Online Platform Development – Humanitarian Mortality Estimation and Surveillance Initiative

Background

The Humanitarian Mortality Estimation and Surveillance Initiative is a global project led by Save the Children and funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. This initiative aims to improve and increase the use of mortality estimation and mortality data among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) for health programming, monitoring, adaptation, and evaluation in humanitarian settings.

Save the Children convenes academia, subject matter experts, technical and operational humanitarian public health actors, and other mortality measurement stakeholders to ensure the highest technical integrity and strategic oversight for the initiative’s vision and activities. While housed within Save the Children, the initiative is collectively owned by the humanitarian community, with all members able to benefit from the developed technical and operational resources and guidance.

Purpose

The purpose of this tender is to develop an online platform for the Humanitarian Mortality Estimation and Surveillance Initiative. The platform will serve as a central hub for resources, communications, and interactions related to mortality estimation in humanitarian settings. Over the course of five years and beyond, the platform will evolve from a basic informational website into a dynamic, interactive tool for global stakeholders, training participants, and a community of practice.

Funding and Contract Scope:

Please note that funding for Year 1 is confirmed, while funding for Years 2-5 is pending. Therefore, although this Terms of Reference (TOR) outlines the full scope of components the initiative plans to implement over the course of the project, the initial contractual agreement will cover Year 1 deliverables only.

However, in your application, we ask that you provide a cost breakdown for the full scope (Years 1-5), as this information is critical for the initiative. It will help ensure that the contract is awarded to a consultant or vendor who has the capacity to support the initiative in achieving the full functionality of the online platform in incremental phases, should funding for subsequent years be secured.

Key Components of the Platform:

Year 1

• Website Development:
  • Website: Build the foundational website with key sections such as “About,” “Initiative Overview,” “Resources,” “News & Updates,” and “Contact Information.”
  • Design and User Experience: Ensure a clean, user-friendly, and responsive design that aligns with initiative branding and mission. The website should have accessibility features (e.g., dyslexic font, etc.).
  • Branding and Visual Identity: Incorporate the initiative name, logo, and brand guidelines for the platform, with consistent use across the website and social media channels.
• Social Media Handles:
  • Integrate the social media account and channels of the initiative with the website to share updates, engage stakeholders, and promote content.
• Resource Library:
  • Library Design: Implement a digital repository to house existing and new resources (e.g., research papers, case studies, tools).
  • Content Organization: Categorize resources by theme, geography, methodology, etc., for easy navigation.
  • Search Function: Integrate search engines, such as Algolia, to allow users to locate resources easily.
• Log-in Function for Initiative Members:
  • Develop a log-in function for members of different governance advisory groups and task teams to provide feedback and peer review draft workstreams (e.g., toolkit outline, research papers, and other initiative documents).
  • The initiative team must be able to manage accounts for approximately 40-50 people in Year 1 with scope for >100 in later years.
• Publishing Branded Newsletters, Blogs, and Reports:
  • Develop a system for publishing newsletters or blog posts to keep stakeholders informed about developments within the initiative.
  • Include options for users to subscribe and receive updates.
  • Develop functionality for creating, publishing, and circulating reports and papers with a branded template.
• Translation Functionality:
  • Implement multi-language support across the platform, ensuring that all website content, resources, toolkits, and community interactions are accessible in other languages (French, Spanish, Arabic).
  • Integrate a language selector to allow users to easily switch between languages (e.g., English, Spanish, French, Arabic, etc.).
  • Set up a translation management system (TMS) for seamless updates and management of translated content by the initiative team e.g. Trados.

Years 2-5

Interactive Toolkit (Phase 2):

• Year 2-4: Begin development of the interactive toolkit for mortality estimation in humanitarian settings. The toolkit will be hosted on the platform and will allow users to interact with sections and tools.
• The toolkit should be “living,” with a multi-authorship function and the ability to make small adjustments and/or larger improvements in the years to come.
• Focus on user-friendly design and scalability for global use.
• Explore the use of case studies linking to certain sections of the toolkit.

Community of Practice & User Log-in Functionality (Phase 3):

• Year 3: Implement a log-in system for a community of practice, allowing registered users to access exclusive content, participate in forums, and contribute to the initiative’s development.
• Year 4: Develop a single log-in area for training participants to access training materials, track progress, and download supplementary resources. Additionally, create a section showcasing in-person training events, including functions for applying or registering.

Global Support Unit: The Global Support Unit will be led by Save the Children and offer remote and in-person technical assistance to humanitarian actors as they design and implement mortality estimation activities.

• Year 4-5: Create a system to facilitate requests to the global support unit. This could include a contact form, request tracking, and a showcase of in-person support activities, including features for submitting support requests and tracking outcomes.

Key Milestones and Timeline

Year 1 (August 2024-July 2025)

• January – March:
  • Finalize website design and content, incorporating branding and social media presence; launch the resource library and upload initial resources identified by Save the Children team; launch functionality for initiative to begin producing newsletters, reports, and blogs etc.
  • Develop a log-in function for members of the different governance advisory groups and task teams.
  • Build out additional features like the events page and integrate social media feeds with the website.
• April – July:
  • Begin design and development discussions for the online interactive toolkit.

Year 2 (August 2025-July 2026)

• August – January: Continue design and development of the interactive toolkit.
• January – July: Launch an early version of the toolkit for limited use and user testing and collect feedback for iteration.

Year 3 (August 2026 – July 2027)

• August – July: Continue design and development of the interactive toolkit.
• July – December: Develop, test, and finalize user log-in features for the community of practice.

Year 4 (August 2027 – July 2028)

• August – July: Launch the training portal and training participants’ area, including additional content for in-person training events.

Year 5 (August 2028 – July 2029)

• August – December: Develop, test, and finalize the global support unit system and integrate support request tracking functionality.
• June: Full platform rollout with all features, refined based on feedback from users and internal teams.

Technical Requirements

• Content Management System (CMS): The platform should be built on a flexible and scalable CMS enabling easy updates and content management from the initiative team, with options for additional support from vendors.
• Database: Use a reliable database system to store user information, resource data, and training materials.
• Mobile Compatibility: Ensure the platform is fully responsive, providing a seamless experience on mobile devices.
• Security Features: Implement strong security protocols to protect user data, particularly for login and training participant systems (e.g., SSL encryption, GDPR compliance).
• Analytics: Integrate tools for tracking user engagement, resource downloads, and platform usage.
• Multi-language Support: Ensure the platform supports multiple languages and provides an easy-to-use translation management system for ongoing content updates.
• Demonstration and Continued Development Support: The vendor should provide demonstrations and tutorials to the initiative and offer options for additional development support, either ad-hoc or from a drawdown from an agreed yearly allocation included in the contract.

Stakeholders and Access

• Platform Admins: Responsible for managing content, user accounts, and analytics.
• Users: Public stakeholders, governance advisory groups, task team members, training participants, community of practice members, and global support staff.
• Global Support Unit: Admins who manage support requests and provide in-person support visibility.