Procurement Notices

Building peace through promoting inclusive and participatory transitional justice processes and mechanisms aims to contribute to strengthened accountability for current and past human rights violations through interventions that promote truth, healing and reconciliation as well as through design and implementation of inclusive, transparent, gender-sensitive and victim-centered solutions to address the legacies of massive human rights violations.

The violence in South Sudan has a devastating impact on communities as it has further weakened and destabilized coping mechanisms, and peace building initiatives. The violence has disproportionately affected youth and women, people with disabilities (PWD) and internally displaced persons (IDP) with negative consequence on their lives and livelihoods. 

Women and youth face enormous challenges in the context of overarching neglect of the citizenry by weak governance, corruption, internal armed conflict, ethnic based violent conflict, and competition of the economy and natural resources. These factors have led to an erosion of the social fabric, contributing to high rates of youth exclusion and disenfranchisement. Young men and women are often disproportionately affected by conflict and at high-risk of being influenced to fuel the cycle of conflict. They equally face other barriers preventing them from engaging with transitional justice processes due to lack of knowledge and capacity to engage meaningfully with redress mechanisms.

Restrictions on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association are another key obstacle for the transitional justice and broader peace building process. Incidents of harassment, intimidation, arbitrary arrest, and detention of civil society activists and human rights defenders form part of a systematic pattern of repression and epitomize the ever-increasing shrinkage of civic space in South Sudan. However, without adequate civic space, the media, victims, survivors, witnesses, affected communities and their representatives will not be able to safely and meaningfully participate in transitional justice processes due to fear of harassment, intimidation, and threats of reprisal. Addressing ongoing human rights violations linked to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association is therefore vital in enabling all South Sudanese to freely express their views in transitional justice and peacebuilding process. One of the key challenges in ensuring this, is the availability of suitable spaces that are neutral and easily accessible, to support information-sharing, discussions, access counselling, report incidents and violations as such, the project will seek to create awareness and build the capacity of journalist and media houses to ensure they are well informed on gender sensitive reporting on the truth, reconciliation, and healing, including consultations and engagement with the CTRH.

The media play a key role in ensuring that all segments of population receive and have access to adequate information on the TJ mechanisms such as the CTRH process, its consultations, as well as the broader transitional justice and peacebuilding process. The media can also play and active role as agents of social change. An independent and effective media is a prerequisite for a successful transitional justice process. The capacity of a media on transitional justice process is thereby key to enable them to impart accurate and useful information and address concerns around misinformation, hate speech and other such practices that can be experienced during a transitional justice process. It is important to advance the constructive roles of the media in the transitional justice processes. Thus, it is required that journalists understand transitional justice process in order to report on it regularly, fairly, objectively and responsibly. 

Against this backdrop, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) are seeking the services of a competent and reputable registered Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations, or community-based organization to strengthen the capacity of media organizations on transitional justice processes in Greater Equatoria, Greater Bahr el Ghazel & Greater Upper Nile

1. Objective 

The objective of the grant is to strengthen the capacity of media organizations on transitional justice processes:

1. Strengthen the capacity of media (radio, TV, social media, print,) to report objectively on the 3 transitional justice mechanisms especially the Commission of Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing.
2. Build the capacity of  journalists and media houses in each region to design civic education material and develop digestible information on transitional justice using jungles, advertisements etc in English, Juba Arabic and selected local languages.
3. Train and support radio stations (20 community radios as well as UNMISS Radio Miraya) to conduct outreach and distribute information at national and local level to reach 3,500,000 people, including programming in local languages and programming targeting women, girls, PWDs, IDPs and other marginalized group.
4. Support the organization of at least 15 talk shows, 6 round tables, 6 gender-sensitive discussions, etc. in each region creating opportunities for media to engage vulnerable groups.
5. Provide journalists in each region with advanced newsgathering and reporting skills on transitional justice in their specific area (TV, radio, Print).
6. Increase the capacity of journalists in each region to contribute meaningfully to CTRH process and other TJ mechanisms.
7. Equip at least journalist and media houses in each region with the necessary skills to deliver live and recorded radio and TV interviews on transitional justice and peacebuilding.

1. Expected output

The organizations are encouraged to develop their own expected results based on their respective assessment of needs, issues, and challenges during the period of implementation. 

Expected results will include the following:

1. 100 journalists per location are trained and couched to impart accurate and useful information and address concerns around misinformation, hate speech and other such practices that can be experienced during a transitional justice process. 

1. 10 community radios per location as well as UNMISS Radio Miraya are supported to disseminate peace messages to reach 3,500,000 people, including programming in local languages and programming targeting women, girls, IDPs and other marginalized group.

1. 10 talk shows and 5 round tables gender-sensitive discussions are held per location between the media and vulnerable groups.