Danish Refugee Council
1. Who is the Danish Refugee Council?
Founded in 1956, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading international NGO and one of the few with a specific expertise in forced displacement. Active in 40 countries with 9,000 employees and supported by 7,500 volunteers, DRC protects, advocates, and builds sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement-affected people and communities. DRC works during displacement at all stages: In the acute crisis, in displacement, when settling and integrating in a new place, or upon return. DRC provides protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance; supports displaced persons in becoming self-reliant and included in hosting societies; and works with civil society and responsible authorities to promote the protection of rights and peaceful coexistence.
In Ukraine, the DRC delivers and supports humanitarian aid initiatives across the country, employing more than 600 primarily national staff members. With a main office in Kyiv, DRC is present in 19 oblasts across the country, working to provide targeted, timely, relevant, and efficient emergency aid and support to displacement and conflict-affected communities. DRC is a member of the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and co-chair of a task force looking at reorienting coordination in Ukraine following recommendations from an operational peer review in early 2023.
2. Purpose of the consultancy
The Danish Refugee Council in Ukraine seeks proposals from qualified consultants to lead and guide the process of developing an evidence-based Humanitarian Country Team -based, area-based humanitarian coordination model to be piloted under the leadership of the (HCT).
The pilot model should consider lessons learned from other area-based coordination (ABC) models piloted and implemented globally, and adapted to match Ukraine’s unique context and stakeholder environment. It should be inclusive, and articulate clear leadership and governance responsibilities, funding needs, and integration or complementarity with current humanitarian coordination structures including locally-led and government-led initiatives.
3. Background
The Ukraine response is unprecedented in scale both in terms of funding and the number of responding agencies, putting a unique pressure on the humanitarian coordination architecture. The response is characterized by a diverse range of responding stakeholders addressing humanitarian needs including but not limited to locally-led volunteer groups, national NGOs, international NGOs, the Red Cross movement, UN agencies, and government entities. At present, the currently highly centralized coordination structures are presenting significant challenges for efficient and timely subnational coordination and response.
Recognizing this, the HCT is pursuing expert guidance on a relevant area-based coordination model that is conducive to the scale and challenges posed by the Ukraine humanitarian response. An appropriate model will consider the diversity of local, national, and international actors, and both government and non-government stakeholders who are collectively involved in ongoing humanitarian response coordination and implementation. The successful consultant will present to the HCT and the ABC Taskforce detailed findings and recommendations and propose a clear operational model (or models) for area-based coordination, with a detailed explanation of their strengths and weaknesses which should be considered and accounted for when implementing the pilot. The consultant should support OCHA and the ABC Taskforce in designing a pilot that tests the proposed model, which upon a successful completion of the pilot stage, will be expanded and scaled across all relevant areas of Ukraine.
4. Objective of the consultancy
The purpose of the consultancy:
• Under the HCT Task Force on Area-Based Coordination the consultant will lead and guide the process of developing and proposing a relevant area-based coordination model that results in timely and efficient responses, and provides effective interagency and intersectoral linkages between subnational and national levels. The model should assign clear responsibility and accountability for response coordination and outcomes, and be able to effectively identify and escalate response needs and gaps to relevant duty bearers.
The consultant will be required to:
• Support OCHA and the ABC Task Force (TF) in conducting primary data collection with relevant actors in the country at both national and subnational levels to build a robust awareness of the current obstacles and challenges within current coordination mechanisms and channels, as well as consult with actors in other humanitarian responses to understand where effective models have been operationalized which can be contextualized to the Ukraine response. Desk research can be conducted when applicable using products such as Peer to Peer reports and After-Action Reviews to understand the variables that have led to coordination successes and challenges which should be respectively applied or mitigated in the proposed model. Data collection should consult a diversity of government and non—non-government actors such as oblast and hromada level authorities, local and national CSOs/NGOs, INGOs, cluster representatives, and others to ensure comprehensive and diverse perspectives are considered and applied to research outcomes and the proposed model/s.
• The successful consultant will design and present a clear methodology for the proposed work which may use both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, which will be reviewed and approved by OCHA and the ABC Task Force.
• The consultant will present detailed findings based on primary and secondary data collection and research in the form of a summary report, to be shared for review and feedback with the ABC Taskforce. The report will contain a detailed operational model (or models), including proposing pilot location/s to be considered by OCHA and the ABC Taskforce.
