Background Information and Rationale, Project Description

The Philippines’ initial response to COVID 19 has seen the early enforcement of the enhanced community quarantine that has helped reduce the number of infected people. Strong macro-economic fundamentals may prevent the country from a severe recession. An initial social amelioration program of US$ 3.99 billion is being implemented to provide additional cash transfers to 18 million affected families, and 3.5 million employees of small-and-medium-enterprises are being assisted with an additional USD 1 billion. Credit, relief supplies and food aid has helped some low-income communities. Medical equipment is being delivered.

Significant challenges however remain. GDP will contract significantly and maybe less than 1% and possibly in negative figures for 2020, and the nature of economic recovery in the out years remains unclear at this point. A significant uptick in cases is still possible across the country placing huge stress on the health system. Informal laborers, traders, and small farmers face a catastrophic impact as local value chains are disrupted. Day and contract workers have seen their incomes disappear. Domestic violence has risen in certain quarantined communities. Access to medical services has been uneven. Procurement options are limited with huge demands on global supply, and the flow of essential supplies is severely tested. Cash payments to the most in need through a largely manual system will constrain timely and transparent disbursements.

The Covid-19 pandemic has allowed governments to cast a pall of fear, truncate public discourse on major public policy issues, and foist false dichotomies between public health and inalienable freedoms. In the Philippines, more than just a public health crisis, the pandemic has pushed to acute proportions multiple pre-existing issues of inequality, disregard for the rule of law and due process, and lingering iniquitous state policies and programs.

To finance its Covid-19 response efforts, the Philippine Government allocated PhP275 billion through the Bayanihan to Heal as One Law, with the bulk of the funds sourced from reallocated and realigned items in the 2020 budget. The Bayanihan 2 law proposes to allocate all only PhP120 billion to sustain mitigation and social-amelioration efforts. There are concerns that the Government is being conservative, with Covid-19 spending not commensurate to the economic stress the country experiences. Similar concerns have been raised about the judicious use of limited resources, even as allegations of corruption and overpriced procurement remain unanswered, unsettled.

Colossal amounts of the national budget, multilateral loans, and donor money have been deployed to support flawed and ineffectual social amelioration programs; rushed and limited monitoring and mitigation of the disease; and a slew of service-delivery and contact-tracing apps and tech solutions, including some writ with furtive designs for greater surveillance of citizens.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the support of the Embassy of Japan has agreed with the project entitled “Enhancing Human Security in the Philippines by Addressing the Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 in the Philippines”.  Among which the project support is strengthening the capacities of the Commission on Human Rights in working with community groups in promoting and protecting human rights under the quarantine measures. 

In this regard, UNDP seeks a Contractor who shall produce a video documentary of local case stories of the vulnerable sectors during the period of the quarantine period of COVID-19.

Specific Objectives

The project shall document on video the local stories of vulnerable sectors under the quarantine period of COVID-19, targeting the marginalized sectors, i.e. farmers, fisherfolk, women, children, informal settlers, and low-income families, as well as the destitute towns and cities that recorded high numbers of COVID-19 cases but with poverty, hunger, and joblessness on the rise, they remain the most vulnerable communities. It also attempts to look into the Philippine economy and finance during COVID 19, that is the remittances from migrant workers, the retail and services sector, tourism, transportation, the business-process outsourcing industry, and small and medium enterprises – are nearly all in a state of limbo or disrepair.

Approach and Methodology

The mini-documentaries shall include 6-7 minutes of on-line interviews, infographics, and info on the implementation of the communications plan, as well as enable CHR Team with the capacity-building and ancillary activities. These audio-visual presentations will be used for the series of webinars or online sharing/learning events on human rights with CSOs, human rights defenders, civil servants, teachers, and student/youth groups to expound on the research and recommendations of the reports.

As internet and communications services would allow, e-interviews with these sectors may include farmers, fisherfolk, agricultural workers, informal settlers, women/mothers, children, health workers, students, teachers, families of drug-war victims, persons deprived of liberties during the pandemic, construction/part-time workers, migrant workers, jeepney/tricycle drivers, retail establishment operators, business-process outsourcing personnel, delivery-service workers, maintenance/sanitation services workers, market vendors, workers of the tourism/hospitality sector, part-time cultural/media workers/artists, indigenous peoples, persons with a disability, and CSO/human rights defenders.

After the mini-documentaries have been completed, webinars or online sharing/learning events will be done with CHR to mount the case stories, with the advice and approval UNDP Institutions and Partnerships Team Leader and with technical assistance from CHR’s Focal person from the Education and Promotion Office and/or Strategic Communication Office.

Below is a list of the outputs and their corresponding target delivery due dates:

Key Performance Indicators and Service Level

The Contractor shall have the expertise in broadcast journalism or production of video documentaries for broadcast and online media, , planning and execution of case content planning, development and publication, conducting strategic communication training and, establishing of online presence or implementing social media campaigns.

