1. Background

Community media occupy a critical place in Africa’s media ecosystem. They explore local issues and reflect local values and culture. They are an essential platform for local citizens to voice their concerns and influence policies and events. In most cases they provide a vital alternative to the mainstream media, and most, especially community radio, use local languages to connect with their audiences. This was evident during the Covid-19 pandemic where community media played an important role in informing local citizens and countering misinformation about the pandemic.

The Community Media Fund (CMF) is a project by the Bloomberg Media Initiative in Africa (BMIA) whose grant is administered by Hivos and is aimed at improving citizens’ access to relevant information that enables the public to support policies and practices that drive inclusive economic and human development locally, regionally and nationally.

The project is premised on intervening on the following challenges through support to community media:

1. Community media have limited capacity to counter misinformation by accessing and analyzing locally relevant data, especially data related to finance
2. Misinformation is distorting public debate on climate concerns (see for instance responsibilities and actions of public authorities & civic actors and public health issues during Covid-19)
3. Climate response is not driven by local priorities and concern
4. Public finance and economic affairs lack transparency and civic participation

In line with the above, the projects’ outcomes, through increased support to community media, and community media supporting entities, are as follows:

1. Citizen’s needs and priorities are articulated
2. Governance challenges and resource misuse are exposed
3. Strengthened community media provide sustainable for a for fact-based debate

In 2023, the CMF will make disbursements to grantees in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Previously, the project only worked in Anglophone countries of Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.

2. The assignment

From previous grant-making cycles, as Hivos, we have noted a need to increase the capacity of interested parties to successfully submit good quality applications. The consultant being sought through this call will therefore work with us to design and implement an online training on grants application which is tailor made to the CMF project based on learnings from the two previous granting cycles.

Here you can find more information about the CMF project.

In the past, the project’s partners have been as below and this workshop will also be tailor-made for these types of entities:

• Civil society organizations and NGOs supporting the work of community media practitioners;
• Media training institutions and initiatives to help journalists report on the impact of economic and financial issues in local and marginalized communities;
• Community media outlets, including outlets affiliated with educational institutions;
• Networks of community media;
• Civil society organizations and NGOs supporting initiatives that increase the visibility of emerging non-traditional reporters; and
• Civil society organizations and NGOs focusing on transparency, accountability and promoting financial literacy and inclusive governance at the community level.

3. Scope of the assignment

• The training is to be advertized online through Hivos platforms for all entities interested in applying for the CMF grants.
• Applicant details will be captured through official Hivos email or an online platform developed for purposes of getting grants writing training applicants.
• We anticipate to receive applications from the countries mentioned in section 1.
• Hivos will provide the online platform to be used for the workshop and also the translation and interpretation services needed for purposes of delivering the workshop to French speaking participants.
• Subsequent to the above two processes, the workshop is to be done online. It is estimated the training will have 30 to 100 participants.
• Subsequent to the workshop, a call for concept notes will then be issued for those trained to apply for the CMF grants.
• The consultant is required to keep in mind details in sections 1 to 3 for purposes of application and planning for the training.

4. Consultant qualifications and experience

1. Demonstrated extensive knowledge in grants application processes for media related work
2. Demonstrated experience facilitating capacity building workshops for media related work
3. Working knowledge of thematic areas as described in sections 1-3 above
4. Working knowledge of media and community media work in Africa
5. Demonstrated experience designing and implementing interactive, innovative, and creative online workshops
6. Proof of similar assignments done before

5. Expected deliverables

• A training delivery plan
• A pre- and post-training evaluation report to determine impact of the training
• A training report
• Training materials to be shared with applicants after training

6. Duration

The duration of the consultancy is 5 working days (including preparation and reporting) starting day of signing contract.

7. How to apply

All applications should be send to the address eastafricajobs@hivos.org by February 24, 2023 5pm with the following information:

• 1-page cover letter detailing your experience, why you are the best fit for this assignment, and your proposed general approach to the consultancy
• 2-page maximum CV of consultant and description of any partners or contributing institutions as appropriate
• 1-page financial proposal of how you will deliver the workshop
• 2 examples of similar previous assignments delivered

The email subject should read:

‘APPLICATION FOR CMF GRANTS APPLICATION TRAINING FACILITATOR’

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.