RFP - Consultancy for the development of culturally appropriate, Client Centric, Gender inclusive Communication material and tools on Leprosy

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About the Organization

Swiss Emmaus Leprosy Relief Work India (SEI) is an Indian development organization with its origin and close association to FAIRMED Switzerland. It is a non-profit development organization that works with a mandate of ‘health for the poorest’. SEI started its work in India in 1960 and initially worked to eliminate leprosy as a public health problem. For the last 62 years, SEI has dedicated itself to improving the lives of people affected by leprosy and other poverty related diseases. From supporting tertiary care leprosy services along with field-based services, SEI has come a long way in ensuring that fair health services are available to the marginalized communities in India. It believes that poor health and poverty share a symbiotic relationship for which SEI believes in strengthening health systems thereby providing fair access to healthcare & medicines for preventable diseases.

About the Proposal

The Aagaaz project focuses on four main pillars for health system strengthening and community awareness around leprosy, service availability, and addressing stigma in the Durg district of Chhattisgarh. The state is reported to be one of the highly endemic regions of the country which has played active contribution in the spread of leprosy. The focus of Aagaaz is to end leprosy at its core.

The foundation of this project was born from a need assessment carried out in July 2023 in collaboration with the state of Chhattisgarh, and its NLEP division. One of the key findings in this assessment was the limited communication activities in relation to special programmes and campaigns.

Public health facilities lack information and educational and communication (IEC) material for awareness generation, especially in local language. Also, there is a complete absence of IEC material or job-aid (posters, flip book, audio-video materials, and alike) available for health workers to counsel and provide any health education to patients, their family members or the community at large.

In view of the noted gap in the National Leprosy Elimination Programme (NLEP) implementation, the proposed project is envisaged to be a blend of ‘technical assistance’ (supporting NLEP to strengthen health services) and ‘community development’ (improving awareness, health seeking behaviour and facilitating government social security schemes). Community awareness: addressing issues pertaining to the absence of communication materials and job-aids and systematic planning and implementation of routine community awareness activities.

Formative research inclusive of communication needs assessment was conducted at the state and blocks levels of Durg, Chhattisgarh. In-depth interviews and focused group discussions were held with key stakeholders and community members. The findings of this research lay the foundation of communication plan for the Aagaaz project.

Purpose of the Assignment:

Developing culturally appropriate, client centric, gender inclusive communication materials on leprosy in Hindi and Chhattisgarhi.

Engaging with youth populations via new age media (social media and related digital networking forums) platforms and equipping them with the right knowledge for early identification and prevention of leprosy. The assignment looks at raising awareness among school and college going students via establishing recall value in the simplest yet highly creative way.

Scope of work

Development of Communication/ IEC materials:

The process will follow the development of prototypes and piloting for finalizing design, content, and delivery for the community and practicing healthcare workers at all levels. Also, the development of the communication/IEC materials will be done with meaningful involvement of the relevant stakeholders of the state and the district of Durg, such as state and district NLEP of Chhattisgarh, WHO, RLTRI, the Association of Persons affected by Leprosy as well as the OPD Viklang Manch.

The communication products include the following, but not limited to:

• A 2-D animation audio-video with English subtitles: 1
• Posters: 3
• Brochure: 2
• Flipbook: 1
• Flash cards: a set of 10 cards
• Board game/puzzle: 1

The IEC needs to be in Hindi and Chhattisgarhi and establish simple, easy to read and comprehend yet effectively establish connection; may it be through digital media and/or traditional means. The message relaying needs to leave creative imprint among the audience. We invite ideas for a simple and creative approach in carrying out awareness building using the above-mentioned tools.

Eligibility

It is expected that the consulting agency has the following expertise:

• Experience working in development sector preferably in the health sector, disability studies, public health and/or a related discipline.
• Has rich experience in developing IECs for public health landscape in the country, in both Hindi and regional languages.
• Experience curating and crafting creative campaigns across social and other new age media platforms.
• Technical communication and sectoral knowledge in the fields of public health, anthropology or health sociology is desired.
• Knowledge in neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) including leprosy, specifically in integrated approaches to NTD case management is desired.
• Working experience in Chhattisgarh state and a good knowledge and understanding of the communities living in Chhattisgarh and specifically in Durg District or a comparable setting is an added value.

We will offer a fixed term contract for the described scope of work, which will include terms and conditions agreed upon during the signing of the contract between the consultant and Swiss Emmaus India.

How to Apply

We are looking for creative ideas which include the listed IEC products and showcase the potential to be more than that. Submit a ZIP folder containing: detailed agency portfolio, past work samples in communication projects, financial proposal with GST (if applicable), and proposed action plan latest by April 18, 2025 at jincy@fairmedindia.in with cc to info@swissemmausindia.org with the subject line: Proposal_IEC Development_[Org. name]

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Tags Food, Agriculture and Nutrition Healthcare and Healthtech Research Public Policy/ Policy Others