Provision of English and French Captioning Services for three (3) years

As part of its commitment to multilingualism, accessibility, and inclusive communication, UNECA seeks to engage a qualified service provider to deliver professional English and French captioning services for both live and pre-recorded audiovisual content. The selected contractor will provide high-quality transcription, translation, captioning, and subtitling services that comply with international accessibility standards and United Nations editorial requirements. The services shall ensure that audiovisual materials are accessible to persons with hearing impairments and are available to a broader multilingual audience. The contract shall be established as a Long-Term Agreement (LTA) for a maximum contract duration of three (3) years. Interested firms will be invited to the tender at a later stage. Specific Requirements/Information Qualifications of the Service Provider The Service Provider should demonstrate: • At least five (5) years of experience providing professional captioning and subtitling services. • Proven experience supporting international organizations, governments, or similar institutions. • Demonstrated expertise in English and French language services. • Experience with live captioning for conferences and virtual meetings. • Availability of qualified linguists, captioners, translators, and quality assurance personnel. The successful Service Provider shall provide captioning services under the following categories: Transcription and Captioning The contractor shall: • Produce verbatim or edited transcripts, as requested. • Generate synchronized closed captions and open captions. • Caption live meetings, conferences, webinars, and virtual events. • Caption pre-recorded videos for publication on digital platforms. • Include speaker identification where appropriate. • Accurately capture non-speech elements when required (e.g., applause, music, laughter, background sounds). • Ensure proper punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and formatting. Translation The contractor shall: • Translate captions between English and French while preserving the original meaning, tone, and context. • Apply appropriate UN terminology and institutional language. • Maintain synchronization after translation. • Adapt captions to ensure readability without altering the intended message. Deliverables Deliverables may include: • Time-coded transcripts • Closed-caption files • Open-caption videos • Subtitle files • Caption files in formats including but not limited to: o SRT o WebVTT (.vtt) o SCC o TTML o STL o ASS/SSA • Word transcripts (MS Word) • Translation files in editable format Services may be required for: • Live meetings • Hybrid meetings • Conferences • Webinars • Interviews • Training videos • Promotional videos • Documentary productions • Social media content • Public information campaigns IMPORTANT NOTICE: 1) This REOI does not constitute a solicitation. UNECA reserves the right to change or cancel the requirement at any time during the EOI or solicitation process. Thus, submitting a response to this REOI does not automatically guarantee that your company will be considered for receipt of the solicitation when issued. 2) UNECA also reserves the right to send the Solicitation Documents to companies who were identified through additional market research or other means to source the UN requirements. 3) Women-owned businesses and businesses owned by persons with disabilities are encouraged to participate All questions which the vendors have must be sent through the above email address not later than 3 days before the closing date.