Consultancy Services for Humanitarian Mine Action in Eastern Ukraine 2021-2024: Building Safer, more Resilient, and Inclusive Communities

Humanitarian Mine Action in Eastern Ukraine 2021-2024: Building Safer, more Resilient, and Inclusive Communities

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 into hosting societies; and works with civil society and responsible authorities to promote protection of rights and peaceful coexistence.
DRC has been in Ukraine since 2014 and has expanded operations significantly since 24 February 2022 to deliver lifesaving assistance and emergency responses to people affected by the war. Furthermore, DRC is one of the key partners to national authorities to address needs for risk education, demining, and removal of explosive remnants of war.
DRC has been present in Ukraine since the late 1990s with a continuous presence since 2014. Since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, DRC is undergoing a considerable scale-up, opening offices in Lviv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv. In Ukraine, DRC currently implements Shelter, Protection (including Legal Assistance), Non-Food Items, Cash, Economic Recovery, as well as HDP sectors of work. DRC is the only organisation in Ukraine that implements all four admissible pillars of MA – clearance (including Non-Technical Survey), Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE), Victim Assistance, Advocacy, as well as the cross-cutting activity of capacity building of national MA duty-bearers.

2. Purpose of the consultancy

The Danish Refugee Council based in Ukraine seeks proposals from a consultant to measure the impact of the project Humanitarian Mine Action in Eastern Ukraine 2021-2024: Building safer, more resilient, and inclusive communities in order to measure key impact outcomes outlined below.
Over 36 months and through an integrated four-fold HMA intervention, the project consisted of four outputs to reach three overall project outcomes. The purpose of the consultancy is to measure DRC’s impact according to these.
Outcomes :
1. Less mine-related deaths and injuries and people affected by contamination feel safer,
2. Enhanced resilience of mine-affected communities and improved conditions for rapid recovery and socio-economic development,
3. Empowered communities and national actors with sustainable capacities to address risks and advocate for their needs and rights.

Outputs:
1. Output 1: Mine contaminated Suspected and Confirmed Hazardous areas released.
2. Output 2: Increased awareness/knowledge and safe behaviour of mine-related risks
3. Output 3: National actors have improved skills, knowledge, and tools for planning and carrying out mine action activities.
4. Output 4: Improved physical and socio-economic conditions for mine victims.

NB: DRC subject matter specialists will provide technical training, guidance, and approval on all material developed to ensure technical validity, relevance, and quality.

3. Background
Even before the outbreak of the most recent conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s challenges with landmines and explosive remnants of war contamination were severe. The situation in Ukraine drastically changed on 24 February 2022 when the Army Forces of the Russian Federation and the self-declared People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk resumed large-scale hostilities in northern, eastern, and southern Ukraine. Despite generous support from humanitarian partners and donors, the number of people who require humanitarian assistance and protection in Ukraine has drastically increased from 3.4 million in 2021 to 17.7 million as of 16 November 2022 by UNOCHA. The requirements for humanitarian assistance are now higher than ever and reflect the protracted nature of this humanitarian and protection crisis. Therefore, the need for sustained support from the international community remains.
The project aligns with four Finnish development values and principles as well as the relevant sustainable development goals (SDGs): sustainable market economy, use of natural resources, high level of education, and gender equality, and as such contribute to the priority areas governing Finland’s action22. They contribute to Finland’s past work in humanitarian demining in the region, particularly close to the LoC, with a general effort to reduce risks of mines (via EORE, NTS, and demining). Land release through the different methods that DRC is authorized and eligible to conduct – mine clearance, technical survey and non-technical survey -is specifically focused on the land of infrastructural and agricultural importance, contributing to SDGs 1 (no poverty) and 9 (industry and infrastructure).

4. Objective of the Evaluation
Under the guidance of the Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) Team, and the DRC Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Team, the objective of the Evaluation is to:
• Measure three project outcomes:
1. Less mine-related deaths and injuries and people affected by contamination feel safer,
2. Enhanced resilience of mine-affected communities and improved conditions for rapid recovery and socio-economic development
3. Empowered communities and national actors with sustainable capacities to address risks and advocate for their needs and rights.
• Prepare recommendations for further strategic integrated programme development between HDP and other sectors of DRC’s work in Ukraine and its monitoring and evaluation.
The consultant is specifically required to:
• Conduct a participatory external evaluation on the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the action; through a mixed method approach (quantitative and qualitative methodologies), including household-level questionnaires, key informant interviews and focus-group discussions with beneficiaries, community members and stakeholders.
• Prepare an analytical report compliant with DRC Design Guide, which should include key findings, good practices, lessons learnt and recommendations for further programme development and M&E of such programmes based on the collected data in the research areas.
• Collect, clean, analyse, and hand over the entire raw evaluation data plus cleaned database of the evaluation.
• Develop and present the evaluation via a PowerPoint presentation, compliant with DRC Editorial Manual and inclusive of evaluation results, key findings, and recommendations for the attention of the programme and MEAL team.

