Terms of Reference-Documentary on the reaching Out to children in Street Situation (CISS) Project

Project Overview 

Since 2022, SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia has been implementing the Reaching Out to Children in Street Situations (CiSS) Project in Addis Ababa, Adama, and Dire Dawa with support from Heimstaden through SOS Children’s Villages Norway.

The project was designed to contribute towards reducing the number of children living in street situations and improving their well-being through prevention, outreach, rehabilitation, family reintegration, education, skills development, youth empowerment, advocacy, and systems strengthening.

Children living on the streets face multiple forms of vulnerability, including exposure to violence, exploitation, unsafe living conditions, disrupted education, substance misuse, poor health outcomes, and separation from family care. The reasons children enter street situations are complex and interconnected, often involving poverty, family instability, migration, violence, neglect, lack of access to services, and limited economic opportunities.

Through a comprehensive and child-centered approach, the project has generated significant results between 2022 and 2025, including:

• Reaching more than 8,155 children through outreach services and case management.
• Supporting 1,684 children to reintegrate safely with their families.
• Facilitating access to formal education for 2,927 children.
• Supporting 2,843 families through access to finance initiatives.
• Training 2,966 caregivers on positive parenting and child protection.
• Providing entrepreneurship and livelihood support to 1,092 young people.
• Strengthening local service providers and community structures across the three project locations.

As the project enters its final phase, SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia seeks to document its impact through a professionally produced documentary package that captures both individual transformation and broader systems-level change.

Why Documenting this Project is Important 

Documenting the CiSS Project is essential to preserve lessons learned, demonstrate impact, support advocacy efforts, and amplify the voices of children, youth, families, and communities whose lives have been transformed through the project.

The documentary is expected to:

• Raise awareness about the realities and challenges faced by children in street situations.
• Demonstrate that meaningful alternatives to street life are possible through integrated support systems.
• Showcase the impact of outreach, rehabilitation, family reintegration, education, and youth empowerment interventions.
• Highlight good practices and lessons that can inform future programming.
• Support advocacy efforts around child protection and family-based care.
• Provide compelling visual evidence for donors, government partners, communities, and the public.
• Strengthen fundraising and resource mobilization efforts for future interventions.

Objective of the Assignment 

SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia seeks to engage an experienced production agency to conceptualize, produce, and deliver a high-quality documentary package that captures the impact of the Reaching Out to Children in Street Situations (CiSS) Project.

The assignment should communicate the journey of children and young people from street situations toward safety, belonging, dignity, and opportunity while demonstrating the role of families, communities, service providers, local partners, and government institutions in creating sustainable change.

The documentary should combine emotional storytelling with evidence of measurable project impact and be suitable for advocacy, fundraising, visibility, donor engagement, and public awareness purposes.

Background Narrative and Existing Synopsis 

SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia has already developed a preliminary documentary concept and story framework entitled: “The Road Back” or “Stories Beyond the Street”

The concept follows the narrative journey:

Life on the Streets → Building Trust → Family Reintegration → Creating Opportunity → Systems that Sustain Change

The selected production agency will receive the existing synopsis and storyline as the primary creative framework for production.

The agency may:

• Adopt the proposed concept and focus on production and post-production execution; or
• Propose an alternative creative treatment that strengthens the storytelling approach while preserving the project’s key messages and safeguarding commitments.

Any substantial modifications to the synopsis, narrative structure, visual treatment, or storytelling direction must receive approval from SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia before production begins.

Documentary Approach 

The documentary shall adopt a human-centered storytelling approach that places children, youth, families, and caregivers at the center of the narrative.

The story should focus on:

• The realities faced by children living in street situations.
• The complexity of leaving the streets.
• Building trust between outreach workers and children.
• Family reunification and reintegration journeys.
• Economic empowerment and opportunities for young people.
• Community and institutional support systems.
• Long-term hope, resilience, belonging, and transformation.

The documentary should avoid portraying children as victims and instead present them as individuals with agency, aspirations, resilience, and potential.

The storytelling approach should prioritize dignity, authenticity, and safeguarding at every stage.

Scope of Work

The production agency shall be responsible for the following:

Pre-Production

• Participate in project briefing sessions.
• Review project documents, impact reports, safeguarding requirements, and approved synopsis.
• Develop creative treatment and production approach.
• Produce script, storyboard, shot list, filming schedule, and interview guides.
• Ensure all creative approaches adhere to child safeguarding and ethical storytelling standards.

Production

• Conduct filming in Addis Ababa, Adama, and Dire Dawa.
• Capture interviews with children and youth participants (where appropriate and consented).
• Capture interviews with caregivers, project staff, local partners, and government representatives.
• Record cinematic B-roll footage supporting the narrative.
• Capture content suitable for both long-form and short-form outputs.
• Record high-quality audio suitable for documentary production.

Post-Production

• Documentary editing.
• Motion graphics and impact visualization.
• Color grading.
• Audio mixing and sound design.
• Subtitling.
• Incorporation of review comments.
• Delivery of final approved versions.

