Terms of Reference for the Development and Installation of a Website for the Civil Society Sub-sector Committee (CSSSC) of the Comprehensive Disaster management
Coordination and Harmonisation Council (CDM CHC)
1. Background:
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is an institution of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and was established to address matters significant to disaster management within the Caribbean region. CDEMA is constituted of eighteen (18) Participating States- countries and territories that are signatory to the agreement establishing CDEMA. CDEMA and its partners- inclusive of Participating States, development agencies and sector partners- maintain a continuing collaboration to advance Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) in the Region.
The Enhanced Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy 2007 - 2012, which was developed through a broad stakeholder consultation process and adopted by regional disaster management partners, was approved by the CDEMA (then CDERA)1 Board and Council of Ministers in May and June 2007 respectively. The purpose of the Enhanced CDM Strategy 2007 – 2012 is to strengthen regional and community level capacity for mitigation, management and coordinated response to natural and technological hazards and the effects of climate change in the Caribbean. This is to be achieved by fulfilling four (4) Outcome-level results:
1) Outcome 1: Enhanced institutional support for CDM Program implementation at national and regional levels;
2) Outcome 2: Establishment of an effective mechanism and programme for management of CDM knowledge;
3) Outcome 3: Disaster Risk Management mainstreamed at national levels and incorporated into key sectors of national economies;
4) Outcome 4: Enhanced community resilience in CDEMA member states to mitigate and respond to the adverse effects of climate change and disasters.
A copy of the Enhanced Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy 2007 – 20122 may be found at www.cdema.org. Following the endorsement of the Enhanced CDM Strategy, the 2007 Partners’ Consultation on CDM proposed that a CDM Governance Mechanism should be established, the purpose of which would be to address governance of the implementation process within the context of stakeholder management.
The establishment of a CDM Coordination and Harmonization Council (CHC) is an outcome of this process. The Civil Society Sector Sub-Committee (CSSSC) is a sector-specific sub-grouping of the CHC. The following is a summary of the functions which the Sub-Committee is to perform:
1
Originally the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), it transitioned to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) on September 1, 2009. All previous agreements with CDERA transition to CDEMA.
2
Disaster management stakeholders in the Caribbean are currently developing the next iteration of the regional CDM Strategy which will span a period of ten (10) years- 2013-2023.
COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER MANAGEMENT COORDINATION AND HARMONISATION COUNCIL (CDM CHC)
(i) To provide overall guidance at the Civil Society sector level to facilitate the mainstreaming of CDM at the national and regional levels.
(ii) To facilitate effective coordination and harmonization of CDM implementation at the Civil Society sector level
(iii) To articulate priority CDM results for the sector
(iv) Provide technical input to harmonize sector work programmes towards the achievement of the prioritized CDM results.
(v) Agree on and utilize a mechanism for monitoring, evaluating and reporting on CDM implementation at the sector level
(vi) Report on progress towards the achievement of results identified in the mainstreaming of CDM at the sector level.
(vii) Identify challenges and gaps regarding the implementation of CDM at the sector level.
(viii) Discuss and address any other issue(s) pertinent to the good governance and sustainability of CDM implementation at the sector level.
(ix) Identify opportunities for inter- and intra-sectoral linkages to avoid duplication of work and ensure efforts are complimentary.
(x) Nurture opportunities for synergies between development partner
representatives, CDEMA Participating States, private sector, civil society and other relevant stakeholders responsible for mainstreaming of the enhanced CDM strategy at the sector level.
Outcome 4 of the Enhanced CDM Strategy specifically relates to the work of the CSSSC. While there is considerable support in the Region for community-based approaches to reduce disaster risk, there remains a significant gap between the problems associated with increasing community vulnerability and the capacities of various civil society organizations mandated to address these issues. As a result, there is need for much more involvement from civil society organizations in DRM and an increased focus on a bottom-up approach that incorporates the assistance of community-level groups,.