Scope of work and Methodology
The evaluation will be conducted face-to-face in Chjernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporozhzhia, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr oblasts (decision whether all oblasts to be visited or only a selection to be discussed). The evaluation will differentiate between settlements never occupied, previously occupied settlements, and those close to the contact lines, as well as between rural and urban areas. A gender and age balance will be sought, as well as the inclusion of persons with disabilities to the extent possible.
Under the scope of this evaluation, the consultant will fulfill the following tasks:
• Develop a mixed-method project evaluation methodology, this includes evaluation questions as well as their criteria and definition;
• Evaluate the achievement of the project outcomes in selected communities and project stakeholders as well as the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability;
• Provide recommendations for the improvement of DRC’s integrated programming.

5. Deliverables
The Consultant will submit the following deliverables as mentioned below:

6. Duration, timeline, and payment

The total expected duration to complete the assignment will be no more than 40 days.
The consultant shall be prepared to complete the assignment no later than September 30, 2024.
7. Proposed Composition of Team
The following is a recommended structure subject to amendment and negotiation upon realisation of the consultants existing team structure:
• Project Manager
• Assistance Project Manager
• Analysist/ Reporting Specialist
• Team Leader
• Enumerators (either through third party or inhouse)

8. Eligibility, qualification, and experience required

Essential:
• Previous experience in large-scale external evaluations in the Mine Action Sector (knowledge of clearance, Non-Technical Survey (NTS), Technical Survey (TS), MMC, BAC, Victim Assistance, Capacity Building methods and approaches)
• Understanding of the Ukrainian context as a whole and the scale and implications of explosive ordnance contamination
• Detailed knowledge and practice in the design and implementation of research cycles in the humanitarian sector for impact measurement
• Experience evaluating humanitarian action using the OECD-DAC criteria.
• Ability to develop program-oriented recommendations to non-data literate program staff

Desirable:
• Knowledge of the Ukraine Context, especially the mine action bureaucratic mechanisms according to the National Mine Action Standards (NMAS), International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), National Mine Action Center (NMAC), National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) and other relevant stakeholders.

Further Requirements:
• Eligibility:
– The consultant has the authorisation to work in Ukraine and/or have access to data collection teams operating in Ukraine.
• Qualification:
– At least a master’s degree in international development or related social sciences.
• Experience:
– A minimum of 5 years of research and/or academic work with experience in conducting (applied) research in difficult contexts;
– Previous experience in conducting KABP or similar MA surveys.
• Skills and knowledge:
– Evidence of previous large-scale evaluations
– A solid understanding of Ukraine’s cultural/economic context
• Language requirements:
– Written and spoken fluency in English
– Working knowledge of Ukrainian and/or Russian is an advantage

9. Technical supervision
The selected consultant will work under the supervision of:
• Jakub Walenda, Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding Manager, [email protected]
• Isabel Pearson, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Manager, [email protected]

10. Location and support

Address of Consultancy:
Danish Refugee Council, 17/52 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Str. 01054 Kyiv, Ukraine.

The Consultant will provide her/his own computer and mobile telephone, including required software for data collection, analysis, and reporting.

11. Travel

Travel within the country will be required to facilitate data collection and support teams. Presentation of the report can be online if required.

12. Submission process

Proposals should include:
– Curriculum vitae detailing previous experience on related surveys within humanitarian assistance projects/contexts; references of previous related assignments done or samples of work accomplished;
– Technical proposal including the survey design and methodology, data collection and analysis, activities (e.g., development of tools), as well as confirmed timeline considering contextual limitations and proposed team structure including enumerators` qualifications and language proficiency;
– Financial proposal for the survey. All costs related to the survey without exceptions should be figured into the financial plan of the proposal, including (but not limited to) consultancy fees, travel, accommodation, interpreters, enumerators, data entry, logistics, etc. Please, note that no per diem will be paid to the engaged personnel on top of the overall fee;
– Three references of which two should be from a previous surveying experience.

Those interested should submit their applications to [email protected]. The title of the e-mail should be ‘RFP-UKR-003655’. Detailed information for submission is available in the RFP Invitation Letter.

13. Evaluation of bids

Please refer to the related section of RFP Invitation Letter.