Consultancy to Design Public Awareness, Consumer Awareness & De-Stigmatization Campaign for the Fair Recycling Project Consultancy

Please find complete bidding document in the following link: RFQ 213303 Public Awareness Consultancy

Terms of Reference (TOR)

Public Awareness, Consumer Awareness & De-Stigmatization Campaign for the Fair Recycling Project

1. Context

These TOR are to recruit a consultancy firm to design a public awareness, consumer awareness and de-stigmatization campaign for the Fair Recycling Project in Nairobi Metropolitan areas as well as to review the project’s advocacy capacity, providing strategic advice on how to implement the campaign and improve advocacy activities in general.

Kenya’s plastic pollution problem reflects the global concern of detrimental impacts on the environment and human health. A study by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in 2018 showed that Kenya produces an estimated 500,000 tonnes of plastic per year of which 52% is comprised of plastic packaging (260,000 tonnes). Of these approximately 39,000 tonnes (15%) are recycled annually in the Country while the rest are discarded into the environment or repurposed. Nairobi County generates over 2,400 tons of garbage per day projected to be 3,200 tons per day by the year 2022, of which 68% is domestic. Daily collection is currently between 1,100-1,500 tonnes per day meaning only about 60% of generated waste ends up at the final disposal. Approximately 10% of the generated waste is recycled with the rest ending up in rivers and other undesignated places. Electronic and Hazardous waste, though not the mandate of the county environment sector, has of recent also found its way to Dandora dumpsite. There are three main actors involved in waste collection and transportation. These include the County’s fleet, hired contractors, and the Private Service Providers (PSPs). The CBOs and youth groups (including the waste pickers) are also involved but in a lower capacity.

One of the major challenges in Kenya’s waste and recycling sector is that the bulk of urban waste is either not collected and recycled at all or collected by waste pickers who exist on the fringes of urban societies. They are perceived as outcasts and live a life of abject poverty without any options to escape their situation. Waste pickers in Kenya do their work without basic skills and tools, must contend with unfair, non-transparent prices, and are frequently excluded from social, financial, and healthcare services.

Kenya hosts around 512,000 (registered) refugees (UNHCR), of which 84% reside in the two biggest camps, Dadaab (224,000 people) and Kakuma (206,000 people). Another 80,000 registered refugees reside in urban areas, of which a large part live in Nairobi where the Fair Recycling project has its geographic starting point. Refugees, in general, face substantial barriers to access employment opportunities. Even if those residing in urban areas like Nairobi count on comparatively higher employment rates, they are for the most part unable to earn a (fair) predictable income and also lack access to basic services.

The low income of waste pickers and the (plastic) waste challenge in refugee-hosting areas are closely connected. Both are a result of the same underlying challenge: low value-chain efficiency, limited value-addition, and limited formal organization by waste collectors and value chain stakeholders. Many waste pickers and collection companies operate in a fully informal and unpredictable market. Because there are no formal supply relationships within major parts of the value chain, waste pickers are not incentivized to collect high-quality plastics. Many Kenyan processors can only create low-quality plastic flakes used for low-cost items, resulting in low margins. Limited value addition and a lack of organization lead to low and unpredictable income for waste pickers, as social and financial security nets are non-existent.

The Public Awareness, Consumer Awareness and de-stigmatization Campaign and strategic advice on advocacy, which are to be developed under this TOR, will subsequently be implemented as part of the Fair Recycling Project. Under the Fair Recycling Project that seeks to contribute to the recycling efforts (including refugee-communities), DRC, Mr. Green Africa (MGA) and Unilever, have formed a consortium funded by DMDP (Danida Market Development Partnership) with an objective to improve the lives of Kenyan waste pickers and refugees and reduce the country’s environmental challenges with respect to plastic waste. The project contributes directly to SDG 8 as the main aim of the project is to improve the lives, income, work environment, and social standing of Kenyan waste pickers and refugees. Not only will waste pickers increase their income, but being part of a formal value chain also enables access to training and support, (basic) healthcare, a safer work environment, and being part of a community, all contribute to more resilient communities. The project will also contribute to the growth of a new Green Economy, including Green Jobs. The project will be implemented in Nairobi and immediate surrounding refugee and host communities’ counties (based on an operational and target area mapping exercise by project partners).