• The consultant will support the ABC Task Force in designing the pilot to test the proposed model for future scaling, as well as developing ToRs for the ABC model/s (including roles and responsibilities, communication and reporting mechanisms, and accountability mechanisms, etc.)
• The consultant will also share a proposed methodology to measure and test the success of the proposed model to determine the relevance of expanding and scaling based on the outcome of the pilot.
5. Scope of work and Methodology
The consultant will be required to prepare a detailed methodology and work plan indicating how
the objectives and deliverables of the consultancy will be achieved, and indicate the support required from DRC and ABC Task Force/HCT.
The consultant is expected to use both quantitative and qualitative methods to gather the necessary information required to propose a model from a solid evidence base, and in consideration of the current coordination and response challenges. Surveys, KIIs, and FGDs are expected methods to be deployed by the consultant in order to effectively engage all necessary stakeholders and duty bearers to be involved in the research and analysis.
6. Deliverables
The Consultant will be required to undertake and complete the milestones and deliverables stated in the Annex C Terms of Reference.
7. Duration, timeline, and payment
• The total expected duration to complete the assignment will be no more than 33 working days.
• The consultant shall be prepared to complete the assignment no later than 31st March 2024.
• Payment will be tied to the submission of evaluation deliverables.
• Payment will be done in two installments, 30% after the submission of the deliverables in Phase 1. and approval by DRC, and 70% upon DRC’s approval of the final report including all deliverables stated above.
• Note: Upon signing of a contract, a final timeline of evaluation deliverables will be agreed upon and a final payment schedule will be specified by DRC.
8. Eligibility, qualification, and experience required
Note this is a full-time consultancy based in Kyiv with frequent travel to field bases.
Essential:
• The consultant and his/her team (if relevant) must have the authorization to work in Ukraine
• The consultant and his/her team (if relevant) must have a minimum 5-year proven experience with research and analyses of complex humanitarian crises
• The consultant should have a minimum of 5 years of experience in the humanitarian sector
• Demonstrated experience with research and analysis of coordination and response to an asset
• Language skills: Written and spoken fluency in English
Desirable:
• A consultant already present in Ukraine is preferable
• Language skills: Written and spoken fluency in Ukrainian preferred.
• Past experience with area-based coordination models a strong added value.
9. Technical supervision
The selected consultant will work under the supervision of:
• ABC Task Force Co-Chairs, mandated by the Humanitarian Country Team
• Julian Zakrzewski, DRC Ukraine – Country Director (as the contract holder)
10. Location and support
Address of the work assignment:
The consultant and his/her team (if relevant) are expected to be based in Kyiv, with 50% travel in Ukraine (including but not limited to: Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumska, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa Oblasts), during the consultancy period.
The consultant and his/her team (if relevant), will be able to utilize DRC Kyiv Office for their work, for the duration of the consultancy, as well as DRC and DRC Partners’ Offices across Ukraine if required during travels.
Equipment: The Consultant will provide her/his own computer and mobile telephone
11. Travel
The consultant and his/her team (if relevant) are expected to be based in Kyiv, with 50% travel in Ukraine (including but not limited to: Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumska, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa Oblasts), during the consultancy period.
The Consultant will therefore be expected to arrange transportation (both international and local transport), accommodation, insurance, food and cover the expenses, and make adequate provisions in the Financial Proposal. DRC will not be entitled to any other additional cost that occurred during the implementation of this consultancy.
The Contractor shall complete the DRC Travel Clearance Request and obtain approval thereof prior to commencing the travel. DRC Country office in Kyiv Ukraine may support the Contractor in the following areas:
(a) Assisting in hotel bookings, if required.
(b) Providing safety briefings, if required.
(c) Assisting in providing local transport, if required.
(d) Assisting in arranging interviews with stakeholders.
12. Submission process
For details, please check RFP Invitation Letter Section V. Submission of Bids.
13. Evaluation of bids
For the administrative and technical evaluation criteria, kindly check the respective areas in the RFP Invitation Letter.
How to apply
How to apply
Please request solicitation documents from the email address: [email protected]
RFP Issuing Date: 23 November 2023
RFP Closure Date: at 12:00 pm UTC / 02:00 pm GMT+2, December 20, 2023
Address for the submission of proposals:
Electronic copies of documents are to be sent to the e-mail address: [email protected]
Please mention in the subject line as RFP-UKR-002691
Hard copy bids to be delivered to the address: 17/52 Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Str., floor 3, Kyiv, 01054
Financial and Technical Proposal should be sent in separate e-mails.
We look forward to your response.