129 Real Time Review (RTR) Ukraine Refugee Crisis

1. Background Information on Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 75 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

Read more about Plan International’s Global Strategy: 100 Million Reasons at https://plan-international.org/strategy

2. Background/Context

Since 24th February 2022, one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes: the largest human displacement crisis in the world today. Over 7.1 million people remain displaced by the war within Ukraine.

15.7 million people are estimated to urgently require humanitarian assistance and protection (UNHCR operational data). UNHCR estimates there are over 4.8 million refugees present across Europe. More than 7.2 million refugee movements have been recorded out of Ukraine and more than 2 million movements back into the country.

In response to the evolving crisis Plan International has established operations in Poland, Romania, Moldova, Germany and Ukraine. Prior to the conflict Plan International did not have a presence in eastern Europe.

To support ongoing programme development and in line with Plan International guidelines, a Real Time Review is planned of our response. The review will provide a key tool to support response management reflect on the work to date and identify any areas where changes may be needed.

3. Objectives

1. To review Plan International’s approach to the Ukraine crisis, determining if it was timely, appropriate and in alignment with the updated Plan International Global Strategy.
2. To identify key learnings from Plan Internationals establishment of response activities in non-presence countries.
3. Review decision making processes and timelines across the federation (Global Hub, National Organisations and Liaison Offices), highlighting key issues to address for future crises.
4. Assess Plan Internationals risk tolerance levels in the response and alignment with the Global risk Policy.
5. To review Plan International’s approach to partnerships in humanitarian crises and determine the readiness of the organisation to work with partners in humanitarian crises.
6. Highlight key issues related to our systems and processes that should be factored into the ongoing development of the organisations new finance and M&E systems.
7. Staffing. Were roles deployed to the crisis appropriate and timely? Was the organisation able to address staffing requirements in a timely and effective manner?

At the country level, the findings will be used to make corrections and improvements necessary for the current response and to improve mid and long-term. The response management team will identify how best to address any findings in a way that is appropriate and relevant for the operational context.

Finally, the objective of this RTR is NOT to measure the impact of the response. It is a learning process to help strengthen the existing response.

Output

A short concise report will be developed to provide management with an independent review of the current operations and areas where further consideration is required by the response teams, Global Hub Departments and National Organisations.

The Deputy Ukraine Response Director is responsible for coordinating and finalising the management response to the RTR within 1 week of final report having been received. Where findings relate to global or NO issues, the Global Hub and NOs will be requested by the Deputy Ukraine Response Director to provide input to the management response. All respective offices are not under any obligation to act on the findings but are responsible for providing management feedback on each finding and whether it is accepted or not. If accepted, details on what steps will be taken should be provided. If not accepted, the reasons as to why should be provided.

The report and management response will be sent by the Deputy Ukraine Response Director to the Executive Director Delivery, Performance & Accountability and the Global Humanitarian Director for management accountability. The report will be shared within the organisation.

Time and Locations

The RTR is scheduled to be conducted during July and August 2022. The Deputy Ukraine Response Director will discuss with the consultants on the potential for in-country visits to response locations (Poland, Romania, and Moldova), or whether meetings and discussions can be completed virtually instead (aligning with environmental considerations and time requirements).

Stakeholders

The primary stakeholders for this RTR are:

• Plan Internationals Ukraine response management
• Plan International Global Hub senior leadership
• Plan International Humanitarian, Partnerships, Fundraising, Influencing, Finance, People & Culture, Legal departments, Comms
• Plan International National Organisations.
• Partners
• UN agencies
• Donors
• Government
• Refugees (youth, women)

The overall focal point for this RTR is the Deputy Ukraine Response Director supported by the Global Hub Information Management and Accountability Specialist.

The RTR should listen to the affected population, local government stakeholders, implementing partners and the inter-agency coordination mechanisms that have been activated for this response.

The Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) should be used as a reference for the RTR process.

RTR Team Members

The RTR teamshould be able to provide an independent, objective perspective as well as technical experience on review process and will be the primary author of the RTR report. The RTR will comprise of the following team members:

• Consultants (to be hired)
• 2-3 senior leaders from within Plan International who have not been involved in the response to date. This team will support the consultants contextualise findings for the organisation.

The team should take all reasonable steps to ensure that the review process is designed and conducted to respect and protect the rights and welfare of children and communities involved and to ensure that the review is technically accurate, reliable, is conducted in a transparent and impartial manner, and contributes to organizational learning and accountability.

RTR Framework and Methodology

The review will also consider how we have aligned with our Feminist Leadership principles.

Gender is a central element of all Plan International emergency response programmes. This review will determine to what extent the response is contributing to Plan International’s focus on gender and to what extent the response is gender aware or gender transformative. This will be done by considering the following guiding questions, and the Feminist Leadership Principle of Diversity:

• Are the different needs of girls, boys, women and men identified? Is the girl child at the core our programme planning?
• Does the response address these identified needs?
• Is the programme carried out in ways which promote gender equality in the communities where Plan International works?