2. The Project
To achieve its objectives, the CSSSC must ensure that engages with its public and constituents in a meaningful, measurable way, and that it has a strong, consistent and positive image. In keeping with the thrust of improving the visibility and outreach of the organization to achieve its mandate, the CSSSC is seeking to establish a website. The website will serve as a vehicle for engagement, participation and feedback, a formal communication channel, and an information resource. It will enable a deeper involvement of committee members, civil society and the public in disaster management and inform and educate stakeholders and the public of the Sub-Committee’s activities, projects and a range of accomplishments. With respect to the CSSSC’s governance mandate, the website is intended to facilitate easy access to, and retrieval of, information to support the expeditious and timely processing of documents and other resources.
It is in this regard that the Committee is seeking to engage the services of a consultant(s) to develop a website to (i) facilitate timely dissemination of information, and easy access to document resources; (ii) provide a means of engagement of stakeholders; and (iii) offer e-learning resources for disaster risk reduction and awareness building. The website development approach will be based upon Open Source software that is supported by a
global community of developers, thereby providing competitive cost-effectiveness, and broad support of the code, of ongoing maintenance and of further development- in order to avoid the constraints of proprietary coding.
The project will comprise several Open Source modules, with each module having several components.
Components
Repository of Resources Sharing of resource documents with the public that can either be read on screen or downloaded (PDF downloads and other electronic publication formats; screen can be an e-paper format). “Resources” include among other things, research papers, reports, surveys, assessments, presentations, etc. and – as a pilot module – the Disaster Imagination Game as an interactive e-learning pilot. The DIG is eventually to be converted into an interactive e-Game. Built into the search and delivery software, to enable access to the repository of resources, will be a system to track what resources are being accessed and for what purposes. This allows for the tracking of the usefulness of the repository.
The CSSSC will provide a “gatekeeper” function to vet which documents are loaded into the system. For this purpose, CSSSC members will require a basic means to upload documents to the Resource Library and generally manage content.
Virtual Collaboration This component includes online discussion and sharing on issues. This would be facilitated for public participants who have registered for membership, and for CSSSC internal discussions and could be potentially linked to a “walled garden” customized social network- such as can be built, for example, with ning.com- as a module of the website’s functionality and features.
This component will also include a FAQ store and a pilot course of an automated self-learning module (DIG).
Document sharing and review
This component allows for effective and expeditious reporting and follow-up between the CSSSC, its networks and the public. As a result, the information is expected to be managed in three tiers: The first tier relates to documents that are specifically for the CSSSC members. The second tier relates to documents that involve the Sub-Committee’s networks (members of the associations represented by CSSSC members) and other selected organisations and the third tier relates to documents that aim to sensitise the public on key development issues in disaster management and other related information. The document sharing functionality will be introduced consecutively as Tier 1, followed by
Tier 2 and Tier 3.
E- Learning for delivery of Community Based Disaster Management materials (CBDM ).
This mechanism will be used for the delivery of Community-Based Disaster Management capacity building through e-learning (for example webinars and live streaming of speakers and conferences and other training workshops). The aim is to build the capabilities of Caribbean civil society for Disaster Preparedness and Response.
Online register linked to increased access to resources
Database of regional and national NGOs and persons trained in disaster management.
3. Statement of Objectives:
The objectives of this assignment are to design, develop, and implement the website for the CSSSC, using a recognised Open Source software application. The website is intended to (i) facilitate heightened awareness of the Sub-Committee’s role and functions, (ii) improve the level of sharing between the Sub-Committee’s members, (iii) improve the level of sharing among the Sub-Committee’s networks and constituents, and (iv) to sensitise and engage the public and civil society in disaster risk reduction and disaster management.
The website should be W3C compliant and CMS-based (to allow content updates by non-technical users) and should include at a minimum the following functionalities:
i. Consistent user-friendly navigation throughout the site, ii. Search functionality,
iii. Attractive home page. Hosting will be outsourced.