The project is structured under 4 project outputs and has a total duration of 3 years.

1. Identification, registration and integration of 1,500 waste pickers (Tier 0 and 1)
2. Transform 500 waste pickers to become Collector Agents (Tier 2 and 3)
3. Develop, pilot and institutionalise 4 effective and sustainable ‘impact boosters’
4. Strengthen Kenya’s plastic waste collection and recycling ecosystem

The following sections of this TOR detail the scope of work and deliverables, timeline, minimum requirements for the consultancy and working arrangements.

1. Scope of Work

The firm hired under these TOR will work with the Fair Recycling Project to review its advocacy capacity and to design a Public and Consumer Awareness Campaign, including the strategy and specific campaign content (posters/billboards, fliers, social media templates, website content, newspaper placements, audio and video/animation-content). This Public and Consumer Awareness Campaign will focus on four distinct but related themes outlined in Table below.

Key Themes of Public and Consumer Awareness Campaign and associated Objectives

Theme

Key Objective

The importance of responsible Plastic uses for resilience against environmental hazards and other climate change impacts in Kenya.

Develop a common public understanding of the importance of plastic waste management in light of worsening climate in Kenya, in particular in cities and towns suffering from littered plastic waste.

The links between health, hygiene, safety, livelihoods improvement and plastic waste management

Raise public understanding of specific plastic and environment related health threats (e.g. diarrheal diseases due to unclean water; COVID-19) and provide concrete, practical tips to consumers on how to safeguard against these.

Fair Recycling role in providing safe urban environment, and the importance of plastic waste in livelihoods development and enterprise development.

Discourage the involvement of children in the plastic waste value chains, SGBV and enhance the response mechanisms

Undertake responsible business conduct campaigns and de-stigmatize the industry and raise consumer awareness

Strengthen Kenya’s plastic collection recycling ecosystem.

Advocate and lobby on inclusive, safe work environment.

Prepare templates / content for advocacy and behavior change communication.

1. Detailed Tasks and Deliverables

The deliverables will consist of three distinct sets of outputs – (a) an Advocacy Capacity Review and associated Policy Recommendations Note / Toolkit; (b) a Public Awareness Campaign Strategy; (c) Media content for the Public Awareness Campaign and Behavior Change.

1. Advocacy Capacity Review

The firm will produce a rapid review of the Fair Recycling Project’s function and recommend required changes to improve the Project’s ability to engage the public coherently and effectively, including in times of crisis like COVID-19, and measures to raise its capacity to implement the planned Public Awareness Campaign.

The Advocacy Capacity Review will cover the following key topics:

• Review of present advocacy and communication activities across the Urban Program;
• Current budget allocated to advocacy and communications, media and appropriateness of equipment available to the Project team;
• Review of existing guidelines and protocols for public communications (if any), including approval hierarchies (e.g. process to approve social media posts, or press releases);
• Current internet, media and social media presence, if any (e.g. review to which extent the project uses the internet / media / social media, and whether it does so effectively);
• Current branding guideline (logos, colors, taglines), if any, and effectiveness thereof;
• Summary SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis with a particular focus on gaps in the present advocacy and communications approach that may negatively impact the project’s image and ability to engage the public effectively;

The review will result in a Policy Recommendations Note / Toolkit on how to improve Fair Recycling Project’s advocacy and communications, and in particular, how to strengthen its ability to successfully implement the Public Awareness Campaign and behavior change communications efforts.

1. Public Awareness Campaign Strategy

The firm will work with Fair Recycling Project Team to develop a multi-faceted public awareness campaign strategy reflecting the four themes outlined in this TOR. The strategy will cover:

• Key Messages: Define key messages for each of the four themes, ensuring that these are concise, coherent, reflective of scientific consensus and effective in the local cultural and socio-economic context; key messages should be in both English and Swahili/Sheng; the messages should be embedded in a strategy with concrete objectives;
• Target Audience: Confirm key target audiences for each of the four themes and associated key messages (these may overlap); the firm is expected to organize at least one focus group for each theme in English and Swahili/Sheng, respectively, to test the relevance and effectiveness of proposed messages with a representative set of the population;
• Advocacy/Outreach Strategy / Channels: Analyse available advocacy (media) channels (local popularity, audience type, cost etc.) and recommend strategy for dissemination of key messages to target audiences, considering cost-effectiveness.