The RTR will consider how the response teams as well as the wider organisation have responded to the crisis and will use the CHS quality criteria as the framework for any findings identified. These quality criteria are, with relevant Feminist Leadership Principle to consider in blue;

• Humanitarian response is appropriate and relevant. Feminist Principle: Tackling bias.
• Humanitarian response is effective and timely. Feminist Principle: Purpose-driven.
• Humanitarian response strengthens local capacities and avoids negative effects. Feminist Principle: Share power.
• Humanitarian response is based on communication, participation and feedback. Feminist Principle: Collective Accountability.
• Complaints are welcomed and addressed. Feminist Principle: Zero tolerance.
• Humanitarian response is coordinated and complementary. Feminist Principle: Joyful in co-creating, Honouring the movement.
• Humanitarian actors continuously learn and improve. Feminist Principle: Self-awareness and courage.
• Staff are supported to do their job effectively and are treated fairly and equitably. Feminist Principle: Self and collective care.
• Resources are managed and used responsibly for their intended purpose.
• The response reflects the humanitarian principles of; impartiality, independence, neutrality and is based on meeting the humanitarian imperative. Consideration will also be given as to how IHL has been considered in the development of the response.
• How effectively have PI Response teams, and partners engaged with the humanitarian coordination system**.**
• Appropriate policy and influencing activities have been undertaken.

The 10 Feminist Leadership principles should be referenced within the CHS 9 commitments.

The RTR will involve face to face (where appropriate and viable) and remote interviews with representative stakeholders, focus group discussions and other review tools and processes. Lastly the RTR should not only consider how the response teams have responded, but also how they have been supported by the Global Hub and National Organisations and how these entities have mobilised to support the humanitarian response.

1. Timeline

Dates (tentative)

Activity

28 June – 22 July 2022

• Identification of RTR consultants and Plan International participants in consultation with Global Hub Humanitarian
• Development of ToR and schedule
• Hire consultants
• Internal briefing by GH and RTR team members on approach and review requirements.

25-27 July

• Briefing with Response Locations on the RTR process and methodology and introduce the RTR members

28 – 04 August 2022

• Desk review of relevant documents by RTR members
• All documents will be sent via email to the RTR team members by the Deputy Ukraine Response Director
• Finalising the RTR methodology

05 August – 12 August 2022

• Data collection process through virtual interviews, FGDs led by RTR members
• Debriefing of initial findings by RTR members to Ukraine Crisis Management Team.

15 August – 16 August 2022

• Report writing

17 August 2022

• Submission of RTR report to Deputy Ukraine Response Director, copied to Global Hub Humanitarian Director

5. Expected qualifications of Consultant

Applicants will have significant experience of working on humanitarian crises including the establishment of humanitarian operations and scale up. They will also have experience of working at headquarters level and have been involved in organisational strategic management decisions.

Experience of the localisation agenda and working in partnership with national and local organisations would be advantageous.

6. Contact

Any questions in relation to this RFQ as well as submission of proposals please send to:

[email protected]

7. List of documents to be submitted with the RFQ

Technical Proposal

• Detailed response to the RFQ/ ToR
• Proposed timelines
• CVs or company profile including contact details
• Example of previous work
• Reference

All consultants/applicant are required to agree and adhere to Plan International’s Non-Staff Code of Conduct (Annex A)

All suppliers are required to complete Supplier Questionnaire (Annex B)

Financial Proposal

Plan follow a fair and transparent Procurement process and therefore it is not possible to share our budget. Please provide a detailed breakdown of your daily rate and the number of days and resources required per activity, as well as the associated cost.

Please include all additional costs Plan should be aware of.

8. Submission of offers

Please send your application to Plan International [email protected] by 12th July 2022 referencing “129 Real Time Review (RTR) Ukraine Refugee Crisis” in the subject line and including supporting documents as outlined in section 7.

9. Evaluation of offers

• Shortlisted suppliers may be invited to discuss their proposals in more detail at Plan’s discretion. Interviews are likely to take place between 15th July to 19th July 2022.
• Plan International, at its sole discretion, will select the successful RFQ.
• Plan international shall be free to:
• accept the whole, or part only, of any submission
• Accept none of the proposals
• Republish this Request for Quotations
• Plan International reserves the right to keep confidential the circumstances that have been considered for the selection of offers.
• Part of the evaluation process may include a presentation from the supplier.
• Value for money is very important to Plan International, as every additional £ saved is money that we can use on our humanitarian and development work throughout the world.
• Plan Internationalmay award multiple contracts and all contracts will be non-exclusive.

Women-owned businesses and companies actively engaged or advancing gender equality and women empowerment in the workplace are especially encouraged to apply

10. Contract & Payment terms

Please note that, if successful, Plan International’s standard terms of payment are 30 days after the end of the month of receipt of invoice, or after acceptance of the Goods/Services/Works, if later.

11. IR35 Requirements – Only applicable for UK based or connections to the UK Consultants

As of April 2021, all Global Hub UK-based contractors (Consultant/personal service company/agency/intermediary) employing “people” in their chain to deliver serves to Plan International must follow a strict process of IR35 determination.

Plan Limited will conduct a CES tool on all relevant shortlisted proposers as outlined above to determine whether they fall inside or outside IR35.

12. Plan International’s Ethical & Environmental Statement

The supplier should establish environmental standards and good practices that follow the principles of ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems, and in particular to ensure compliance with environmental legislation

13. Clarifications

The onus is on the invited individual/companies to ensure that its offer is complete and meets Plan International’s requirements. Failure to comply may lead to the offer being rejected. Please therefore ensure that you read this document carefully and answer fully all questions asked.

If you have any queries in relation to your submission, or to any requirements of this RFQ, please email: [email protected]

Thank you for your proposal.

How to apply

Please send your application to Plan International [email protected] by 12th July 2022 referencing “129 Real Time Review (RTR) Ukraine Refugee Crisis” in the subject line and including supporting documents as outlined in section 7.