Specific Deliverables 

Deliverable 1 – One (1) Impact Documentary

Duration: 7 minutes

Language: English

Subtitle-ready version required

Purpose: To serve as the primary documentary film showcasing the impact and lessons of the CiSS Project.

Deliverable 2 – Three (3) Social Media Documentary Snippets

Duration: Approximately 2 minutes each

Topics may include: 

• Building Trust on the Streets
• The Journey Home
• Creating Futures Through Opportunity

Purpose: To support social media engagement, advocacy campaigns, fundraising activities, and public storytelling efforts.

Deliverable 3 – Raw footage and editable source files.

Deliverable 4 – All project files including: Scripts, Motion graphics assets, Narration scripts, Subtitles, Project files

Deliverable 5 – A minimum of 30 high-resolution documentary photographs captured during filming.

Note: Deliverables 1 and 2 must be optimized for:

• Event screening.
• Social media platforms.
• Website use.
• Email distribution.
• USB and cloud sharing.

Roles and Responsibilities

SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia will:

• Provide project documentation and impact reports.
• Share the documentary synopsis and key messages.
• Facilitate access to locations and interviewees.
• Obtain safeguarding approvals and participant consent.
• Review and approve scripts, storyboards, rough cuts, and final edits.

The Production Agency will:

• Lead the production process.
• Provide all technical equipment and personnel.
• Ensure professional production standards.
• Deliver all approved outputs within the agreed timeframe.
• Observe safeguarding, confidentiality, and ethical storytelling principles.

Standards of the production 

The following standards will apply:

Video 

• Filmed in 4K resolution.
• Delivered in highest quality HD and social media formats.
• Professional color grading.
• Stabilized footage.
• Documentary-grade cinematography.

Audio 

• Clean location sound.
• Professional microphones.
• Balanced music and ambient audio.
• Professional mixing and mastering.

Graphics 

• Modern motion graphics.
• Visual representation of project statistics.
• Compliance with SOS Children’s Villages branding standards.

Visual and Editorial Direction

The desired creative approach combines cinematic documentary storytelling, intimate character-driven narratives, and strong observational footage. (UNICEF For Every Child is a strong example of child-centered storytelling that balance dignity, emotion, and impact)

The references above is intended to guide quality, pacing, narrative style, and emotional tone and should not be replicated directly.

Preferred style includes: 

• Observational documentary footage.
• Natural light cinematography.
• Human-centered interviews.
• Real environments and authentic moments.
• Minimal institutional narration.
• Contemporary music and sound design.
• Emotional but hopeful tone.
• Animated impact statistics integrated within the narrative.
• Strong narrative arc moving from challenge to transformation and possibility.

Intellectual Property 

All outputs, source files, footage, photography, and associated materials produced under this assignment shall remain the exclusive property of SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia.

SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia shall retain unrestricted rights to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, and distribute all outputs.

Safeguarding and Ethical Storytelling Requirements 

The selected production agency is expected to fully adhere to SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia’s safeguarding standards throughout the documentary process. The following principles must be observed:

• Respect and Protection: All filming and interviews must uphold the dignity, privacy, and safety of children, young people, and families. No content should portray individuals in a way that is exploitative, stigmatizing, or harmful.
• Informed Consent: The production team must ensure that clear, age-appropriate informed consent is obtained in writing from all participants or legal guardians in the case of minors prior to any filming or use of identifiable images or stories. Consent forms will be provided by the national office.
• Safe Conduct: Any form of inappropriate behavior, coercion, or boundary-crossing is strictly prohibited.
• Incident Reporting: Any safeguarding concern or potential incident observed or disclosed during production must be reported within 24 hours through the official SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia safeguarding reporting channel; misconduct@sos-ethiopia.org.

Duration of the Assignment 

The assignment is expected to be completed within four weeks from contract signing, including:

• Inception and briefing
• Creative development
• Production
• Editing
• Review rounds
• Final delivery

Evaluation Criteria 

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following weighted criteria:

• Technical Proposal (70%)

SOS Children’s Villages has already developed a preliminary narrative concept and storyline. Bidders are encouraged to build this framework. However, agencies may propose an alternative creative treatment that demonstrably strengthens the storytelling approach while maintaining the approved key messages, safeguarding standards, and intended documentary objectives.

• Understanding of the assignment and documentary approach (35%)
• Relevant documentary production experience (15%)
• Proposed creative treatment and storytelling approach (15%)
• Team composition and equipment capacity (5%)
• Financial Proposal (30%)
• Value for money
• Budget efficiency

Application Requirements 

Interested service providers are requested to submit:

1. A brief technical proposal detailing capacity to perform the scope of work outlined above.
2. A mandatory portfolio of previous work in humanitarian contexts (links to previous documentaries).
3. A creative treatment and storytelling approach for the preexisting synopsis.
4. References or testimonials from previous clients.
5. A financial proposal in ETB.