Possible channels for the campaign may include social media (paid- and unpaid), specific newspapers or radio/TV channels/shows; public billboards; use of other (non-media) channels to raise awareness is also encouraged (e.g. discussions in schools; stalls at popular markets or events; project team joining public discussions etc.). Communication channels may differ across themes/audiences e.g. general climate change awareness may call for wide-distribution via radio, whereas messages targeting MGA suppliers may require more targeted channels. A strategy coordinating the various channels and themes is expected.

A key channel to be explored is person-to-person / door-to-door outreach, in particular for the campaign themes related to pricing and the introduction of the Fair Recycling project.

Partners & Champions: Analysis of potential partners and champions to amplify the project’s outreach and support the planned campaign – this may include local community leaders; local celebrities; officials; or NGOs active in the sector, as well as an assessment of their proposed roles in the campaign;

• Audio-Visual and other Content: In line with the strategy, confirm content to be produced by the firm for the public awareness campaign for each theme;
• Timeline and Roll-out Plan: Based on the identified objectives, key messages, target audiences, outreach strategy, partners/champions, identified distribution channels and proposed media content, develop a specific roll-out plan and timeline for the campaign;
• Budget: The consultancy will identify a detailed budget for the proposed campaign / media plan, including proposed sponsorships and media/advertisement purchases as necessary, confirming current local prices; any additional staff / temporary staff needs (e.g. to staff stalls, or hand-out fliers) should be identified, relying as much as possible on existing project team; any events (e.g. launch event / press conference) should be part of this budget;
• Framework for evaluation: Based on the campaign objectives, the strategy should define a plan to evaluate the impact and success of the campaign;

( c ) Media Content

The precise media content to be produced by the firm will be confirmed by the Public Awareness Campaign Strategy (see above).

A common visual identity (this may be based on existing Project- DRC/MGA/UNILEVER corporate logo/guidelines, if any) to be used in all content of the public awareness campaign and other communications tasks (e.g. standardized taglines, color scheme and logo for all posters, video-content, social-media posts etc.);

• Video content for social media, public events and/or TV advertisements: 15 animated video-clips of no longer than 3 minutes;
• Audio content:
  • 8 short local-language audio-clips with an average length of 30-60 seconds suitable for distribution through radio advertisements or social media;
  • Talking points on each of the four themes for use by Project management during public / media discussions;
• print advertisements for national / local newspapers;
• Social-media content: At least 100 prepared social media posts for distribution on Twitter / Facebook / Instagram/LinkedIn. These should be concise, privileging striking messages and visual content;
• billboard designs reflective of the key themes and messages;
• Live Event: Content and discussion guidelines for a public event of no more than one hour to engage live audiences (e.g. for schools or public community discussions);

Technical proposals of shortlisted firms may propose other optional content, but for comparability, financial proposals should be based on the above.

1. Roles and responsibilities of the consultant

The consultant is expected to design a public awareness, consumer awareness and de-stigmatization campaign for the Fair Recycling Project to the required standards. They will be expected to lead in the day-to-day management of this consultancy exercise activities, including coordinating field level data collection and engagement, analysis, design and report write up. The consultant is expected to regularly consult and inform consortium partners.

The general responsibilities are:

• Review of program documents and preparation of inception report and data collection tools for review and feedback
• Review of existing secondary literature to inform the development of conceptual framework, campaign material and data collection tools
• Develop the data collection schedule, campaign material dummies/prototypes and select respondents to participate in interviews
• Select and Lead training of data enumerators/designers
• Conduct data collection and or prototypes development
• Perform data quality checks to ensure accuracy, validity and integrity of data collected
• Conduct data cleaning, processing and analysis
• Prepare and submit a draft report and other products for review and feedback
• Validate findings with DRC and project partners i.e., preliminary Presentation of Report
• Submit final report and annexes

1. Roles and Responsibilities for DRC and project partners

• Provide the required project information to the consultant, these include project proposals and log frames and any type of research already performed on the target groups
• Provide technical review of inception reports and (data collection) tools and quantitative data formats
• Approval of inception reports, tools, quantitative data formats and data collection schedule
• Mobilization of relevant community level stakeholders to participate in interviews
• Participation in the data collection as informants where applicable
• Technical review and providing comments on draft report
• Mobilization of stakeholders to participate in validation workshop
• Approval of final report and annexes

1. Working arrangements
   1. Reporting

The consultancy firm will be reporting to the Project Manager, coordinating closely with the Project Officer -Advocacy.

