Council of Europe Project

“Promoting local democracy in Ukraine”

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Introduction and background

The project “Promoting local democracy in Ukraine” is implemented by the Congress of local and regional authorities of the Council of Europe (hereafter the Congress) as part of the Action Plan for Ukraine for 2015-2017 to assist the country in its continued efforts to meet its statutory and specific obligations as a Member State. It aims to improve the implementation of democratic principles in Ukraine, by enhancing the institutional and leadership capacities of local elected authorities and disseminating nation-wide best practices of local democracy.

The objectives of the project are the following:

• To strengthen institutional and leadership capacities of local elected representatives;
• To reinforce capacities of local and regional elected representatives to provide support to the implementation of the local self-government reform;
• To foster active democratic citizenship and support the implementation of local democratic participatory processes.

To this end, the Congress Secretariat has developed activities which consist of a series of peer-to-peer exchanges with the participation of Congress members, both from Ukraine and other member states of the Council of Europe, as well as local and international experts. Comprehensive and tailor-made support to various target groups (such as mayors, councillors and young local leaders) are proposed in different settings to improve their co-operation as well as their management and communication skills, in particular towards the citizens. Building the ownership and strengthening the capacities of local stakeholders to co-produce local policies will allow them to participate in the overall decision-making and reforms in the country.

Activities designed for councillors representing urban and rural communities to raise awareness on the principles of local and regional democracy (including the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government), to discuss the role and responsibilities of councillors in relation to local political governance, to enhance councillors’ capacities with a view to engaging citizens in local affairs, and to foster transparent and ethical decision-making.

128 participants already took part in a series of workshops implemented during the period of April – December 2016, which were organised as follows:

Additional workshops are planned for the period of March - June 2017 as follows:

As a result of each workshop, participants have been invited to develop and implement local initiatives in their communities to further enhance and strengthen local democracy, taking into account issues such as citizen participation, ethical behaviour, transparency and accountability of local authorities etc. As a follow-up, the results of the initiatives implemented will be periodically monitored.

Purpose of the consultancy

The objective of the consultancy is to monitor the intermediate outcomes and eventually the short term impact of the specific activities addressed to councillors; to analyse the typology and numbers of local initiatives implemented; to earmark relevant success stories and where applicable good practices; and to further disseminate them among beneficiaries of the project.

Deliverables

The following tasks should be undertaken in the framework of the consultancy:

1. Develop a concept for the follow-up of the initiatives and change in the communities resulting from participation to activities. Each step will be discussed and validated by the project team before implementation. The concept should:

• include a set of indicators to monitor the intermediate outcomes and short term impact of specific activities addressed to councillors;
• include a set of indicators to analyse the local initiatives;
• include a draft general survey questionnaire -to be sent out to all participants (e.g. survey monkey), to collect raw data on the outcomes of the workshops and on the initiatives implemented;
• propose a quantitative and qualitative methodology to monitor at least 30 initiatives led by a representative sample of participants. The methodology should provide elements from a SWOT analysis and indications for a periodical follow-up;

1. Collect and analyse the relevant data, according to the methodology and tools discussed and agreed with the project team.
2. Prepare a monitoring report on the initiatives implemented. It should include the results and analysis of the survey, a general assessment of the initiatives and typology of actions developed by councillors, and a more detailed review of at least 30 initiatives implemented. This report will be for internal use; it should be developed under the guidance of the project team and finalised taking into account the comments received.
3. Propose to the project team a selection of 20 success stories already largely implemented/ finalised that could be further promoted and shared with other beneficiaries of the project, and suggest means to document them;
4. Select with the project team not less than 10 success stories which will be documented
5. Deliver a final report on at least 10 success stories, including visibility for their promotion;
6. Take part in the “Forum for local democracy in Ukraine” to be organised from 3 to 7 July 2017 (exact dates and location to be confirmed) and deliver a presentation of the first results of the consultancy.

Format and structure of all deliverables should be further discussed with the project team.

Required qualifications

The call is opened to legal persons only (NGOs or companies). Service provider hired through these terms of reference will conduct their tasks in close co-operation and in coordination with the project team in the Office of the Council of Europe in Kyiv. Application should clearly specify identity, credentials and relevant experience of at least two experts involved into the execution of these terms of reference.

1. Successful experience in conducting similar research work and monitoring of project;
2. Have sufficient operational and professional capacity to carry out activities described in the Terms of Reference;
3. Experience of working with civil society organisations and local authorities in Ukraine would be a strong asset;
4. Ability to propose activities/deliverables with a high quality, efficiency and accuracy perspective, observing deadlines;
5. The ability to translate complex ideas and concepts into clear and concrete language to report to Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg (France).

Timeframe

Expected start date: 14 March 2017

The tasks shall be undertaken as per an agreed work-plan between the service provider and the project team, and finished no later than 30 September 2017.

Procedures for submission of applications

Incomplete submission will not be given consideration. Applications must be submitted in English and include:

1. A Letter of Interest from the applicant highlighting the experience in conducting similar tasks with a clear mention of the all-inclusive fee (a maximum of 11,000.00 EUR, including VAT). The fee is all inclusive, and no further reimbursement shall be made of the costs of travel or subsistence;
2. A document outlining the approach and methodology proposed for implementation of the consultancy tasks. The document should be no longer than 1200 words;
3. CVs highlighting experience of persons to be involved on the side of the applicant (each member of the team of individuals / NGO representatives/company employees) in conducting similar tasks;
4. At least three examples of previous works (reports, surveys etc.);
5. Three relevant references from previous clients (name, surname, phone number and e-mail);
6. Registration information for NGOs and companies (Statute of the organisation, certificate of registration as non-profit organisation).

Evaluation criteria

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

• the relevance and clarity of the methodology proposed (40%);
• the relevance of the experience of the applicant (30%)
• records on previous similar works and researches (20%);
• financial offer (10%).

Applications must be submitted by e-mail to:

Ms Kristina Bagramian, Project Officer - [email protected]

with copy to Ms Svitlana Gryshchenko, Project Manager - [email protected]

Applications will be reviewed as received.

Please note that the deadline to submit application is 2 March 2017 (midnight EET).

For more information and contact:

Ms Kristina Bagramian, Project Officer, [email protected].

Follow-up on local initiatives implemented by local councillors