desk study of recent studies and surveys (within the last 2-3 years) on Youth and Media in Palestine and at regional level.

-Conduct consultations with local media organizations, media houses, professional associations, academics, and CSOs in order to gather information on aspects relevant to the coverage of youth issues in the national and regional media, as part of the preparatory work for the design of the survey.

-Develop questionnaires (in English and Arabic) for the youth opinion survey and complementary focus groups and share these with the NET-MED Youth project’s focal point in the UNESCO Ramallah Office for clearance so that the resulting feedback can be incorporated before dissemination.

The design and implementation of the questionnaires will follow a gender-sensitive approach and pay attention to the importance of media’s representation of youth from diverse groups in society, including those belonging to vulnerable/marginalized sectors of the population and organize focus groups meetings with young men and women, media professionals, media focused CSOS, youth organizations and other relevant stakeholders.

-Carry out the collection of data and its quantitative and qualitative analysis;

-Based on the analysis of results:
  -    Identify gaps on the extent to which youth issues are mainstreamed in media content,
  -    Map the space for youth to express their views in media,
  -    Analyze the shortcomings in the way youth and the matters of most concern to them, are represented in media (with special attention paid to matters related to youth employment)

-Draft the discussion paper (in English 5-10 pages) on the basis of the information gathered, in close consultation with UNESCO, including recommendations for a youth-led outreach strategy targeting media, a media advocacy campaign and other relevant media-focused activities conducive to achieving the objectives of the NET-MED Youth project.


DURATION

The assignment is expected to start around 15 June 2017 and to be concluded not later than 15 September 2017. The contract will be issued in early June 2017 and the preparations for the inception report could start immediately after that.


ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF UNESCO AND THE INTERESTED ORGANIZATION/PARTY 

The interested organizations/party will:

a)Implement the tasks according to the agreed methodology and work plan, in regular consultation and coordination with the UNESCO Ramallah Office
b)Ensure that the surveys, content, reporting and language presentation requirements are met to the highest standards
c)Ensure that the expected outcome and outputs are delivered within the assigned deadlines
d)Provide all hard and electronic copies of the raw data collected from West Bank and Gaza during the whole assignment

UNESCO Ramallah office will:

a)Provide suggestions on approaches for the development of the research at a formal briefing to be conducted with the selected organization/party
b)Regularly monitor the effective and timely implementation of the contract tasks
c)Review the draft discussion paper provided in English, making suggestions and requesting revisions where necessary (also liaising, as needed, with the NET-MED Youth national Youth Working Groups in the West Bank and Gaza and the European Union);
d)Translate the final version of the discussion paper into Arabic;
e)With drafts provided in English, contribute to the layout design and the publication of the discussion paper
f)Disseminate the final version of the discussion paper (The organization/party may be invited to participate in a formal launch if required)

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE OF INTERESTED ORGANIZATION/PARTY

It is mandatory for the interested organization/party to have the following qualifications and experience:

-At least 5 years of proven experience of similar assignments through concrete project examples and web links provided
-Knowledge of the Palestinian media  and youth landscape
-Strong network of national contacts in the media;
-Research team with proven experience in media research, verified with CVs;
-Ability to carry out field visits and face-to-face surveys in Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) during the contract period is necessary
-The team should have excellent communication skills in both English and Arabic, as well as excellent writing and reporting skills in English and Arabic to draft in either language as specified and provide a clear translation where required.
-Evidence of previous similar working experience with UNESCO or other UN agencies is of added value.


HOW TO APPLY

By the deadline date of 4th June 2017, please submit ALL of the following via email in English to: 

[email protected]

Including the subject:

Proposal: Survey on Youth and Media in Palestine under UNESCO’s NET-MED Youth Project.

The following documents and certifications MUST be provided as part of the evaluation process:

-A proposal (2-3 pages) for the survey, including methodology, time-line and budget quoted in US dollars per activity and with an overall total, according to the outputs foreseen.
-A cover letter with description of the proposed survey team/organization/party interested in undertaking the assignment
-A formal certification in the cover letter that face to face surveys will be conducted in both the West Bank and Gaza within the specified timeline
-2-3 page CVs of each of the members of the proposed team including their educational and professional experience applicable to the assignment.
-Web links to previous similar surveys carried out by the organization/party


Missing, unclear or incomplete information or documentation and evidence of experience as requested above, may exclude you from consideration.

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