TERMS OF REFERENCE

Digital Content Creation Services for the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI)

1. Background

European Union Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI) is the comprehensive EU anti-corruption program in Ukraine financed by the EU and Denmark and implemented by the Foreign Ministry of Denmark.     

The overall objective of the EU and Danish funding for anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine is to improve implementation of anti-corruption policy in Ukraine, thereby ultimately contributing to a reduction in corruption. The EU Anti-Corruption Initiative is aimed to strengthen the capacity of the newly created anti-corruption institutions and to enhance external oversight over the reform process by the Verkhovna Rada, civil society and the media.

The work of the EUACI is streamlined through its 3 components: (i) strengthening the operational and policy-making capacities of state institutions dealing with the prevention and fight against corruption; (ii) enhancing the capacity of local self-government, civil society, media, and business to contribute to the fight against corruption; and (iii) increasing culture of integrity issues in Ukraine through engagement of the business sector, the civil society and the media. 

Within Component 1 the EUACI is working with the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP), Assets Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), Special Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), State Financial Monitoring Service (SFMS), High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC), Parliament’s Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy (CAP). Within Component 2 the EUACI is working with five Integrity Cities: Chernivtsi, Chervonohrad, Mariupol, Nikopol and Zhytomyr. Within Component 3 the EUACI is working with four institutional CSO partners and five CSO projects (program funding) supported through 2020 call for CSO proposals.     

EU Anti-Corruption Initiative is the biggest EU support programme in the area of anti-corruption in Ukraine so far. The EUACI began in 2017 and has since established itself as a flagship program. A new 4-year phase was launched in May 2020 with a 22.4 million EURO budget. 

2. Objective

To develop engaging and relevant digital content for the use of the EUACI and its partners in order to enhance the awareness of corruption and integrity in the population, and increase visibility of EUACI’s activities and its success stories.

In order to ensure that Services are provided on market terms, EUACI will enter into two parallel framework agreements, one with the Primary Vendor and one with the Secondary Vendor (the two tenderers with the highest score during the preceding procurement procedure). The procedure for award of contracts based on the parallel framework agreements is described in further detail in 3.2 Assignment of Work.

3. Scope of work and expected deliverables

The EUACI is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to assist the EUACI communication activities by providing on-call digital content creation services. The developed content will further be published on multiple communication channels to disseminate informational content to the citizens. Those communications channels include, but are not entirely limited to Website, Facebook, Twitter, Email Marketing, LinkedIn.

It is expected that the qualified vendor will be responsible for the development of the different content types, which include, but are not entirely limited to:

• Video
• Photo
• Infographics
• Text content
• Imagery
• Layouts of booklets, presentations, etc.

Producing all types of content have to be realised in accordance with the EUACI brand book.

As an on-call contract, there is no minimum monetary amount specified under the contract. The monetary amount will be based upon submitted and approved scopes for individual work assignments, using the agreed hourly billing rates and approved estimates of level of effort, and any sub-contractor or direct expense costs. The total contract cost will not exceed 250,000 DKK (33,000 EUR). 

The successful vendors will need to acquire its own software, licenses and hardware to perform the work.   

3.1 Expectations of Work

1. Producing and editing high quality video content
2. Producing and editing high quality photo content
3. Providing and editing high quality graphic design services
4. Providing and editing high quality layouts of booklets, presentations, etc.
5. Providing high quality audio production and editing services;
6. Providing and editing high quality infographic production;
7. Professional consultancy on the relevance of the content to be developed with regard to social media engagement, ad placement, strategy and success metrics;
8. Introducing new and emerging forms of content as well as other related services.

3.2 Assignment of Work

During the Contract Period, the Client will request submission of bids for specific assignments that will be sent to the Vendors representatives by email. The scope of each task, schedule and deadline for completion will be included in the request.

The contract for the specific assignments will be awarded based on the following criteria:

• Price (40%)
• Creative component (60%)

The Primary Vendor and the Secondary Vendor will be notified simultaneously via email of the decision made by the Client on the award of contract for the specific event.

A contract for a specific assignment does not require a written agreement duly signed by both Parties but shall be concluded and become effective when the Client has informed the relevant vendor of the award of contract.

4. Timeframe

The intended commencement date is the date of signature of the contract with the service provider and the period of implementation of the contract will be by the end of 2022 year, unless it is terminated earlier pursuant to the terms of the contract.

5. Intellectual property (IP) 

Once the vendor is selected and the contract awarded, the EUACI shall own any and all intellectual and other property rights to any content developed by the bidder in connection with the execution of this contract. 

6. Professional Requirements 

1. Organization/company/centre officially registered in Ukraine for at least two years;
2. Proven experience developing different types of digital content;
3. Experience working with international technical assistance program / NGOs would be an asset. 

7. Bidding details

The bidder must submit the following information to be considered:

1. A brief profile (maximum 1 page) of the vendor and CVs of the experts listed below;
2. Portfolio consisting of 7 or more examples of different content types developed by the bidder (see the list in 3. Scope of work; PDF format);
3. Hourly rates in EUR, inclusive of all taxes or other such charges for at least the following experts:

1. Designer
2. Creative copywriter UA, EN
3. Proof reader UA, EN
4. Photographer
5. Photo editor
6. Videographer
7. Video editor
8. Director / Art Director

When providing rates please be advised that the EUACI is VAT exempted under the laws of Ukraine.

Evaluation criteria 

The received proposals for the provision of services will be considered and finalized on the basis of the following evaluation criteria:

1. Portfolio 50%
2. Financial Proposal (hourly rates), 25%
3. Profile of the vendor and CVs of its experts 25%.

8. Monitoring and evaluation 

Special requirements

By signing the contract, the contractors agree to hold in trust and confidence any information or documents (“confidential information”), disclosed to the contractors or discovered by the contractors or prepared by the contractors in the course of or as a result of the implementation of the contract, and agrees that it shall be used only for the purposes of the contract implementation and shall not be disclosed to any third party. The contractor reports to the EUACI. The contractor shall be briefed prior to starting with the assignment. The contractor shall de-brief the EUACI prior to finalising the assignment.

9. Cross-cutting issues (integration of the youth, equal opportunities)

The project will be implemented ensuring equal opportunities for men and women and integration of the youth.

Deadline for proposals submission is October 28, 2021 18:00 Kyiv time.

How to apply

The proposals shall be submitted within the above deadline Anastasiia Demianchuk, [email protected] , indicating in the subject line: Digital Content Creation Services.

Bidding language: English 

Clarification questions

Any clarification questions for the request for bid should be addressed to Communication Expert, Anastasiia Demianchuk, [email protected] no later than October 22 2021, 18:00 Kyiv time.