The USAID-funded Leadership, Management and Governance Project in Haiti (LMG/Haiti), in partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population’s (MSPP), has been working in Haiti since September 2012 to strengthen the health system to ensure greater government participation and strengthen good governance. One key focus area for the LMG/Haiti Project is communication. LMG/Haiti is working to strengthen the strategic communication capacity of the MSPP and local Haitian journalists, and support USAID/Haiti to engage, inform and elevate awareness of the Haitian public, diaspora and US-based policy makers.
LMG/Haiti seeks the services of a media relations consultant to organize and deliver a one-day media training for local journalists, those currently working for media outlets as well as those embedded within the MSPP/Haitian government.
LMG/Haiti envisions that the media training will take place no later than December 2014. The goal of this training is to better equip journalists to give the population the health-related news and information they need. This training will complement training previously delivered by the MSPP in September 2013, in cooperation with the Tripartite Cooperation Brazil-Cuba-Haiti, that focused on how journalists could deliver health information to the Haitian population. LMG/Haiti and the consultant will also work with the MSPP and the Réseau Haïtien de Journalistes en Santé (RHJS), which was launched by the MSPP also in September of last year, to determine how to support the efforts of the network. The proposed themes for the training include a comprehensive overview of the health system; challenges and opportunities within Haiti’s health sector – in particular challenges related to health information and the health workforce; the link between health and development; where to find health information; and strategies to engage people and inform the public on health-related topics. The training will also include a skills building component to strengthen the capacity of the journalists to communicate accurate and relevant health-related news. Communications staff from the MSPP, in particular the LMG/Haiti Communications Advisor embedded within the MSPP and the USAID/Haiti Communication Specialist, will be present at this workshop to foster relationships with the media and to provide their own insights into communication of health sector news. This training is an additional step in ensuring that the local media in Haiti have a strong knowledge base on which to base future reporting covering the health sector. It complements the MSPP’s stated goal of moving toward a more systematic release of strategic, evidence-based information.
The media relations consultant will assist in executing the media training by identifying and educating qualified health reporters on the areas identified above. The media relations consultant will also network with media houses, editors, media personalities, television, radio outlets, and social media outlets to identify the appropriate media.
Following the training, the media relations consultant will organize monthly follow-up group breakfast meetings with the journalists, reinforcing the networking and learning aspect of this training. The three-hour monthly meeting will serve as an opportunity for journalists to network with health officials on current health topics, a forum for USAID to share updates and recent achievements in health, and a venue for journalists to preview and seek information on articles they are currently writing as well as raise awareness of relevant health information the Haitian people want at that time.
Objectives:
1. Increase Haitian journalists’ understanding of Haiti’s health sector and use their improved capacity to present deeper, more balanced coverage of the country’s health successes as well as issues that need to be improved.
2. Provide journalists with access to data and information that will help them to report on the health sector in a responsible and accurate way.
3. Provide technical training in the writing, reporting, and broadcasting of such stories.
Fonctions
Specific Activities:
1. In collaboration with the MSPP and the USAID/Haiti Health Office, conduct an assessment of previous trainings for journalists and identify gaps in previous trainings.
2. In partnership with USAID/Haiti and the MSPP, design a training that will provide journalists with a stronger knowledge of the Haitian health system, its challenges, and how health is linked to development overall; as well as strengthen their skills to report on stories from the field, find and use government statistics, and present a fuller picture on Haiti’s health issues. The consultant will lead the process to design the training curriculum. The curriculum will be reviewed and approved by MSH and USAID.
3. Implement all parts of the training, including identifying potential invitees (list of potential invitees will be presented to MSH and USAID for approval).
4. Organize and facilitate monthly breakfast meetings (three hour monthly meetings) with the journalists to reinforce the networking and learning aspect of this training. The consultant will design the structure and content of the monthly meetings in collaboration with USAID and MSH.
Suggested LOE Breakdown (can be revised by subcontractor as necessary and within reason):
Activity Suggested LOE (8 hours/day)
Conduct analysis of previous trainings for Haitian journalists to identify gaps 2 days
Networking with media and identification of participants for training 3 days
Plan and prepare for workshop, including the design of the workshop curriculum 2 days
Workshop 1 days
Complete post-workshop activities (includes report writing and preparing for coaching activities with journalists) 2 days
Organize and facilitate monthly breakfast meetings with journalists 4 days (nine, 3-hour monthly meetings and additional time for preparation)
Travel to/from Haiti (if international consultant) 2 days
Specific Deliverables:
1. Gap analysis report of previous trainings for Haitian journalists
2. Agenda for the training
3. Training materials
4. List of proposed participants for training
5. Report on training
6. Trip report (if international consultant)
7. Reports on monthly breakfast meetings
Qualifications Requises
Required Qualifications:
1. Media relations consultant must have previous, proven experience conducting trainings for journalists on how to communicate health-related news and information
2. Media relations consultant local to Haiti is preferred, however, an international consultant with desired experience will be considered
3. Media relations consultant must be fluent in French and proficient in English
Conditions particulières
Conditions de travail
TITRE : Media Relations Consultancy
SUPERVISEUR: Project Director
LOCATION : Port-au-Prince, Haïti
