Call for Proposals: Community Resilience, Capacity Building and SBCC Initiative (Kyrgyzstan)

The World Food Programme (WFP) is seeking qualified local NGOs in Kyrgyzstan to implement a Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) capacity-building strategy focused on climate resilience, disaster preparedness, water and energy conservation, and nutrition. The selected partner will work in Batken, Osh, Jalal-Abad, and Naryn oblasts, delivering 97 Climate Resilience Planning Trainings and 284 Community Trainings while strengthening the capacity of communities and local institutions.

What Is the WFP Kyrgyzstan Capacity Building Opportunity?

The World Food Programme is inviting proposals from qualified local NGOs in Kyrgyzstan to serve as a Capacity Building Partner (ToR#2) under a broader Social and Behaviour Change Communication strategy.

The initiative aims to help communities and institutions better understand climate-related risks and adopt practical measures that improve resilience, disaster preparedness, and nutrition.

The programme uses participatory learning, community mobilization, local engagement, and behaviour change communication to strengthen resilience at community and institutional levels.

What Are the Main Objectives?

The programme seeks to strengthen people’s ability to:

• Understand and respond to climate risks.
• Use early warning information effectively.
• Prepare for disasters and emergencies.
• Adopt climate adaptation measures.
• Conserve water and energy.
• Improve nutrition-related practices.
• Incorporate resilience into local planning.
• Participate in community-level decision-making.
• Strengthen cooperation between communities and local institutions.

The approach emphasizes trusted local actors and community participation rather than relying solely on top-down communication.

Where Will the Project Be Implemented?

Activities will be conducted in four oblasts of Kyrgyzstan:

• Batken
• Osh
• Jalal-Abad
• Naryn

The selected NGO will work across different administrative and community levels within these target areas.

Who Is Eligible?

The opportunity is intended for qualified local NGOs in Kyrgyzstan capable of implementing community engagement and capacity-building activities.

A suitable organization should be able to demonstrate:

• Experience working with local communities.
• Capacity to deliver large-scale training activities.
• Knowledge of climate resilience and disaster preparedness.
• Experience with community mobilization or behaviour change communication.
• Strong facilitation and training capabilities.
• Ability to document and report activities to WFP.
• Capacity to coordinate with local institutions and trusted community actors.

The selected organization will need sufficient operational capacity to manage hundreds of community and training activities.

What Activities Will the Selected Partner Undertake?

The Capacity Building Partner will have a broad implementation and coordination role.

Key responsibilities include:

Reviewing Existing Research and Strategies

The partner will review relevant research, strategy documents, and existing materials to ensure that implementation is aligned with the SBCC strategy and local conditions.

Developing Implementation Plans

The organization will develop:

• Implementation calendars.
• Community engagement plans.
• Training schedules.
• Engagement approaches for different administrative levels.
• Adapted communication materials and key messages.

Adapting Key Messages

Climate resilience, disaster preparedness, energy conservation, water conservation, and nutrition messages will need to be adapted for community-level training and engagement.

Messages should be practical, understandable, and relevant to local communities.

Conducting Climate Resilience Planning Trainings

The partner will organize and facilitate 97 Climate Resilience Planning Trainings.

These activities are intended to help local stakeholders understand climate risks and incorporate resilience measures into planning and decision-making.

Conducting Community Trainings

The partner will also organize and facilitate 284 Community Trainings.

These sessions will support communities in developing practical knowledge and behaviours related to:

• Climate adaptation.
• Disaster preparedness.
• Early warning systems.
• Water and energy conservation.
• Nutrition-sensitive resilience.

Facilitating Community Dialogue

Community Dialogue Trainings will encourage participation and allow local residents and institutions to identify challenges, exchange knowledge, and develop locally appropriate solutions.

Monitoring and Reporting

The selected partner will be responsible for:

• Organizing activities.
• Facilitating training sessions.
• Documenting implementation.
• Monitoring results.
• Assessing effectiveness.
• Preparing reports for WFP.

What Is Social and Behaviour Change Communication?

Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) is an approach that uses communication, community engagement, evidence, and participation to encourage positive and sustainable changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours.

In this programme, SBCC is applied to climate resilience, disaster preparedness, and nutrition.

Rather than simply providing information, the programme aims to help communities understand risks, discuss solutions, change practices, and integrate resilience into local systems.

Why Climate Resilience and Nutrition Are Connected

Climate change can affect food availability, water resources, livelihoods, health, and household nutrition.

