Request For Proposal: Audio/Visual Storyteller

Stories of Sudanese Women's Rights Organisations 

Request for Proposal

Submission deadline: November 30th, 2026

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & CONTEXT

Operating within acute crisis settings demands agile, transparent, and direct financial mechanisms that channel resources directly to frontline local responders. In hyper-fragile environments such as Sudan, systematically capturing and communicating the impact of grassroots interventions is critical for accelerating international humanitarian reform, validating alternative pooled financing structures, and maintaining rigorous donor accountability.

The First Response Fund (FRF) was established as a global pooled fund mechanism to dismantle structural resource bottlenecks and deliver direct, flexible funding to high-impact grassroots actors who are routinely overlooked by traditional funding streams. Capturing empirical evidence and rich visual narratives from the FRF’s Sudan portfolio serves a dual purpose: demonstrating proof-of-concept for the fund's flexible distribution model to key institutional funding partners, and advancing systemic advocacy under the global Humanitarian Reset mandate.

Officially launched in 2025, the First Response Fund (FRF) is a global humanitarian pooled fund currently in a three-year pilot phase. By its very nature, FRF addresses the issue of lack of funding flows to the most vulnerable groups in crisis contexts and supports the mandate of the Humanitarian Reset while ensuring efficient and effective responses through critical grassroots emergency responders. The Fund leverages its network of over 50 WFFs operating at the national, regional and multi-regional levels serving as intermediaries and working with their WRO/WLO partners to implement local, context- specific strategies for addressing humanitarian priorities such as shelter, cash assistance, food and non-food items, and protection.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this Request for Proposal is to solicit competitive proposals from specialized multimedia production vendors, creative agencies, or media consultants. The selected vendor will be contracted to produce a targeted suite of high-impact video and audio assets that highlight the operational leadership of Sudanese WROs/WLOs and illustrate the systemic value added by the FRF mechanism to the broader crisis response architecture.

CORE DELIVERABLES & TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

The contracted vendor shall be responsible for end-to-end production of the following core multimedia assets:

• Deliverable Asset Count: A maximum series of three (3) short-form video/audio interview stories spotlighting Sudanese WROs/WLOs funded through the FRF mechanism.
• Narrative Focus: Human-centered, evidence-driven stories demonstrating localized emergency response leadership, innovative aid delivery, and community-level outcomes achieved amidst active conflict.
• Language, Translation, and Subtitling Specifications: All media assets must be optimized for localized Arabic distribution as well as international donor distribution (English subtitles).

RISK MITIGATION

Active conflict in Sudan presents extreme physical security hazards for media crews and local participants, alongside logistical unpredictability. To entirely bypass high-risk on-the-ground filming while preserving visual power, the vendor may execute production safe methodologies such as:

1. Sudanese WLO partners: Remote or in-person structured interviews conducted with Sudanese WLO carrying-out humanitarian work.
2. Diaspora Interviews: Remote or in-person structured interviews conducted with Sudanese diaspora leaders, displaced activists, and organizational representatives situated in secure external locations.
3. Archival Footage Utilization: Curation and licensing of pre-existing, ethically cleared archival media, field photography, and contextual video assets. Example 
4. Animation Techniques: Motion graphics, stylized 2D/3D visual animations, and original graphic art designed to protect participant identities, illustrate complex conflict settings, and convey emotional narratives without exposing on-the-ground personnel to risk.

FRF will consider other production safe methodologies suggested by the vendor.

2.2 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SAFEGUARDS

Contractual Intellectual Property & Consent Mandate: The vendor is contractually required to secure documented, ethical informed consent (utilizing Equality Fund-approved risk-aware consent protocols) for all diaspora interviewees. Furthermore, the vendor holds full legal responsibility for securing standard commercial copyright clearances, media usage licenses, and indemnification rights for all third-party archival footage and audio assets incorporated into final deliverables.

TARGET AUDIENCE & NARRATIVE

To maximize the strategic utility of the produced media, content must be structured to directly engage key institutional decision-makers, demonstrating the viability of flexible humanitarian financing and supporting post-pilot resource mobilization.

Target Audience Segmentation

Primary Audience: Government & Institutional donors 

Demonstrate direct funding impact, prove the operational efficacy of grassroots feminist response models, and secure long-term institutional funding commitments beyond the initial 3-year FRF pilot phase.

Secondary Audience: Research Allies & Peer Funds

Supply advocacy partners with visual proof-of-concept assets to strengthen global campaigns for structural humanitarian reform and increased direct funding to local feminist actors.

Core Messaging Framework

All video and audio assets produced under this procurement must align with two core narrative pillars:

• Pillar 1: Local Frontline Impact
  • Sudanese WROs and WLOs act as immediate first responders, delivering critical lifesaving support long before traditional international humanitarian organizations can establish access.
  • Despite severe resource constraints and active conflict, these local organizations execute highly innovative, effective, and context-tailored interventions across emergency shelter, protection, cash assistance, and aid distribution.

• Pillar 2: Systemic Value-Add of the FRF
  • The FRF serves as an essential, complementary funding mechanism to the traditional humanitarian architecture, directly supporting grassroots actors who have been historically excluded from major institutional pipelines.
  • Together, WFFs and local WROs/WLOs enhance early warning and rapid response capacity, provide real-time analysis of emerging community needs, and feed vital frontline intelligence directly into local humanitarian coordination bodies.

GOVERNANCE,ROLES &BUDGETARY ALLOCATIONS

Project Governance Structure

Project Lead (Policy Advisor)

Drives overall project execution; manages vendor selection and technical communications; oversees deliverable progress and final asset sign-off. Leads outreach to coordination groups for WLO directory compilation.

Contracting & Finance Lead (Humanitarian Officer) 

Executes contract administration, invoicing workflows, and milestone disbursements.

Strategic Oversight (FRF Director)

Ensures high-level strategic alignment across the FRF portfolio; reviews SOW drafts

Budget Considerations

• All vendor fees
• Pre-production research
• Diaspora interview honoraria, 
• Archival asset licensing, 
• Graphic art and animation development, 
• Post-production editing, color grading, audio mastering 
• Bilingual (Sudanese Arabic / English) translation, transcription, and subtitling deliverables.

PROPOSED SCHEDULE & TIMELINE

To account for the complex operational realities of operating within a crisis portfolio, the project schedule provides deliberate flexibility.

Phased Milestone & Disbursement Schedule

October – December 2026: Issue SOW across vendor networks; receive and evaluate competitive bids against technical and financial evaluation criteria. Finalize selection of spotlighted WLOs through coordination group outreach and evaluation inputs.

January 2027:  Finalize vendor recruitment, negotiate contractual terms, and complete formal onboarding.

March 2027: Vendor submits detailed inception workplan and production methodology plan. EF review and formal approval.

April – November 2027:  Production phase: script execution, remote interviews, animation build, archival licensing, and submission of Rough/Fine cuts (Review Gates 1–3).

December 2027: Final master delivery of up to 3 short-form video/audio assets with full bilingual subtitling and collateral files. 

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Submissions must include:

1. Technical Methodology Proposal: Detailed execution plan outlining the proposed mix of non-field methodologies (diaspora interviews, archival curation, animation) and technical approach to bilingual media asset creation.
2. Safeguarding & Ethical Protocols: Explicit risk management plan addressing interviewee consent, identity protection, and copyright licensing strategies.
3. Past Performance Portfolio: Demonstrated track record in producing high-impact human rights, feminist, or humanitarian multimedia communications in complex crisis settings.
4. Itemized Financial Budget: Comprehensive cost breakdown aligned with the milestone disbursement structure, inclusive of all post-production and translation overhead.