Anti‑Hate‑Speech Campaign in Syria

Overview of the project

Trusted Voices: is a multi-layered initiative implemented by Search for Common Ground (Search) with the aim of reducing hate speech, misinformation, and incitement to violence across Syria’s media landscape. The project strengthens the capacity of key national actors—official representatives,media professionals, civil society organisations, and digital community actors—to monitor, analyse, and responsibly respond to harmful narratives circulating both online and offline.

Goals and Objectives of the Assignment

Under the above mentioned project, Search for Common Ground seeks to engage a digital media platform, production house, or consortium to design, develop, produce, and publish an integrated media campaign that supports the project objectives. The assignment aims to:

1. Develop a comprehensive campaign strategy The strategy should leverage surveys, audience analysis to ensure messages are evidence‑based and tailored to the needs, concerns, and online behaviours of different demographic groups across Syria. It should also incorporate co‑creation workshops with key stakeholders (including local authorities, civil society, youth representatives, and Digital content creators, where possible and appropriate) to refine and validate the campaign’s core messages.
2. Create high‑quality multimedia content—including short videos, animations, infographics, and social‑media posts—that counters hate speech, amplifies positive and inclusive narratives, promotes tolerance, dialogue and social cohesion.
3. Produce and edit content in Arabic (with English subtitles when necessary) that is culturally appropriate, conflict‑sensitive, gender‑sensitive, and age‑appropriate. Content should reflect the diversity of Syrian society, with messaging informed by the campaign strategy and tailored to the priority audiences identified during the strategy design phase. The agency is expected to propose audience-specific content approaches where relevant, ensuring inclusivity, cultural sensitivity, and resonance with the selected target groups.
4. Publish and disseminate the campaign across social‑media platforms (e.g., Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok),and relevant media outlets identified during strategy development phase such as online newspapers, digital magazines, and news websites, using targeted social‑media boosting to reach specific demographic segments.
5. Coordinate with Search, and the project’s stakeholders to incorporate their recommendations, obtain approvals, and ensure the campaign contributes to positive behavioral and attitudinal change toward tolerance and social cohesion.
6. Monitor and report on campaign reach, engagement, and impact, using both digital metrics and qualitative feedback to inform real‑time adjustments and final evaluation.
7. Reporting:

The agency will be required to provide concise and structured reporting throughout the assignment. This includes:

• Progress Updates: Short bi-weekly updates summarising production status, approvals, challenges, and next steps.
• Final Campaign Report: A comprehensive summary at the end of the assignment, including all campaign materials, analytics dashboards, lessons learned, and recommendations for future anti–hate speech initiatives.

Geographic Locations

This will be a national campaign. The agency will coordinate remotely and through local partners, content creators, influencers, and independent journalists to ensure relevance across governorates.

Theme

The campaign will focus on countering hate speech by encouraging social media users, content creators, and online activists to refrain from engaging in or spreading harmful, discriminatory, or inflammatory content against others. It will promote tolerance, inclusion, and social cohesion through constructive, evidence-based narratives that challenge misinformation, reduce hostility, and discourage incitement. Messaging will highlight the responsibility and influence of digital actors in shaping a safer online environment, while showcasing positive examples of online engagement that support recovery, cooperation, and reconciliation in Syria.

Target Audience

The primary target audience for the campaign is Syrian social‑media users, particularly those active on Facebook, Instagram, X,  and other platforms where harmful narratives often spread. Preliminarily identified audience segments include:

• Youth and students, especially in conflict‑affected areas.
• Women and girls, with messaging that fosters safe, inclusive spaces and equal voice.
• Men and boys, with content promoting positive masculinity and addressing trauma, unemployment, and social pressure.
• Older people and returnees, reached via radio and local TV.

