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National Consultancy
11.11.2020

Background

People in Need (PIN) is a Czech NGO operating in 20 countries worldwide and implementing programmes in Ukraine since 2003 with a focus on human rights and civil society development. PIN has been responding to the humanitarian crisis related to military conflict in the east of country, namely Donetsk and Luhansk regions since August 2014. PIN is currently implementing nine projects of humanitarian assistance and civil society engagement.

PIN Ukraine is now looking for a national researcher to assist PIN Ukraine improve the factual and knowledge base, as well as strategic and analytic orientation of its programming focusing on youth inclusion and participation in conflict-affected areas. The proposed consultancy is directly part of the implementation of PIN’s strategic pillar on Good Governance and Community Engagement, with the goal to enhance social cohesion and participatory, and accountable local decision-making in Donbas.

Objective and Scope of the Consultancy

The proposed analytic research aims to examine the challenges, barriers and opportunities for young women and men to participate in the life of their community and local governance processes in areas under Military-Civil Administration in the government-controlled territories along the ‘line of contact’ in Donbas. The objective is to identify plural forms of mobilization and engagement with community and public life among young women and young men in their diversity in contexts of restricted governance space and sensitive ideologies. The final goal is then to identify how to facilitate and support the organic development of youth participation for their own perspectives and the wellbeing of their communities, engaging multiple stakeholders for the purpose and in a manner sensitive to dimensions of conflict, gender inequalities and diversity, in line with PIN values and following humanitarian standards and protection principles.

The proposed research will focus on a sample of selected towns and settlements under military-civil administration in the government-controlled territories along the ‘line of contact’ in Donetsk and/or Luhansk oblasts. It will refer to concepts and alternative models of youth participation, and may adopt creative and innovative research methodologies, including participatory research methods, with due consideration however to be paid to COVID-19-related and security restrictions.

The research will tentatively cover: (i) Context analysis of good governance dimensions in target locations (selected areas along the ‘line of contact’ and under Military-Civil Administration): specifics of governance system in such areas, stakeholder analysis, general opportunities and challenges for participation/social accountability, opportunities and challenges in theory and practice for youth participation (including conflict-sensitive connectors and dividers), with gender and diversity lens. (ii) Analysis of youth engagement forms in target locations: mapping of different forms of youth’ grassroot mobilization, qualitative case studies. (iii) Recommendations on youth engagement and participation in governance in target locations, with a gender and diversity lens, including dimensions of IDP and host community when relevant and other socioeconomic features.

Consultancy tasks

The consultancy will include the following tasks, indicated with their tentative deadline:

1. Development / finetuning of research methodology in close cooperation with PIN team; by Thursday, December 17^th, 2020;

2. Desk review, and field data collection by Friday, January 29^th, 2021;

4. Drafting of report and integrating first round of comments from PIN team; by Wednesday, February 10^th, 2021;

5. Final debriefing (online workshop) & integrating final comments from PIN team; by Friday, February 19^th, 2021;

6. Finalisation of the report; by Monday, February 22^nd, 2021.

Expected Deliverables

1. Report of the Analytic research study covering the following main structure (or other suggested structure): (i) introduction, summary literature review and methodology; (ii) Context analysis of good governance dimensions in target locations; (iii) Analysis of youth engagement forms in target locations; (iii) Recommendations on youth engagement and participation in governance in target locations.

2. Debriefing workshop with PIN staff and partner(s) to present the research findings and its recommendations, before finalization of the report.

Ethical and consultancy management

Ethical principles: all exchange with staff and youth on the matter of inclusion, engagement, mobilisation, participation and for the objectives of the consultancy must be conducted with utmost ethical principles, including informed consent, anonymity and confidentiality, and safeguarding, in line with international principles on the matter and of PIN’s Code of Conduct and relevant policies;

Audience and ownership of data and deliverables: Audience of the consultancy outputs will be with PIN Ukraine and PIN Headquarters, PIN’s donors and similar stakeholders. Information shared by PIN with the selected consultant and all data collected during the consultancy remains confidential and to be used exclusively for the objectives of the consultancy. PIN retains ownership over deliverables produced as a result of the consultancy.

Timeline and duration

The proposed consultancy is planned to cover approximately 30 working days during the period December 2020 – February 2021.

Start of the consultancy: Monday 14^th December 2020 at the latest.

End of the consultancy: Monday 22^nd February 2020 at the latest.

Logistics

The proposed consultancy will be conducted remotely and in-person with travel to selected sites towns and settlements under military-civil administration in the government-controlled territories along the ‘line of contact’ in Donetsk and/or Luhansk oblasts.

The offline activities, when planning to have face-to-face meetings, must be organised in line with PIN Ukraine’s Security rules as well as Standard Operating Procedure – Operational Guidelines during COVID-19 and receive prior agreement of the commissioning manager.

Qualification requirements

̶ Technical specialisation and sound knowledge of the topic(s) being addressed, evidenced by:

̶ Academic qualifications of the applicant: Master’s degree or higher education in social sciences, sociology, political sciences, multi-disciplinary research, or other relevant fields (25%);

̶ Additional technical qualifications of the applicant (eg trainings etc) on topics of youth research methodologies, gender, conflict studies, or other relevant fields (5%);

̶ Professional experience: 5+years‘experience of developing and conducting analytic research on similar or relevant topics, evidenced by:

̶ Track record of research projects and assignments completed on similar or relevant topics and including quantitative and qualitative data analysis with recomendations (20%);

̶ Track record of publications on similar or relevant topics (10%);

̶ Track record of field research in Ukraine LoC on similar or relevant topics (10%)

̶ Brief suggested methodological plan and structure (1 page maximum) for the present consultancy (20%).

̶ Solid understanding of youth participation models, gender, social inclusion and social cohesion issues, and conflict-sensitive approach;

̶ Proven ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;

̶ Proven excellent facilitation and interpersonal skills, and full adherence to research ethical standards;

̶ Ukrainian and Russian with excellent command of English;

̶ Competitive financial offer (with daily fee and possible associated costs), account taken of the timeline and suggested methodology (10%).