Governance and Accountability

The Contractor shall:

• Work closely with UNDP’s Programme Analyst from the Institutions and Partnerships
• Report to CHR and UNDP on the progress and results of agreed deliverables of the work
• Work with Focal from the Educational and Promotion Unit, Communication’s Office and Policy Office, and the Office of Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit of the Commission on Human Rights throughout the project
• Assist CHR in the development of content and messaging including the packaging of the stories for the CHR series of platforms and dialogues/ consultations
• Assist CHR in developing strategic communications and dissemination plan for the case stories and dissemination plan via on-line and off-line media platforms
• Conduct post-mortem e-training for CHR Communication personnel
• Render title card from the start and closing, following the branding guidelines of CHR and UNDP
• Prepare the presentation and attends the scheduled review of UNDP and HR
• Ensure timely implementation of activities and submission of deliverables

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) shall:

• Provide the rights-based perspective and framing to the case content and messages of the local stories of the vulnerable sectors; link UN treaty and charter-based instruments including the universal periodic review’ to contextualize the report;
• Provide stock photos, information and graphics, list resource persons and experts including the location of the proposed subjects (vulnerable sectors), brief situation of the targeted vulnerable sectors; possible menu of stories; and resource materials such as issued policy advisories on the sectors;
• Meet with the Contractor and UNDP on a bi-monthly basis;
• Provide the title card from the start and closing and CHR branding guidelines; and
• Participate and attend the review and approval of the case study reports with UNDP

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) shall:

• Oversee the implementation of the project and closely coordinate with the Contractor and CHR;
• Advertise request for proposal submissions, evaluate submitted proposals, procure and contract the service provider/ Contractor;
• Set the schedules for review of the case study reports (draft/ final) with the Contractor & CHR;
• Facilitates the documents and payment of services rendered by the Contractor; and
• UNDP Institutions and Partnerships and CHR Education and Promotion Office to provide technical advisory to CHR and Contractor during the project implementation

Facilities to be provided by UNDP

None.

Expected duration of the contract/assignment

The contract is valid for a period of 80 days spread over 6 months (October 2020 to April 2021) .

Duty Station

The Contractor’s duty station is Manila. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and declaration of State of Public Health Emergency in the Philippines, all work of the Contractor shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local government. During the quarantine period, the Contractor shall NOT BE REQUIRED TO ENGAGE in any meetings or activities OUTSIDE THEIR HOMES. coordination/meetings shall be done through phone or online communication until such time that the quarantine is lifted. This is STRICTLY an OUTPUT/ HOME-BASED assignment; NO TRAVEL IS REQUIRED for the Contractor to complete their abovementioned tasks. Related costs for the engagement shall be borne by the Consultant and should be included in the Contractor’s Offer Letter.

Price and Schedule of Payments

• The cost components that the Contractor must include in the computation of contract price, including professional fee (daily fee X number of working days), inclusive costs to be incurred to support internet and Wi-Fi connectivity, transportation expenses, other operations need of the case-study subjects and the project team, in the course of data-gathering and e-interviews for the case study content,  and conduct of meetings.

• The contract price is a fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specific duration and shall observe the following payment schedule

Duties and Responsibilities

The Contractor is expected to deliver the following outputs/ results

• Produce at least 12  case studies video documentaries (about 10 minutes each) to present studies and posting on the website, FB, You Tube and Twitter platforms of the CHR. The documentaries will offer situational context reports on how the pandemic has affected the most vulnerable and the most impoverished social sectors.
• Provide at least 12 infographics on the context/provisions of applicable human rights protocols to the situation of the case-study subjects that could be publish as companion resource materials to the reports.
• Conduct e-consultation and post-mortem e-meetings with CHR and UNDP to focus and assess the findings and recommendations of the audio-video case study reports.
• Assist the CHR in the posting of the audio-video case study production in the CHR website as a special page that could be titled “Covid-19 PH: Stories on Vulnerable Sectors under the New Normal”.

Support CHR webinars or online sharing/learning events to mount and expand the discussion on the research and recommendations of the reports with CSOs, human rights defenders, civil servants, teachers, and student/youth groups

Competencies

Corporate competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional and technical competencies

• Ability to work in a diverse and multi-cultural environment;
• Self-motivated and ability to work under pressure and to meet strict and competing deadlines;
• Displays analytical judgment and demonstrated ability to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;

Required Skills and Experience

Candidates will be evaluated based on the Combined Rating methodology:

• Technical qualifications = 70%
• Financial Proposal =    30%

Applicants who will only receive 70 points from the assessment of the CV will be qualified for the assessment of the Financial Proposal. 

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Interested applicants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications at this given link https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=94492. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document. 

1. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references; and
2. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP; Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 
3. Portfolio of at least 2 samples of previous work done.

Interested applicants to note that personal Medical/health insurance (to be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense) is mandatory for the issuance of contracts. Upon award of the contract, the consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during the contract duration.

The following templates / Annexes and IC General Terms & Conditions can be downloaded from http://gofile.me/6xdJm/bE9TCw8fU:

• General Terms and Conditions for Individual Contract
• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability
• P-11 form

In view of the volume of applications, UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.