Consultant – Ukraine Response After Action Review – Remote

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

The Russian invasion in Ukraine in February 2022 has led to thousands of people being injured or killed and has torn families apart as millions have fled the country in search of safety. Meanwhile countless more people remain trapped without access to food, water, medical care, heating and electricity. Mercy Corps provided humanitarian assistance to over 200,000 people in Ukraine from 2015-2017. Assistance included distribution of emergency cash, food, water and sanitation supplies, restoration of war-damaged homes, provision of small-business development grants and training to help people earn income and support themselves and their families, and child-protection and psychosocial support activities.

Mercy Corps is now rapidly scaling its operations in Ukraine, establishing offices in Lviv, Kyiv, Dnipro, and Odessa, as well as in Poland and Romania. Mercy Corps’ regional response team is working with more than 35 local partner organizations in neighboring countries and across Ukraine to meet the urgent basic needs of conflict-affected populations. Given this is one of Mercy Corps’ largest humanitarian response efforts spanning four countries, an After Action Review (AAR) has been prioritized to document key lessons on action planning, coordination, response management and leadership and other aspects of Mercy Corps’ efforts that will help to form a basis for improving MC’s inputs for future responses. The Asia regional leadership team and Humanitarian Response & Leadership (HLR) teams seek to hire a consultant to lead this AAR.

After Action Reviews at Mercy Corps:

After Action Reviews at Mercy Corps are intended to strengthen organization-wide learning and promote accountability first and foremost to those most affected by the relevant response with additional accountability to donors and the public. Mercy Corps’ responses intend to rapidly meet the most urgent humanitarian needs in an effective, accountable and coordinated manner, supporting local responders where and when possible as our first response. AARs are not an in depth evaluation or assessment of performance but should provide insight into what went well in the response as well as what can be improved, including broad trends, and issues that need systemic examination.

Purpose / Project Description:

This After Action Review aims to understand what went well and what could be improved during the first four months of Mercy Corps’ response in Ukraine, Poland, Romania and Moldova. The evaluation will cover Mercy Corps’ humanitarian response, starting with the launch of the scoping mission in February 2022 and cover the response until the time of this AAR. It will also extend its view to a relevant period before the launch of the scoping mission (to the beginning of January 2022) to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the level of preparedness and decision-making linked to the response.

The Ukraine Response AAR Consultant will survey people involved in the first four months of the Mercy Corps response to the crisis in Ukraine. The survey will be followed up by key informant interviews or focus group discussions with members of the response team and other departmental team members closely involved with the response. This also includes key members of the Executive Team. The consultant will also benefit from multiple individual team debriefs and lesson learning that have already been done in May/June. These inputs will then be synthesized into a report and PowerPoint, and presented at a workshop with leadership, response team members, and support departments to review and discuss findings. Recommendations will be used to inform improved future responses.

The main objectives of this After Action Review are to:

1. Provide a shared narrative of the events and decisions that took place and determine the extent to which Mercy Corps’ preparedness actions and response decisions were (or were not) relevant and effective to address the startup of the response.
2. Identify issues linked to systems, structures, approaches to inform a wider review of our Mercy Corps Response capacity. Identify good practices, opportunities and lessons learnt that will illustrate how Mercy Corps’ response mechanisms might be strengthened or be refigured to strengthen our ability to deliver a relevant, coherent, and effective response. What systems and processes were sufficient for response and what needs to be further developed?
3. Provide analysis and identify learning points linked to how Mercy Corps responded to the evolving events at key decision points.
4. Provide recommendations of changes in process, systems or approaches that MC should consider.

The AAR will examine these key themes:

1. Response Structure
2. Decision-making process/ clear hierarchy
3. Internal communication
4. External media
5. Collaboration
6. People
7. Recruitment
8. Immigration/Visa
9. HR
10. Systems and processes
11. Registration
12. Finance functions
13. Cash for start up
14. General Contracting
15. Transport of goods/ people
16. Security
17. Response activities
18. Contextual analysis/ situational awareness
19. Strategy design
20. Partnership approach
21. Programming
22. Performance and Quality
23. Advocacy
24. Fundraising
25. Private
26. Institutional

Consultant Activities:

The Consultant will:

• Work with Asia Director of Program Quality & Technical Support (Manasi Patwardhan) and HLR Senior Director (Erynn Carter) to refine plans for the AAR.
• Design a survey and collect and analyze the feedback.
• Interview team members or hold focus group discussions with departments involved in the initial phases of the Response, using a standard set of questions to guide discussions.
• Responses will be received through an After Action survey sent to stakeholders involved in the response, as well as feedback collected from key informant interviews and focus group discussions.
• Synthesize findings into a Narrative and PowerPoint report.
• Formally present findings in two sessions, including a Q&A session, to the ET and selected Senior Regional Leadership.
• Facilitate a follow-on discussion/ mini workshop with selected Regional, HLR and regional support team members to recommend improvement actions.

Consultant Deliverables:

• Narrative report (15 – 20 pages)
• PowerPoint presentation: Findings, Recommendation Areas
• Workshop facilitation (organization of the virtual event itself and invitation of attendees will be managed by the Asia regional team).

Timeframe / Schedule:

This review will take place during the month of July with the workshop taking place approximately on 30 July. Actual consulting days during this period are estimated at 22 consulting days, inclusive of:

• Design and approval of questions for interviews
• Review of materials
• Surveys, key informant interviews
• Design and approval of workshop
• Workshop
• Final Narrative and PowerPoint Report

The Consultant will report to:

Director – Program Quality & Technical Support.

The Consultant will work closely with: The Senior Director – HLR and the Director of Program Quality – Asia on the structure of interviews, interview questions, the workshop, the key informants, etc., and have the support of one additional internal staff member to co-lead and support this AAR.

Required Experience & Skills:

• 5-10 years of previous experience in a relevant technical field.
• Previous experience with AAR facilitation.
• Previous experience with designing surveys and data collection.
• Previous experience with key informant interview analysis.
• Previous experience with workshop facilitation.
• Familiarity with Mercy Corps emergency response ways of working.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.