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REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) No. 95332421K0006 COMMUNICATIONS AND MEETING SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE SOLOMON ISLANDS THRESHOLD PROGRAM Description of Anticipated Services The Government of the United S... REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) No. 95332421K0006 COMMUNICATIONS AND MEETING SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE SOLOMON ISLANDS THRESHOLD PROGRAM Description of Anticipated Services The Government of the United States of America, via the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) expect to sign a Threshold Program Grant Agreement (Grant) in 2021 totaling US $23 million to support a 4-year program with the objective of implementing policy and institutional reforms that lead to a reduction in poverty through economic growth in Solomon Islands. The 4-year timeline for this program is expected to begin in April 2021. The Solomon Islands threshold program consists of two projects: the Accessing Land for Tourism Investment Facilitation (ALTIF) Project and the Forest Value Enhancement Project (FoVEP). MCC is assessing the feasibility of awarding a communications and meeting support services contract to support the delivery of public communications and meeting support services associated with the implementation of the Solomon Islands Threshold Program. The objective of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gauge the interest and capabilities of organizations bidding on the above referenced contract. Below is a brief overview of the Solomon Islands threshold program. Background The proposed Solomon Islands threshold program seeks to assist the SIG in addressing two major constraints to economic growth: inability to access land in the tourism sector and ineffective natural resource management in the logging sector. The threshold program will address these constraints through two projects: the Accessing Land for Tourism Investment Facilitation (ALTIF) Project and the Forest Value Enhancement Project (FoVEP). The objective of the ALTIF Project is to address the land access and investment facilitation issues that have prevented Solomon Islands from realizing its potential in tourism, one of the country’s few growth opportunities. The objective of FoVEP is to generate more reliable, sustainable benefits from Solomon Islands’ forest resources. In order to implement this program, MCC expects to engage organizations as Program Implementers to implement the two projects referenced above. One organization will provide communications and meeting support services required by the program to ensure the public is informed about program developments and results and to facilitate meetings associated with program governance. (This is the focus of this RFI). The land identification and investor facing activities conducted under the ALTIF project are expected to be implemented by an organization with experience and expertise in tourism investment promotion. The community facing activities to be conducted under the ALTIF project are expected to be implemented by an organization with extensive experience working with communities in Solomon Islands on issues related to land, stakeholder engagement, community governance and decision making, and gender equality and social inclusion. A fourth organization will support government facilitated reform processes for utilizing a problem driven iterative adaptation (PDIA) or similar method to improve policy development and institutional problem solving capacity in both the land/tourism and forestry sectors, under the ALTIF and FoVEP projects. A fifth organization will design and implement the Payment for Ecosystem Services activity in participating communities under the FoVEP project. Program implementation will require close coordination of these five Program Implementers. Elements and specific activities of each project, and the Threshold Program as a whole, will overlap and implementing contractors will need to cooperate and coordinate as they complete the tasks associated with their activities. Anticipated Tasks for the Communications and Meeting Support Services Contractor MCC expects the Communications and Meeting Support Contractor to be responsible for tasks related to (i) communications and (ii) meeting support. The required communications support aims to ensure that the public is well-informed about the objectives, progress, and achievements of the threshold program. The meeting support will be associated with the planning and execution of two or three quarterly meetings of Solomon Islands Stakeholders who provide governance, oversight and advice related to program implementation, as well as supporting other meeting-relating tasks as needed. Meeting support will be primarily logistical and organizational in nature. The following tasks are envisioned under the contract: Communications As needed, complete analyses of the Solomon Islands media landscape, including print, online, radio, social media, and television sources that are popular amongst Solomon Islanders throughout the country, to ensure that any communications activities leverage media that will be received by a mass audience. Develop a holistic, four-year communications strategy and plan to provide public information in Solomon Islands related to the progress, objectives, and results of the Solomon Islands Threshold program. Strengthen and maintain strong ties with a range of media organizations based in Solomon Islands; also maintain ties with regional outlets, such as those based in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, that are popular amongst Solomon Islanders. Develop editorial content related to the Solomon Islands Threshold Program such as op-eds, published interviews with key stakeholders, and other collateral to communicate program objectives and activities. Develop and design short-term communication campaigns, in a timely manner, that provide a rapid response to specific issues that may arise in the course of program implementation as the need arises. Support MCC with social media management. Create, monitor, manage, and routinely update social media accounts on platforms used by Solomon Islanders throughout the country, potentially including but not limited to, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter. Actively engage with followers as necessary. As needed, develop social media campaigns that respond to specific issues or needs of the program. Conduct public communications in