1. 1. Duration

The engagement will be for 30 working days.

1. 1. Facilities & Inputs by the Project Team

The Project Team will share available project data and information, and make required introductions to other relevant organizations staff/teams.

1. 1. Payments

Payments will be carried out on three instalments of 30% , 30% and 40% payments based on deliverables of satisfactory quality to the Consortium partners.

1. Selection Criteria and Minimum Requirements

The firm is expected to meet or exceed the following requirements:

• Experience in consulting / advising on Advocacy and corporate communications, preferably including the public sector in Kenya;
• Proven track record of designing and planning advocacy and creative communications campaigns, preferably in the context of public services/environmental protection/behaviour change;
• Prior exposure to the waste management/sanitation/public-health sectors strongly preferred;
• Proven experience translating core messages into effective products across multiple mediums (e.g. graphic design for billboards/fliers/posters; audio- and video-production capacity; event organization etc.);
• Prior experience in Humanitarian sector and conflict sensitive/ child labour areas advocacy and communications context;
• Ability to operate fluently in English, and local languages;
• Key personnel shall include the following specializations:
  • Team Leader: Experienced advocacy and communications professional with at least 10 years of work experience, preferably including in Urban areas and with public service providers; the team leader will be responsible for coordinating the team, communications with the project manager and the project team, and the overall direction, quality and timeliness of all outputs;
  • Socio-Cultural Specialist / Anthropologist: This specialist will ensure that messages and graphic elements of the public awareness campaign are framed in a manner that is effective and appropriate in the local cultural context. The specialist must have a proven track-record of work in Nairobi and knowledge of local language dynamics(sheng) prior experience in the waste management/Environment public health sector would be an asset;
  • Humanitarian Sector / Protection / Gender Specialist: This specialist will help refine messaging and ensure that final content is focused on relevant plastic waste picking/refugee/ people of concern priorities, and communicates these clearly and accurately (e.g. best-practice, locally appropriate advice on waste management);
  • Graphic Designer: Experienced graphic designer with background in advertisement and keen sense of how to communicate core messages effectively through images and graphic design;
  • Video/Audio Editor and Animator: Experienced video/audio editor, preferably with ability to implement animations (e.g. in Adobe After Effects / Animator);

The firm may include a budget for local artists to support design or other outputs (e.g. voice-overs) in a locally appropriate manner.

1. Data Protection and Confidentiality

While executing this assignment, the consultant and all the parties involved shall ensure effective protection of confidential and sensitive data and information in conformity with the humanitarian and protection principles and to applicable legal data protection standards1. All data collection and processing activities shall be executed in accordance with the following principles:

• Safeguarding individuals’ personal data is a crucial part of the humanitarian mission to protect the lives, integrity and dignity of beneficiaries and participants and is fundamental in the provision of protection response and humanitarian aid.
• People-centred and inclusive: The assignment activities will respect the interests and well-being of the population in all relevant phases of the assignment and must be sensitive to age, gender, PLWD, and other issues of diversity.
• Do No Harm: This assignment activities must include a risk assessment and take steps, if necessary, to mitigate identified risks. The risk assessment must look at negative consequences that may result from data collection and subsequent actions.
• Defined purpose and proportionality: The purpose must be clearly defined and explained to the participants in the data collection process.
• Informed consent and confidentiality: Personal information may be collected only after informed consent has been provided by the individual in question and that individual must be aware of the purpose of the collection. Further, confidentiality must be clearly explained to the individual before the information may be collected. Consent must be genuine, based on the data subject’s voluntary and informed decision.
• Data protection and security: The assignment process must adhere to international standards of data protection and data security.
• Competency and capacity: Actors engaging in this assignment are accountable for ensuring that study activities are carried out by a competent team who have been trained appropriately.
• Impartiality: All steps of the assignment must be undertaken in an objective, impartial, and transparent manner while identifying and minimizing bias.

Please find complete bidding document in the following link: RFQ 213303 Public Awareness Consultancy

Tagged as: Danish Refugee Council, Kenya