National Individual Consultant – EZ-Kar Project, Component 1

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

EZ-Kar Project, Component 1

PositionNational Individual Consultant
EmployerMoFA – Eshteghal-Zaiee – Karmondena Project (Ez-Kar), Component 1
Duty StationKabul, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
DurationShort term (as per the TOR)
Reporting SupervisorPIU Coordinator
Salary Range As per the organization salary scale  
GenderMale/ Female

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – Individual SELECTION)

Afghanistan

Ez-Kar Component 1

Loan No./Credit No./ Grant No.: TF-A9092, D416-AF

Assignment Title: INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT TO DEVELOP THE “COMMUNICATION STRATEGY” FOR SUBCOMPONENT 1.2; PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO AFGHAN REFUGEES IN PAKISTAN

Reference NoAF-EZ-KAR_MOFA-PIU-184800-CS-INDV

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Ez-Kar Component 1, The Eshtighal Zaiee – Karmondena (EZ-Kar) is a project of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) that aims to strengthen the enabling environment for economic opportunities in cities where there is a high influx of displaced people. This will be pursued by increasing the returnees’ access to civil documents, providing short-term employment opportunities, improving market enabling infrastructure, and supporting investor-friendly regulatory reforms. The Project consists of five components, which are Component 1: Regional and National Integration of Displaced Persons, implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR); Component 2: Short-Term Employment Opportunities, Reforms, and Market Enabling Infrastructure under IDLG, implemented by IDLG; Component 3: Prioritized Urban Investments in Four Provincial Capital Cities, implemented by IDLG; Component 4: Market Enabling Infrastructure and Reforms for Kabul Municipality, implemented by Kabul Municipality; and Component 5: Red Carpet and Program Coordination, implemented by the Ministry of Economy (MoEC).  [TF-A9092, D416-AF] financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the [insert name of project or grant], and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services.

This assignment deals with the implementation of Component 1 (particularly Subcomponent 1.2) of the Project. Subcomponent 1.2: “Provision of information to Afghan refugees in Pakistan” will finance information services to be provided to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan to help support their decision making on repatriation based on factual information and reintegration in Afghanistan. The information will be provided in both demand-driven (responding to inquiries made by individuals) and supply-driven (widely disseminating commonly helpful information) methods.

To provide demand-driven (responsive) information, information centers will be set-up at four Afghan MoFA missions (Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta) in Pakistan to receive and respond to specific questions by refugees related to legal issues, business registration, asset transfers, transaction of assets (real estates, business investments), education certificates, protection services, among others. The Information Centers will be complemented by a helpline (call center) and a website, which will respond to similar queries. The information centers will be staffed with the EZ-Kar ‘s project staff, while the helpline will be out-sourced to a private firm. The private firm will develop a response manual, which will be used by both the helpline and information center staff, who will all be trained with the manual. The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) and the following staff of the EZ-Kar Component 1 staff will provide inputs to these manuals: (a) Information and Knowledge Management Specialist; (b) Information Analysis Specialist; and (c) Communications Specialist.

To provide supply-driven information, a communications and advocacy firm will be contracted to proactively and widely disseminate key information that can be beneficial and helpful to Afghan refugees in Pakistan through various communication means, such as announcements in social media, distribution of posters/brochures/flyers, TV/radio commercials, and other advertisements and campaign activities.  The types of information include: (i) benefits of and ways to obtain machine-readable passports; (ii) specific assistance that can be provided to prospective returnees and how they can be accessed. The communication activities need to be coordinated with other existing sources of information and communications activities in order to avoid duplications and generate synergies.

A joint-MoFA/MoRR communications strategy that defines contents, audience, and modalities of information to be provided in detail will be developed. Once the joint communications strategy has been developed, a social media coordinator and a communications firm will be hired to implement the communications strategy under the supervision of MoRR and MoFA. The information centers at the Afghan missions in Pakistan may also implement parts of the communications strategy by placing and distributing communications materials (e.g. posters, brochures, leaflets). However, the communications strategy will not include other demand-driven information services at the information centers and the helpline.  

A Joint Communications Committee will be established among MoFA, MoRR, and the NSIA – National Statistics Information Authority. NSC and in consultation with GoP – Government of Pakistan i.e MoI Ministry of Interiors and SAFFRON to review and approve communications materials.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment is in Annex 1

Or can be obtained at the address given below: mofa.ezkar@gmail.com

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs now invites eligible (“Individual Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are Educational.

Qualifications:

  • Master’s or bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, international development, public policy or another relevant field.

Work Experience:

  • Minimum 10 Years `of work experience in the field of communication, journalism, policy analysis and strategic planning.
  • Proven experience of developing communication strategies targeting a wide range of audience in fragile contexts.
  • Experience of media market assessment and analysis of the information channels.
  • Experience of working with the government agencies, international organization and the NGO community that work in the field of migration and refugees is a plus.
  • Experience in community consultations (such as through focus group discussions) is a plus.

Other Qualifications/Skills:

  • Proven strong analytical skills to analyses national policies and action plans, ideally with previous working experience in Afghanistan/Pakistan.
  • Substantial knowledge of migration and refugee affairs in Afghanistan/Pakistan an advantage.
  • Excellent communications skills, written, spoken, compression, interpersonal and cross cultural.
  • Research and information analysis skills.
  • Fluency in English (Reading and Writing). Excellent knowledge of Dari and Pashto languages.
  • Ability to work under tight deadlines, across different teams and organizations.
  • Excellent team player and networking skills.

Eligibility requirements in compliance with paragraphs 3.21, 3.22, & 3.23 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers, Procurement in investment Projects Financing, Goods, Works, Non-Consulting and Consulting Services July 2016.

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 3.16 and 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers, Procurement in investment Projects Financing, Goods, Works, Non-Consulting and Consulting Services July 2016, setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. In addition, please refer to the following information on conflict of interest related to this assignment as per paragraph 3.16 and 3.17 of World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers available at www.worldbank.org/

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Individual Consultant Selection method set out in the Procurement Regulations.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 8:00 Am to 4:00 PM, Kabul Afghanistan Local time.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (mofa.ezkar@gmail.ocm; and CC: s.seddeqi@mfa.af ) by December 31, 2020 time 04:00 PM.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Attn: Mr. Sher Mohammad Seddeqi

Malik Asghar Squar, Shah Mahmood ghazi, Kabul Afghanistan

Tel: 009320 210 77 48

Annex 1