Strengthening climate resilience can therefore support nutrition outcomes by helping communities:

• Protect livelihoods.
• Prepare for climate-related shocks.
• Manage water resources.
• Improve household resilience.
• Make informed nutrition decisions.
• Respond more effectively to emergencies.

The programme takes a nutrition-sensitive resilience approach by connecting climate adaptation and disaster preparedness with household and community wellbeing.

Implementation Scale

The selected partner will be responsible for a substantial number of training activities:

• 97 Climate Resilience Planning Trainings
• 284 Community Trainings
• 381 total specified training activities

These activities will be implemented across the four target oblasts and at different administrative and community levels.

How the Programme Will Work

The implementation process can be understood through the following stages:

1. Review existing evidence
   Examine research, strategy documents, and existing SBCC materials.
2. Develop implementation plans
   Prepare calendars, engagement plans, and training schedules.
3. Adapt communication messages
   Tailor climate, disaster preparedness, conservation, and nutrition messages to local contexts.
4. Engage local stakeholders
   Work with communities, institutions, and trusted local actors.
5. Deliver resilience planning training
   Conduct the 97 Climate Resilience Planning Trainings.
6. Conduct community training and dialogue
   Implement the 284 Community Trainings and related engagement activities.
7. Document implementation
   Maintain appropriate records and evidence of activities.
8. Monitor effectiveness
   Assess whether training and communication activities are producing the intended results.
9. Report to WFP
   Provide implementation and monitoring reports to WFP according to agreed requirements.

What Makes a Strong Partner?

A strong applicant should be able to demonstrate more than simply the ability to conduct workshops.

Important capabilities include:

• Strong community relationships.
• Experience in Kyrgyzstan and the target oblasts.
• Skilled trainers and facilitators.
• Understanding of climate-related vulnerabilities.
• Experience with participatory approaches.
• Ability to work with local government and institutions.
• Effective monitoring and documentation systems.
• Capacity to deliver activities at scale.
• Ability to translate technical information into practical community messages.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Potential applicants should avoid:

• Proposing activities without a clear community engagement methodology.
• Treating training as one-way information delivery.
• Failing to adapt messages to local contexts.
• Underestimating the logistical requirements of delivering hundreds of activities.
• Providing weak monitoring and reporting arrangements.
• Ignoring local institutions and trusted community actors.
• Failing to connect climate resilience with disaster preparedness and nutrition.
• Submitting an implementation plan that does not clearly address the required training numbers.

Why It Matters

Climate-related hazards can undermine livelihoods, food security, water availability, and household wellbeing.

Building community capacity before emergencies occur can improve preparedness and help local institutions respond more effectively.

This WFP initiative is particularly important because it combines climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, nutrition, community participation, and behaviour change rather than treating these issues separately.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is WFP seeking through this call?

WFP is seeking a qualified local NGO in Kyrgyzstan to serve as the Capacity Building Partner for implementing an SBCC strategy focused on climate resilience, disaster preparedness, and nutrition.

Which areas of Kyrgyzstan are covered?

The programme will operate in Batken, Osh, Jalal-Abad, and Naryn oblasts.

How many trainings will the partner conduct?

The partner will organize and facilitate 97 Climate Resilience Planning Trainings and 284 Community Trainings, for a total of 381 specified training activities.

What topics will the training cover?

Training and engagement activities will address climate risks, early warning information, climate adaptation, disaster preparedness, energy conservation, water conservation, and nutrition-sensitive resilience.

What does the Capacity Building Partner need to do?

The partner will review relevant materials, develop implementation plans, adapt key messages, organize and facilitate trainings, document activities, monitor effectiveness, and report results to WFP.

Why is community participation important?

The programme uses participatory approaches so that communities and local institutions can identify risks, discuss practical solutions, and integrate resilience measures into local planning and decision-making.

Who should consider applying?

Qualified local NGOs with strong community networks, training and facilitation capacity, relevant experience in climate resilience or community development, and the operational ability to manage large-scale activities should consider this opportunity.

Conclusion

The WFP Kyrgyzstan Capacity Building Partner opportunity focuses on strengthening community resilience, disaster preparedness, climate adaptation, and nutrition-sensitive practices through Social and Behaviour Change Communication. The selected NGO will play a major implementation role across Batken, Osh, Jalal-Abad, and Naryn, delivering 381 specified training activities and helping communities and institutions integrate resilience into everyday planning and decision-making.