Nutrition-Sensitive Social Protection: Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) in Samoa

Call description

The World Food Programme (WFP) seeks international and local non-governmental and civil society organisations as national delivery hubs under Field Level Agreements for the Samoa segment. Mandatory partnership conditions specify a legally registered, non-profit and non-political NGO in the country of implementation. The programme combines social protection, nutrition services and social and behaviour change communication to improve food security, nutrition and resilience, including household dietary diversity and preparedness. Household targeting focuses on those receiving or eligible for government social protection cash transfers, with priority to households with pregnant and lactating women and children under 5.

The detailed call describes an indicative 6-month project in four stages. Its schedule gives an estimated start date of 1 February 2027 and an estimated end date of 30 July 2027; the proposal template uses the same implementation period.

Priorities and eligibility

The mandatory partnership conditions specify a legally registered, non-profit and non-political NGO in the country of implementation. All interested NGOs must also register in the UN Partner Portal (UNPP). The broader delivery description refers to international and local NGOs and civil society organisations; it does not remove the stated mandatory NGO conditions.

All NGOs must undergo WFP due diligence and implementing-partner protection from sexual exploitation and abuse screening. An NGO not verified through due diligence cannot become a WFP partner regardless of proposal merit. The call separately excludes organisations implicated in corruption, fraud or crimes against humanity. It specifies no separate screening date in the supplied passages.

Mandatory conditions include relevant experience in similar activities and target areas, project and financial capacity, community mobilisation and communications capacity, and established reporting, procurement and financial management systems with two years of audited statements. The call also requires presence and operational capacity in target locations and the ability to operate despite remote-island and cyclone-season access constraints.

Separate WFP panels evaluate technical and financial proposals using weighted criteria. The stated weights are clarity of activities and expected results 30%, sector expertise and experience 20%, project management 20%, local experience and presence 15%, and cost effectiveness 15%. Prior applicants for a WFP Field Level Agreement are subject to the stated condition that further cooperation is based on a finalised and successful performance evaluation.

Priority behaviours include maternal, infant and young child feeding, dietary diversity, food and water security, and drought and cyclone preparedness. Messages must be translated, locally adapted and pre-tested with intended audiences before rollout; preparedness content must reflect the country’s El Niño outlook verified with the National Disaster Management Office. Where a country has no social protection payouts, the call directs messaging towards preparedness, response and dietary diversity; whether that condition applies in Samoa is not established here.

Does the permitted target geography include all the sites in the detailed call’s table, or is the portal listing’s Tuamasaga location intended as a restriction? The detailed call identifies Upolu and Savai’i, while the portal lists Tuamasaga. The extracted table relationships require checking against the original. Clarify the eligible sites and coverage expectations with WFP before defining the workplan.

Funding and application requirements

The application route is UNPP only. The complete proposal package must be uploaded there as a ZIP file. The call states that incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

The application package includes a letter of intent signed by the organisation’s head, the project proposal narrative template in Annex 1 and the Field Level Agreement budget template in Annex 2. The proposal template also calls for a budget narrative justifying major categories against the budget summary. The call does not identify the later implementation reports and plans as separate application attachments.

Does the UNPP listing’s concept note template refer to the same required narrative as Annex 1, or is a different application document expected? The portal listing and detailed call use different labels. Confirm the current attachment and submission instructions in UNPP before preparing the package.

What language must the application documents use, and are translations required? The call requires strong English communication and reporting skills and describes Samoan fluency as desirable, but these statements do not themselves specify the submission language. Its requirement to translate programme messages is separate from application-document language.

What is the available allocation and is there a ceiling or expected amount for each proposal? The portal’s indicative budget field contains a dash, and the detailed call makes implementation subject to funds availability. The supplied extracted coverage does not establish an amount; this is not proof that no budget information exists elsewhere.

The application deadline is 14 December 2026. The UNPP clarification request deadline is 30 November 2026.

Recommendations

The indicative implementation period must accommodate preparation, delivery, adaptation and handover, while WFP retains a decision point before scale-up. Sequence material mapping, training and baseline arrangements early; allow for the review before expanded delivery and for integration into government systems before project close. The application workplan should not assume that scale-up approval is automatic.

Cost effectiveness is assessed alongside programme and management quality, and the template requires the personnel information to align with the budget. Justify major costs against the proposed delivery and staffing arrangements, including levels of effort and use of existing community networks. An allocation or ceiling should not be assumed while the budget question remains unresolved.

The intended delivery model is not a standalone campaign or a new cash-distribution channel: it relies on existing social protection and community structures, with government counterparts and trained community networks. Explain how the proposed messaging will reach the eligible household audiences through those structures, including local partnerships and access constraints, while confirming the cash-transfer context and target sites.

Community participation and protection are substantive design conditions, not only communications activities. Targeting must avoid disclosing social protection status in ways that create stigma or safety risks; the proposal template asks how communities can provide feedback and influence implementation, and how gender and disability barriers will be addressed. Set out accessible, confidential feedback and safeguarding arrangements and explain how targeting and participation risks will be managed.