4. Scope of Work:
a) Architectural design of website features and functionality built with Open Source applications such as Joomla, Moodle or Drupal or equivalent.
b) Development and implementation of a website with content provided by the CSSSC. c) Develop an expandable database which will be used to register NGOs and persons
trained in disaster management and other disaster related programmes. d) Recommend to the Committee an appropriate hosting provider.
e) Develop an e-learning platform for the delivery of interactive training modules.
f) Provide appropriate security architecture for the website and implement this security mechanism for the interactive functionality of the website.
g) Maintenance and regular updates on website for the project period of 12 months. h) Trouble shooting of the website for the project period.
i) Prepare a user friendly instructional manual for updating information on the website. j) Provide adequate training to Committee members or designated staff to enable them
to effectively update website content (content management work flow).
k) Provide regular reports on the work undertaken, at intervals to be agreed to at the contracting stage. All work must be documented at all stages.
a) Information about the CSSSC and the other components of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Governance Mechanism,
b) Committee’s composition with members’ profiles, c) The CSSSC Programme of work,
d) Reports and other documents, e) Events Calendar/Upcoming events,
f) Media in all forms, including video and audio, g) Relevant Policies and Regulations,
h) Downloadable Forms and Applications,
i) Links to the web sites of all Committee members, and other selected organisations, j) Site Map,
k) A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) module,
l) A Query page/function that will allow for site users’ feedback and suggestions to be forwarded to a designated recipient,
m) Password access to a collaborative web-conferencing forum,
n) A Social Networking feature (using a plug-in module such as ning.com).
5. Schedule for Completion of Tasks:
Applicants are required to submit:
a) A basic functional diagram as first step towards a detailed function map when the development contract is awarded.
b) A realistic schedule with clearly defined timelines for the submission of the modules and other deliverables.
c) A maintenance plan for monitoring site functionality (uptime monitoring only, and separate from further site development beyond the original contracted scope of work).
6. Reporting and Review Procedures to Monitor the Consultant’s Work:
a) The Project Steering Committee (comprising members of the CSSSC and possibly representatives of other co-opted agencies) will be responsible for reviewing the progress of the website development, based on agreed milestones and deliverables, during development and on completion of the entire programme, as well as whenever may be necessary.
b) The Project Steering Committee will work with the consultant to test the site’s modules as they are developed and launched.
c) The CSSSC reserves the right to cancel the consultancy at any point during the execution thereof if, in the opinion of the Sub-Committee and the Project Steering Committee, the performance is found to be unsatisfactory. The agreed contract will describe the expectations, which will include inter alia:
(i) Meeting project milestones, (ii) Completion of all deliverables,
(iii) User-friendliness and level of interactivity, (iv) Attractiveness of the final products and (v) Timely submission of reports.
d) The Consultant will report to the Project Steering Committee on a regular basis. Schedule and progress reports should be submitted to the Project Steering Committee at clearly defined periods (which will be defined in the contract) by email and by web conference (Skype, Elluminate, Webex, etc.) as to be determined.
7. Approach and Methodology
Proposals must include the approach and methodology to be employed by the consultant. It should also include, inter alia:
a) A proposed approach to the development of the website; b) Demonstration of an understanding of the assignment;
c) Description of the recommended Open Source modules to be used and rationale for those decisions;
d) An indicative production schedule, outlining timelines for the completion of the website and components;
e) An indicative budget outlining the cost to deliver the services required;
f) Track record of previous work, with a description of Open Source software to be used and links to those referenced web sites.
8. Qualification and Experience:
Applicants should demonstrate at least three (3) years experience in web design, development and maintenance, with a proven track record of successful web development. Experience in web-design, development and maintenance in the non-profit and education sectors and/or in e-learning, e-training, content management and virtual collaboration is an asset. Knowledge of disaster management is also an asset. Applicants should be proficient in English (written and spoken) and possess good report writing skills. Where a team of consultants is proposed, applications should include Curriculum Vitae and tangible examples of relevant previous work, for all team members.
Note: the financial proposal should have a detailed budget breakdown with the number of
man-days for each team member clearly identified.
The Consultant may be an individual or firm/company and should be able to assume duties by July 15, 2013. The duration of the consultancy is scheduled to last a maximum of three (3) months.
A technical and financial proposal based on the Terms of Reference outlined above must be provided by no later than close of business on 28th June 2013.
The proposal must include full Curriculum Vitae for each member of the proposed team. Further information may be obtained from Ms. Gayle Drakes at email:
Please send applications via email to [email protected], for the attention of the below contact:
Shantal Munro-Knight
Chair of the Civil Society Sector Sub-Committee Executive Coordinator
Caribbean Policy Development Centre P.O. Box 284
Bridgetown Barbados
