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

Call description

The World Food Programme (WFP) seeks international and local non-governmental and civil society organisations as national delivery partners under Field Level Agreements for the Solomon Islands component. The project integrates social protection, nutrition and behaviour change communication to improve food security, nutrition and resilience among vulnerable households. Target households receive, or are eligible for, government social protection cash transfers, with priority to households with pregnant and lactating women and children under 5. Eligibility conditions for the partner are stated separately below.

The call describes four implementation stages over an indicative 6 months. Its schedule gives an estimated start of 1 February 2027 and estimated end of 30 July 2027; the proposal template uses the same implementation period.

Priorities and eligibility

For the WFP partnership, the mandatory eligibility section requires a legally registered, non-profit, non-political NGO in the country of implementation. All interested NGOs must register in the United Nations Partner Portal (UNPP). The call describes both international and local organisations as prospective delivery partners; it does not establish eligibility for an individual applicant from the information supplied.

All NGOs must submit to WFP due diligence and implementing-partner protection from sexual exploitation and abuse processes. An NGO not verified through due diligence cannot become a WFP partner, regardless of technical merit. The mandatory criteria also require that an NGO is not implicated in corruption, fraud or crimes against humanity. The extracted wording does not specify a separate application-stage screening deadline.

The mandatory partnership criteria include relevant experience in similar activities and target areas, strong project and financial capacity, and established reporting, procurement and financial management systems with two years of audited statements. The qualifications also require presence and operational capacity in target locations and capacity to operate under remote-island and cyclone-season access constraints. The extracted application list does not establish that audited statements must be uploaded with the initial package.

For an NGO that has applied for a Field Level Agreement with WFP before, the call says further cooperation is based on a finalised and successful performance evaluation. The wording does not specify the stage at which this condition will be checked.

WFP says separate panels will evaluate technical and financial proposals using weighted criteria. The call lists clarity of activities and expected results at 30%, sector expertise and experience at 20%, project management at 20%, local experience and presence at 15%, and cost effectiveness at 15%.

Does the portal's listing of Guadalcanal limit this call to that location, or should applicants plan for all locations in the call's targeting table? The call lists Honiara and Guadalcanal, Malaita, Western and Temotu, while the portal lists Guadalcanal. This difference needs clarification before committing to geographic coverage; the supplied extracted table relationships also warrant checking against the original.

Funding and application requirements

The application package must be uploaded to UNPP in ZIP format. The listed contents are a cover 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 narrative also requests justification of major cost categories based on the budget summary. The later inception workplan and implementation plan are project deliverables, not described in this list as separate application attachments.

Is English required for every application document, and are translations of supporting documents required or accepted? The qualifications require strong English communication and reporting skills and describe Solomon Islands Pijin fluency as desirable, but the supplied extracts do not establish a complete application-language or document-translation rule. The requirement to translate and pre-test project messages concerns implementation.

What funding is available for this Solomon Islands partnership, and is there a per-project ceiling? The portal's indicative budget field contains a dash, and the supplied extracts do not establish an allocation or award amount. Implementation is subject to funds availability. Seek confirmation before settling the budget scale; do not treat the portal field as a zero allocation.

Submit the complete proposal package through UNPP only by 14 December 2026. Incomplete and late applications will not be considered. The schedule gives 30 November 2026 as the clarification request deadline in UNPP.

Recommendations

The management response should demonstrate how delivery will be supervised and how risks and sexual exploitation and abuse concerns will be addressed. The template asks for realistic mitigation measures and organisational prevention, identification, reporting and response measures; strong responses should include accessible and confidential reporting. Connect these arrangements to the proposed personnel and community feedback approach without disclosing personal information.

Material development must be locally credible and feasible before rollout: the partner maps existing materials and adapts, translates and pre-tests messages, while preparedness content must reflect a verified climate outlook. Show who will carry out this work with target audiences and government counterparts, and allow for WFP message review. The call does not make Pijin fluency mandatory.

Social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) is the central delivery approach, rather than a standalone cash or food distribution project. The partner is expected to work through existing community structures and government counterparts, addressing feeding practices, dietary diversity and emergency preparedness. Explain how proposed messages and community activities will connect to existing social protection delivery. Confirm whether the call’s alternative focus for countries without any social protection payouts applies to Solomon Islands as a whole; the provision is not framed around individual locations.

The short indicative implementation period must accommodate foundation work, community delivery, consolidation and handover. WFP also envisages a decision before scale-up. Sequence the workplan around partner readiness, baseline and feedback arrangements, message adaptation and review, delivery, and sustainability, allowing for access constraints rather than assuming uninterrupted rollout.

Cost effectiveness is assessed alongside the technical approach, and the template requires personnel details to agree with the budget proposal. Justify major cost categories against the planned activities and staffing effort, including access and community delivery needs. Existing resources and networks can be described as efficiency measures, but the evidence does not establish an award ceiling.

Community entry and targeting should avoid creating or exacerbating tensions and avoid disclosure of social protection beneficiary status in ways that create stigma or safety risks. The template also asks applicants to address gender and disability-related barriers and enable communities to influence implementation. Describe accessible participation and feedback arrangements and explain how targeting information will be handled safely, recognising that entry and targeting criteria will be reviewed with the selected partner.