both English and Pijin. Conduct regular analyses of the Program’s social media and communications outreach, such as through an analytic platform such as Google Analytics and/or through survey tools, to track the audience, reach, and efficacy of communications materials. Leverage analyses to inform future execution of the Program’s communications strategy. Regularly monitor and analyze MCC program and US Government related media coverage in Solomon Islands and the South Pacific region. Identify the presence of any negative media campaigns and clearly communicate any areas of concern as well as proposed solutions to the Resident Threshold Director in a timely manner. Develop video material, including in local vernacular. Identify key public speaking opportunities for the consultant, the Resident Threshold Director, implementation partners, the U.S. Ambassador or any other key individuals. Manage MCC outreach events. Provide MCC with consistent strategic counsel and guidance as it relates to the MCC presence in the country and public’s perception in the media. Meeting Support Provide all logistical and administrative support associated with set-up and conduct of 2-3 quarterly meetings in the vicinity of Honiara and occasional meetings outside of Honiara in other Solomon Islands locations. Meetings are expected to have 15-20 people. Provide administrative and meeting support to other meetings as needed. Required Expertise MCC seeks to engage either a non-profit organization or a for-profit company, to provide requisite expertise to implement this work under the MCC Solomon Islands threshold program. Specifically, as part of this requirement, MCC will solicit expertise to support the Project in the following areas: Communications and public relations expertise preferably in Solomon Islands, with additional expertise in the South Pacific region, possessing deep knowledge of and relationships with Solomon Islands media resources and experience managing media campaigns in Solomon Islands. Administrative, organizational, and logistical expertise associated with meeting planning and conduct. Knowledge of Solomon Islands, South Pacific, and Asia-Pacific media markets. Language and Regional Expertise – personnel with English and Pijin language fluency (oral and written) in the context of the Solomon Islands. Subcontracting and teaming arrangements are encouraged for organizations which are not able to fulfill all requirements independently. Requested Information: (A) Responses to Questions MCC is looking for responses to several questions in relation to this potential assignment, if not explicitly stated in section (B) below. In reference to the “Background” section on page 1 of this RFI, MCC envisions conducting 5 separate procurements to implement the Solomon Islands Threshold Program. This RFI is in reference to the first of those 5 contracting actions. Is your organization interested in bidding on more than 1 of these 5 contracting actions? Which other procurements are you interested in bidding on? If you are interested in multiple contracting opportunities, would you prefer that MCC consolidate these procurements? Does your organization have qualifications and experience in working on strategic public communications activities in Solomon Islands? If not, are you planning to partner with other organizations to bring such experience to the Project? Does your organization have qualifications and experience in working on meeting support activities in Solomon Islands? If not, are you planning to partner with other organizations to bring such experience to the Project? Is your organization able to fulfill communications in both Pijin and English? If your organization does not have Pijin capabilities, are you able to secure timely and accurate translations to support program communications? Would you recommend a fixed price contract or another contract type (e.g., time-and-materials, cost reimbursement, etc.)? Please specify what kind of entity are you? (e.g., corporation, non-profit) Does your organization have the financial capacity to act as the prime contractor/recipient and hire necessary subcontractors/partners? If you do not have financial capacity to prime the contract, are you willing and able to partner with another firm with greater financial capacity to implement the contract/agreement? Do you have comments that may improve the stated activities and the objectives of the activity? Do you have experience managing rapid-response communications? If so, please provide a short synopsis of this work and a description of the context in which it occurred. To expedite MCC’s review and to be considerate of your time, please keep total responses to the above questions to no more than 2 pages in length. (B) Brief Descriptions of Relevant Project Experience Additionally, interested organizations are asked to submit no more than 5 pages of examples of previous and relevant project experience. The final package, including responses to A and B above, should not exceed 7 pages in length. This is an RFI and not a Request for Quotations and is not to be construed as a commitment by MCC to issue a solicitation or to pay for any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of responses to this RFI. Responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in a subsequent procurement and will not lead to an organizational conflict of interest. Responses will strictly be held confidential and used for market research purposes only. Please send responses to this RFI via email to maxwellre@mcc.gov with the subject title “Response to RFI #95332421K0006”, no later than 12:00 PM (EST) on Friday, January 22, 2021. You will receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response. After submission of the RFI responses, MCC may request additional information from some or all RFI respondents individually to further clarify the input provided. Please note: (a) MCC does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. (b) Although the term “bid” is used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be construed as a bid/quotation. (c) This RFI is issued for the sole purpose of conducting market research and gathering comments on MCC’s draft requirements and procurement strategy. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any contractor responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be issued. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Thank you for your assistance and interest in the Solomon Islands Threshold Program. We look forward to hearing from you.