Schedule, Duration, and Expected Reach

The campaign is expected to run for 2,5 months, aligning with programme timeline. It will be divided into five phases:

1. Inception & Strategy (Jan 2025) – desk research, audience analysis, stakeholder consultations, and strategy campaign development.
2. Content Development & Pre‑Production (Jan - Feb 2026) – scriptwriting, storyboarding, visual identity design, and pre‑production logistics.
3. Production & Post‑Production (Jan–Feb 2026) – filming, recording, graphic design, animation, editing, and subtitling.
4. Dissemination & Monitoring (Feb–Mar 2026) – campaign launch, targeted boosting, and ongoing monitoring.
5. Evaluation & Reporting (end of Mar 2026) – analysing metrics and feedback, documenting lessons learned, and submitting a final report.

The campaign should aim to reach One million Syrians through digital platforms and broadcast media, with key performance indicators (KPIs) such as impressions, unique users, engagement rates, and feedback from target groups.

Review of the campaign

The selected agency will work closely with Search and its partners on the ground to ensure that the campaign aligns with programme objectives. All creative concepts, scripts, and production schedules must be submitted for review and approval. Regular coordination meetings will be held to share progress, resolve challenges, and incorporate feedback. Search will provide content guidance, conflict‑sensitivity validation, and a point of contact for timely approvals. The agency must be responsive to recommendations and adapt content accordingly.

Quality Checks and Control

The agency must ensure production quality meets professional standards. Messages should be coherent, culturally appropriate, and easily understood by the target audience. All content requires pre‑broadcast approval from Search, (where applicable) to ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards,

Ethical Considerations

The contracted party must ensure all activities are conflict‑sensitive and do no harm. Key considerations include:

• Inclusivity: Ensure equitable representation of genders, age groups, and communities; use accessible language and formats (including sign language or subtitles).
• Child safeguarding: Adhere to child safeguarding policies and obtain consent when minors appear in content.
• Do No Harm: Avoid reinforcing stereotypes or inciting hostility.
• Data Protection: Comply with data‑protection laws and ethical standards.
• Transparency: Clearly communicate the campaign’s aims and maintain openness with participants and audiences.

Requirements of Consultant

The digital media platform/production house (or consortium) must demonstrate:

• Proven experience: Minimum five years designing, producing, and disseminating multimedia campaigns in the Middle East or similar contexts, with strong familiarity with conflict‑sensitive communication and peacebuilding.
• Targeted social‑media expertise: Ability to conduct audience analysis, develop tailored messaging, and execute data‑driven boosting strategies.
• Influencer and content-creator engagement capacity: Demonstrated ability to identify, engage, and collaborate with Syrian social-media influencers and digital content creators. The agency should have established networks or partnerships that enable outreach to influencers across different regions and demographics, with a clear capacity to integrate influencer-driven content into the campaign strategy when relevant. This includes assessing influencers’ online behaviours, audience profiles, and alignment with the campaign’s objectives to ensure responsible and effective collaboration.
• High production capacity: Capability to produce high‑quality visual and audio content for multiple platforms.
• Technical skills: Proficiency in video production, graphic design, animation, editing, audio production, and social‑media management.
• Cultural and linguistic competence: Fluency in Arabic and Kurdish (spoken and written) and working knowledge of English. Deep understanding of Syrian social, cultural, and political contexts.
• Having an operational presence in Syria — either through a local office or a verified local partner — is considered an added advantage, as it supports deeper contextual understanding and smoother coordination. Agencies without a local presence may still apply, provided they demonstrate effective mechanisms to ensure contextual relevance, compliance with local regulations, and efficient collaboration with stakeholders on the ground.
• Project management: Ability to manage timelines, budgets, teams, and coordinate with multiple stakeholders, while adapting to changing circumstances.
• Facilitation skills: Demonstrated capacity to design and conduct stakeholder workshops and co‑creation sessions with key partners (e.g., , civil society, youth groups, government representatives ) for message development and strategy refinement.
• Ethical and gender‑sensitivity: Commitment to conflict‑sensitive programming, gender equality, diversity, and inclusion. Experience incorporating women’s leadership and youth activism into media products.
• Monitoring and evaluation: Capability to collect and analyse digital metrics (reach, engagement, sentiment) and provide meaningful reports.