Antecedentes

Over the past two years the Independent Media Commission, supported by UNDP and UNESCO, took the initiative to outline a national strategy for media development in Sierra Leone. Ahead of this initiative, a study was carried out to map the capacity needs of the media sector and particularly of the professional media associations through a number of stakeholder workshops. The key problems for the media sector were identified through interviews with managers and editors from more than 30 public, community and commercial media houses. The strategy was subsequently launched in May 2014.

The Media Development Strategy demands strong commitments and active participation from all partners and is being implemented by the Media Reform Coordinating Group. The group members are senior representatives from the most important media actors in Sierra Leone including Mass Communications/Fourah Bay College. The other members are the Independent Media Commission (IMC); the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC); Guild of Editors (GoE); Women in Media in Sierra Leone (WIMSAL); Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ); Sierra Leone Reporters Union (SLRU); Independent Radio Network (IRN); Cotton Tree News (CTN). 

Objective 4 of the media development strategic plan is:

• To strengthen professionalism and sustainability of organizations and improved people’s participation in media development and content.

It is under this objective that the review of the media curriculum falls. Specifically “A mechanism for coherent and coordinated training is established available to all regions and media houses with different levels of practical training, short courses, in-house coaching, academic education and development of unified curricula/syllabus for journalism training.”

The consultant should work on reviewing the media curriculum and designing market-driven media trainings and courses. It is expected that the consultant will conduct a wide consultation with staff, students, media professionals and other stakeholders to help form their recommendations for reform. They should also be familiar with regional and international best practice in third level teaching of media and the constantly evolving media market students face when graduating.

 Impact of Results

As the country is moving from peace building and consolidation phase to a development phase, the media has the opportunity to play an important role in this development. The meagre media market and strong competition make some of the media test the limits or even break them with sensational stories, brown envelope journalism, blackmail and allegiance to certain political and economic interests that finance some of the media. Low professionalism, low ethics and a politicised content constitute further challenges to the media environment. It is expected that improved education at university level can alleviate some of these issues and better equip mass communications graduates to face the reality of a difficult environment for media professionals.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Functions / Key Results Expected

• The consultant will firstly review the existing media curriculum and based on best practice, draft/develop a new media curriculum for journalism education and training in Sierra Leone for the consideration of the USL and other tertiary media training institutions in the country.

• Reports of consultative workshops encompassing the views of all relevant essential stakeholders, including university staff, students, media professionals and other media stakeholders;
• A revised draft curriculum for media/journalism education and training.

Competencias

Management and Leadership

• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to critical feedback;
• Encourages risk-taking in the pursuit of creativity and innovation;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, work mates and stakeholders.

Communication, Group facilitation

• Ability to work with different audiences and accurately document their combined suggestions;
• Ability to identify and analyse trends, and design suitable adjustments;
• Excellent drafting and presentation skills;
• Ability to plan and organize work programme;
• Ability to work with minimum supervision.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

• At least an advanced university degree in a relevant field. The suitable candidate for this consultancy shall be an expert in curriculum design, media and education.

• General work experience of at least five (5) years. The expert needs to demonstrate a proven track record in the fields of media and education;
• Work /consultancy experience in the fields mentioned above is desired;
• Strong communications experience, specifically in dealing with different interest groups and reflecting different interests in documentation;
• Good knowledge of information systems software such as MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PP, etc.).

Language Requirements:     

• Excellent ability to communicate in English and local languages.

Reporting Arrangements:

• The consultant will be supervised by Fourah Bay College, MRCG and UNDP.

• The task is expected to take 60 working days spread over three calendar months in 2014. The assignment will start from the signing of the contract and payments will be based on deliverables defined under section IV above.

Payment to the consultant will be made in three installments upon satisfactory completion of the following deliverables:

• 1st installment-15% upon signing of the contract;
• 2nd installment-35% upon submission of draft report to P&M Unit showing progress against agreed outputs;
• 3rd installment-50% upon submission of the final report with all deliverables signed off by the Head of Mass; Communications Department, Fourah Bay College.

The consultant will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum score is 100% out of a total score for technical criteria equals 70% and 30% for financial criteria. The technical evaluation will take into account the following as per the weightings provided:

• Background and minimum educational qualification as defined in the ToR (10%);
• Practical experience in developing and executing curriculum reviews (20%);
• Experience in similar consultancies (30%);
• English language fluency in both oral and written, proficiency in IT and evidence of good communication and writing skills (10%).

Application Procedure:

Qualified and interested candidates are hereby requested to apply (not later than 10th July 2014) by writing to: The Deputy Country Director/Operations, UNDP, 55 Wilkinson Road, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. The application should contain the following:

• Brief proposal addressing the requirement (Methodology);
• Detailed achievement based CV;
•  Financial proposal.