Scope of Work Media Organization to Work with the Big Belly Business Program Liberia January 2015 Big Belly Business Introduction and Background The Open Society Initiative of West Africa (OSIWA) Liberia) with funding from the Women’s Health Innovation Program (WHIP) through the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) has been selected as the lead partner to implement the Big Belly Business Program in Liberia in collaboration with thirteen (13) national and international organizations based in Liberia, and the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare.. Through the Big Belly Business pregnancy guide, and associated programming, WHIP will ensure that expectant mothers in Liberia get consistent, culturally-sensitive, evidencebased health information, learn the health literacy skills they need to advocate for their own and their child's health and well-being, and have an opportunity to support and learn from one another. The WHIP program materials consists of three equally important components: 1. The Big Belly Business Pregnancy Guide A low-literacy, evidence-based book that is simply written, engaging, beautifully illustrated and culturally competent. Big Belly Business is a respectful pregnancy guide that addresses the comprehensive health, economic, social and linguistic needs of expecting women in Liberia in a way that engages and empowers them. 2. Big Belly Business Training Curriculum The curriculum is designed to empower moms to become active participants in their learning and to help them develop critical thinking skills and problem-solving strategies, within the context of their pregnancy. The curriculum will be used by health providers, including midwives, community health workers, nurses, social workers, as well as organizations working with adult literacy, MCH, women’s rights, education and empowerment, and others, who work with pregnant women, either on a one-on-one basis or with groups of women, in what are referred to as Big Belly Clubs, where women come together to talk and learn about pregnancy. Because Big Belly Clubs will be facilitated (not led) by trained educators, the curriculum facilitates group discussion and support amongst pregnant and new mothers, providing opportunities for personal development and to build both personal and organizational support networks. Each topic in the curriculum has been selected to help build the life skills of learning, asking questions, finding answers, connecting, accessing resources, communicating, making decisions, finding and giving support and planning for the future. Content begins with a focus on the expecting mom and build out to include topics relevant to her baby, her life, her family and her community. 3. Big Belly Business Trainings to help local NGOs use the pregnancy guide and curriculum with expecting mothers The Big Belly Business management team will conduct trainings in coordination with local women’s health, education and rights NGOS, hospitals and clinics, midwives and health workers all over Liberia on how to use the Big Belly Business guide and curriculum in their work with pregnant women, so they in turn can start establishing and running Big Belly Clubs, which nurture empowerment through camaraderie, a key component to healthy pregnancies, across the country, or working with pregnant women one on one. Media Partner OSIWA seeks to contract the services of a media partner or media-savvy individual in Liberia that will be responsible for developing and implementing a media plan for the program that will consist of developing an audio version of the Big Belly Business pregnancy guide, organize a launch event for the program, and possibly the development of interactive radio programming that can complement the training and curriculum materials, docu-dramas, and other interviews and material for both print and broadcast. Media Partner Responsibilities  Develop an audio version of the Big Belly Business Pregnancy Guide for use by the implementing organizations and the women they will be working with through this program. The media partner will be responsible for collecting feedback on the quality and effectiveness of the audio program from the implementing organizations and the women participating in the program, as well as how it is being used. This can be done through interviews and focus groups with the organizations. Additional responsibilities may include, depending on feasibility and costs, some of the following, which will be discussed and decided upon by the media partner and the BBB team of OSIWA:  Develop Radio Program scripts, jingles, docu-dramas using the BBB pregnancy guide and curriculum, and or any program that would be  Schedule broadcasts with radio programs. Collect feedback on usage and develop reports for OSIWA on findings. and reports on how it is being used and by whom (Big Belly Business reports, interviews with organizations)  Conduct press conferences on BBB implementation on local and national radio stations within Program counties  Organize radio talk shows with WHIP partners and stakeholders on BBB Program implementation to announce the program, the small grants recipients and the publication of Big Belly Business.  Create Big Belly Business radio campaign and broadcast throughout the country  Collaborate with the 13 grantees organizations selected by WHIP to generate radio programs for BBB coverage in the country  To engage the general public as primary audience, specifically, pregnant women and families into vigorous awareness and advocacy through the media  Design effective and engaging awareness programs using Big Belly Business guide and curriculum and air on county/ community radio stations throughout Liberia.  Create databases for tracking BBB media programs usage in communities.  Generate appropriate radio programs for Moms Clubs  Develop strategies on how to jointly influence stakeholders to buy – in BBB Program and take ownership    Experiential Story telling Song Qualifications Experience:  Minimum five years’ experience in the field of media advocacy and policy influencing, preferably in the context of Radio Programming in Liberia and the diaspora;  Minimum five years’ of experience in radio programming in English and local Languages  Experience working with maternal health, and issues related to women’s health, rights and education.  Strong organizational and leadership skills.  Dynamic and succinct writing skills. Address all applications to [email protected] applications is Friday, February 13, 2015 at 12:00noon. and deadline for submission of