September 2011
OSISA: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) is a leading regional non-profit human rights advocacy foundation, established in 1997. OSISA is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and is supported by relatively smaller offices in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Swaziland and Zimbabwe – which are generally referred to as crisis and transitional countries.
OSISA’s approaches include grant-making, capacity building and networking and facilitation of processes. At present, some 38 million United States Dollars is devoted to this strategy, with OSISA supporting efforts at opening societies in the 10 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries of Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. OSISA is part of a global network of foundations that share the common mission of developing more open societies through support for a range of programmes in various areas including education, gender and women’s rights, economic justice, media, human rights, democracy building, language rights, information and communication technology, HIV and AIDS, as well as social, legal and economic reform.
OSISA’s vision is that of a “vibrant inclusive society in which citizens, free from material and other deprivation, understand their rights and responsibilities, and are empowered to participate democratically in all spheres of life.”
OSISA’s mission is “to identify and support organisations, institutions, programmes and movements through education, promotion of human rights, the free flow of information and initiatives that strengthen the pursuit of an open society”.
2. VISION OF THE OSISA MEDIA AND ICT PROGRAMME
The vision of the Media and ICTs Programme is to advocate for a free and vibrant media and new information and communication technology systems through which citizens across southern Africa communicate amongst themselves and engage with their governments on matters affecting their daily lives.
3. MISSION OF THE MEDIA AND ICT PROGRAMME
The mission of the Media and ICTs Programme is to promote and amplify the voices of marginalized groups of people in Southern Africa through building necessary media and ICT infrastructure and advocating policies, laws and regulations that are conducive to the creation of plural and diverse media and communication systems.
BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT
In 2009 the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA) approved a 12-months grant to Panos Institute Southern Africa (PSAf) amounting to USD $95,960 to support the generation and diffusion of development content in Southern Africa, commencing with three pilot countries – Botswana, Malawi and Zambia. The proposal was premised on the assumption that public service broadcasting (PSB) in the SADC region is failing to take root, especially as regards the production and airing of development content that supports communities, especially the poor and marginalised, to understand development issues in their communities.
It was generally observed across the region that there was superficial commitment by most states to adopt media policy that would enhance PSB, and in particular the enhancement of development content. There appeared to be lack of political will by most states to explore the growth of PSB and promote development content, as many states used their national broadcasters as political mouthpieces to propagate and perpetuate their stay in power. The result was media systems that are inconsistent with the values of public broadcasting that should be serving the public interest.
Further, many stakeholders working in remote and marginalised areas found it difficult to receive media coverage and have their content adequately represented by the public broadcaster, either because of lack of resources to cover such activities by the national broadcasters, or simply the lack of interest to tap onto these development activities – which is mostly the case. This denied development information to the public, particularly the rural and marginalised groups who heavily depend on public broadcasting, especially radio, for their information needs as they lack access to other alternative sources of information, compared to their urban counterparts.
The PSB project was therefore aimed at promoting collaboration among stakeholders to explore ways in which the production and dissemination of development content for PSB at national and regional levels can be enhanced. It was envisaged that such content would equip the governed masses to engage the governors, policy makers and other development actors and persuade them to make decisions and policies in the interests of poor and marginalised communities. All such collaborative actions would be focused towards the goal of improving the quality of life of the poor and marginalised communities in the target countries through the increased production and dissemination of development information through Public Service Broadcasting.
Thus, the pilot project implemented the following activities to contribute to the goal and objectives stated above:
1) Three (3) baseline studies were conducted in 3 pilot countries to:
a) Ascertain public awareness of development issues in selected rural and marginalized communities; and
b) Establish the levels of development content aired by the national broadcasters in the target countries.
2) Equally, 3 national stakeholder consultative workshops were held in the 3 targeted countries (the workshops provided a platform for exchange of information among key stakeholders in the advancement of media content on development communication).
3) PSAf signed 3 strategic partnership agreements with 3 national or state broadcasters in the pilot countries.
4) Over 50 radio and television programmes were produced and aired on identified thematic areas.
OBJECTIVES OF THE EVALATION
The primary objective of this evaluation is to ascertain the extent to which this pilot project influenced the performance of state or national broadcasters in Botswana, Malawi and Zambia through generation and dissemination of content to respond to the information needs and development aspirations of the poor and marginalised communities in the three countries.
More specifically, the evaluation seeks to establish:
1. the extent to which this pilot project influenced the performance of state or national broadcasters in Botswana, Malawi and Zambia;
2. the extent to which the pilot project aided and or facilitated the generation and airing of content that responds to the information needs and development aspirations of the poor and marginalized communities in the three countries; and
3. critical lessons learnt in the course of implementing this pilot project that could form the basis of a possible second phase of the project.
EVALUATION METHODOLOGY
The evaluator will be expected to use a triangulation of methods that will include, but is not limited to the following:
a. Literature review, including organizational policy documentation, plans, proposals, programme progress reports, financial reports, audit reports, monthly reports, products emanating from the project, previous evaluation reports of the project, other relevant project documentation, including website, newsletters, and advocacy materials.
b. Interviews with managers and personnel at Panos;and
c. Interviews with Panos partners in the implementation of the project, including content producers and managers at the respective public broadcasting institutions.
TIMEFRAME
An estimated timeframe of 10 days, which will include:
· Briefing with Panos to review and agree on TORs, methodology and sampling;
· Review of documents;
· Field work: Interviews and site visits to selected and agreed demonstration projects;
· Report writing;
· Presentation of draft report to Panos; and
· Finalising/editing report.
CONSULTANCY FEE
Panos will negotiate the per day rate for this assignment. Panos will on submission of a satisfactory invoice of expenses accompanied by the appropriate supporting documentation reimburse the Consultants for administrative, logistical and travel costs incurred during the course of the assignment. The estimated amount should be agreed upon before commencement of the assignment. Alternatively, Panos will facilitate and directly pay for travel, and all other related costs and logistics directly related to the study.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS/COMPETENCIES
At a minimum the consultant should be a holder of a degree in social sciences, with a bias towards communication for development and postgraduate training in monitoring and evaluation. Thorough understanding of the media terrain in SADC, regional experience in undertaking communication for development work and evidence of having undertaken at least 3 evaluations within the area of C4D in the last five years is essential.
CONTACT PERSON
The consultant shall be responsible to, and coordinate his work with both the Panos Monitoring and Evaluation Unit and the Media Development and ICTs Team.
