BACKGROUND: UKRAINE CIVIL SOCIETY SECTORAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY
The USAID-funded Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity will improve the operating environment for civil society and strengthen the institutional capacities of civil society organizations (CSOs) to advance the self-reliance of the civic sector in Ukraine. This Activity is implemented by the Initiative Center to Support Social Action” – ISAR Ednannia in consortium with the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) and Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM) in 2019 – 2024 and it is the largest project for civil society implemented by a local implementing partner with $10 mln. investment in the self-reliance of Ukraine’s civil society sector.
For the past twenty-five years, Ukrainian civil society has served as a critical driver for democratic reform in the country. The ability of civil society in Ukraine to serve as a force for advancing Ukraine’s commitments before its citizens and the international community as well as improving the country’s capacity to implement reforms makes it unique. But despite these strengths, key weaknesses remain in such areas as an organizational capacity, legal enabling environment for civil society, emerging integrity challenges, and connectivity of civic actors.
UKRAINE CIVIL SOCIETY SECTORAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES
- Strengthen institutional capacities of civil society organizations (CSOs)
- Improve legal enabling environment (LEE) for civil society
- Enhance research and learning of civil society sectoral challenges, opportunities, and best
- practices
EVALUATION OBJECTIVE
Ongoing monitoring and learning of consortium partners’ activities and adaptation: in order to ensure program relevance and effectiveness, continuous monitoring and evaluation of consortium partner activities under Objective 1 and 2 will be carried out. This will allow avoiding and mitigating risks connected to this project, making necessary amendments into implementation of the Activity (if/as needed) and planning Activity’s next stages in a timely and effective manner.
Based on monitoring and evaluation results, adaptations to improve Activity performance may be recommended, new opportunities for consortium partner activities may be identified and the Activity may be updated as the circumstances arise. Activity implementation approach will be flexible enough to adapt to these findings.
In accordance with recommendations regarding consortium partner activities, consortium partners will seek to improve their overall performance through relevant training of their staff members, strategic planning and team-building activities, team training to increase staff capacities and motivation and other learning mechanisms.
SCOPE OF WORK
Key duties/tasks and responsibilities of the external evaluation consultant to achieve the objective of the assignment are described below. The described Scope of Work alone should not be considered exhaustive. After the winning bid is identified, the SoW may be finetuned at the initial stage of contract negotiations.
The Consultant is expected to develop the concept and methodology and apply the highest professional judgment in assisting the client’s team to address the goals and objectives of the assignment efficiently and effectively; to develop an M&E system that can be implemented with a high likelihood of success. As well, the Consultant will conduct the intermediary assessment of the Ukrainian Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity, implemented by a Consortium of ISAR Ednannia, UCIPR, and CEDEM.
Expected deliverables
· Inception report covering full methodology and evaluation/learning activity timelines
· Data collection tools and schedules
· Full evaluation report, plus all the necessary supplements
· Recommendations on indicators design and their data collection plan; their deployment plan
· Recommendations on areas of learning and project development
· Recommendations on the theory of change adjustment
All deliverables must be submitted in English.
ELIGIBILITY
The evaluation bidders, eligible to apply and fill the following requirements
1. Previous experience working with projects with a focus on capacity development and/or legal enabling environment. Experience in public policy would be a strong advantage.
2. Solid legal expertise in the domain of civil society organizations. Experience in the EU law for NPOs and NGOs would be a strong advantage.
3. Experience (three and more projects) providing evaluation services in the civil society and public policy sphere of the same scope.
4. Proven expertise in the civil society sphere of Ukraine.
5. Proven experience developing M&E systems, tools, and processes, including an overall project performance monitoring, evaluation, and learning plan; project results framework, logical framework; developing/finalizing project indicators, data sources, and data quality assurance processes, collecting baseline data and project data, and conducting a final project impact analysis.
6. CONFLICT OF INTERESTS: The Applicant must not be (1) a recipient of any of ISAR Ednannia or any other Consortium member grants (2) a current subcontractor of ISAR Ednannia or any other Consortium member organizations.
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
Please send all your questions regarding the procedure, including the details of the project description, to Victoria Aliyeva at aliyeva@ednannia.ua by July 16, 2021, 17:00 Kyiv time. In your requests, please indicate “Evaluation Services 2021 Requests” in the subject line of your email.
Please submit your proposals to Victoria Aliyeva at aliyeva@ednannia.ua. Proposals are due on July 31, 2021, 23:59 Kyiv time. Indicate “Evaluation Services 2021 Submissions_%name of the applicant%” in the subject line of your email.
