OFFICE OF THE DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PROGRAMMES
27 April 2015
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Evaluation of the Council of Europe
“Co-operation with Ukraine – Immediate Measures Package”
April – December 2014
For information, please contact:
Office of the Directorate General of Programmes
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
E-mail:
Deadline for the submission of proposals:
12 May 2015
NO PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DEADLINE
Terms of reference
1. Background information
The Council of Europe[1] “Co-operation with Ukraine Immediate Measures Package” (IMP) originated at the 1196th meeting of the Committee of Ministers (CM), held on 2 and 3 April 2014, when the Secretary General informed the CM that a package of immediate measures had been developed in order to respond to the immediate legislative and capacity-building needs of Ukraine. The Co-operation with Ukraine – Immediate Measures Package document (ODG-Prog/Inf(2014)7, attached in Annex) was developed to address legislative and institutional challenges which the country was facing in the areas of human rights, the rule of law and democratic governance, and which were not directly covered by the CoE Action Plan for Ukraine 2011 – 2014.
The IMP included the following thematic priority areas with corresponding objectives and proposed actions: Ensuring the Protection of Human Rights; Constitutional Reform; Elections; Capacity-building for Parliamentarians; Civil Society.
The IMP was carried out from 2 April - 31 December 2014. Interventions took the form of dissemination, support, monitoring, compliance and legislative advice. Activities included: mechanism-related assistance, awareness-raising, evaluation and assessment, training, monitoring, policy advice and legal expertise. The stakeholders included national authorities and civil society. Approximately 70 activities were completed.
The total budget of the Immediate Measures Package amounted to approximately € 2.5 million.
An Interim Narrative Report, covering the implementation period from April to August 2014 was presented to the CM at their 1210th meeting, held on 22 and 24 October 2014; the Final Narrative Report covering the entire implementation period April – December 2014 will be presented to the CM in June 2015.
2. Purpose of the evaluation
The CoE Office of the Directorate General of Programmes (ODGP)[2] plans to undertake, as part of the agreements signed between the donors who contributed to the IMP and the Council of Europe, an evaluation of the Co-operation with Ukraine Immediate Measures Package implementation.
The purpose of this evaluation is to identify and assess the CoE’s working methods in the context of the Immediate Measures Package in order to contribute to better conception, design, resource mobilisation and implementation of future CoE strategic documents of this nature. In particular, the evaluation should answer the following questions:
1. Has the IMP been implemented as planned and what obstacles were faced during implementation?
2. What results were achieved by the IMP? