Consultant(s) to Produce Human Interest Stories with Photos of Improved Social Protection and Labour

1. PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DGD) funded project “Fighting with women against inequalities and for socioeconomic justice in food systems: Improved Social Protection and Labour Rights for Women Workers in Asean’s Agri-Food Sector (2022-2026)” is being implemented Oxfam from 1st January 2022 to 31 December 2026. It aims improve social protection and labour rights for women workers in ASEAN’s Agri-Food Sector” covers Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam and includes a regional component. In Lao PDR, it offers a broader coverage reaching out to workers in other agri-food sectors, including banana plantation, rice farmers, vegetable, home-based workers, household food processing, and street vendors of target areas as implemented in 160 villages, 46 Districts in 17 Provinces: Bokeo, Louangnatha, Oudomxay, Xayabrouly, Louangprabank, Phonsaly, Houphan, Xiengkhoung, Vientiane Province, Vientiane Capital, Bolikhamxay, Khammoun, Savannakhet, Salavanh, Champasak, Xekong, and Attapue Provinces. The key project interventions and strategy of the project are as follows:

• Mobilizing women workers in the agri-food sector to organize cooperatives and networks, empower their leadership capacity, build knowledge and understanding of labor rights, social protections for worker groups, and Grassroots Trade Union (GTU), collective bargaining training and formulating collective labor contracts for Grassroot Trade Union and informal workers in the agri-food sector.

• Conduct studies or research to provide additional policy recommendations on labor needs, gender issues, and social protection; promotion of the legislation and other measures of enforcement which support labor rights and gender-transformative social protection;

• Policy makers have better engagement in social protection and labor rights awareness-raising sessions and dialogues; encouraging government partners to engage CSOs and worker representatives in any relevant dialogues for policy change; exchange lesson learned sessions and annual meetings

• Promote tripartite dialogue meetings at local and central levels; Promote employers' compliance with national and international standards for OSH and social protection; Employers engage in collective bargaining with worker groups to negotiate and resolve issues relating to social protection and labor rights; Information-sharing regarding social protection and labor rights to increase understanding among employers and other key stakeholders.

• Strengthening national partners' capacity, knowledge, and expertise in the areas of social protection and labor rights in the agri-food sector; maximizing national partners' knowledge regarding the gender transformative approach

The project’s target groups are mostly engaged in informal and vulnerable employment, often seasonally. They lack proper employment contracts and social security coverage and have been known to experience labour rights violations and harassment in the workplace. The project works with 6 civil society organizations; CAMKID, IWAA, Lao Farmer Network, ASDSP, Phan Thin/HJA, MHP, the Lao Federation of Trade Union, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, and its provincial and district offices; and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and its provincial departments and district offices.

Oxfam is looking for a writer and photojournalist to produce human interest stories and photographs with field mission to the target areas.

2. OBJECTIVES

• To increase visibility of the Project to the donor and general public
• To show the project’s impact in an engaging, touching, and visual way

3. DELIVERABLES AND EXPECTED OUTPUT

The consultant is expected to produce 21 human interest stories in Lao and English which reflect the work and impact of the project, are engaging and accurate, accompanied by high-resolution photographs, produce short English captions for the photographs with at least 5 unique photographs associated with each story and submit to Oxfam. And are well-written and ready for print, starting from December 2024 to March 2025 on an intermittent basis. the expected deliverables are   as follows:

DELIVERABLE 1: Review existing project document, report, outcome harvesting, etc.

• The consultant(s) will receive a briefing from Oxfam and partners on the scope of work.
  • Consult and discuss story ideas as well as planning with Oxfam and partners. A list of proposed story ideas and approximate locations will be provided latter. The stories should reflect a good balance of gender and age.
  • Develop and consult interview questions with Oxfam and partners

DELIVERABLE 2: Conduct interviews in target communities

• Conduct interviews in-person with beneficiaries and partners of the project.
• Draft stories and share the drafts with Oxfam and partners for the first round of review. The length of the stories is flexible, approximately about 500-750 words.
• Review the drafts based on feedback.
• Submit the final drafts to Oxfam.

DELIVERABLE 3: The high-resolution photographs:

• The photographs accompanying the stories will be of project partners and beneficiaries interviewed, local scenes, and their activities. Photographs should portray emotions and empowerment where possible. They should reflect the person’s work and be natural, not appearing staged.
• Collect a variety of photographic formats (vertical / horizontal, close-ups / wide shots / medium shots, portraits / photos posed / actions).
• All images should be in JPEG format, and resolutions for various uses (e.g., web, print).
• All images should be accompanied by English captions containing the following information: the place, the date and any relevant information making it possible to easily identify and understand the context of the photograph, the name of the persons photographed if known.

4. LIST OF PROPOSED STORY IDEAS

 [ To be added later]

5. PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Remuneration is based on submission of final deliverables according to the schedule. No payment will be made in advance.

6. PROFILE REQUIREMENTS

The company/ individual(s) should have the following competencies:

Essential criteria

• Have at least 3 years’ experience in mass communications, journalism, public information, photography and related fields.
• Excellent command of English.
• Track record of on-time delivery.
• Experience in writing similar content like: Ability to write compelling narratives that highlight personal experiences, community impact, and emotional connections.
• Ability to take high-quality, professional photographs that capture emotions, environments, and context.
• Knowledge of ethical guidelines to ensure consent, dignity, and accuracy in the representation of people and stories.
• Experience in conducting interviews to extract meaningful and detailed narratives.

7. APPLICATION PROCESS

Submission deadline

Quotations and applications must reach Oxfam no later than 13/12/2024 at 17:00 PM (GMT +7).

Submission instructions

Responses must be submitted electronically to: https://career2.successfactors.eu/career?company=OxfamNovibP 

The subject of the mail should be: Consultancy to produce human interest stories with photos

Clarifications

Any questions, remarks or requests for clarification can be sent to Soudany Phommavilay via Email: soudany.phommavilay@oxfam.org. The questions will be answered to all applicants.

Administrative compliance (list of documents to be submitted)

Responses must be submitted and prepared in English and received by the deadline.

To be shortlisted for evaluation against award criteria, the following documents must be included in the application: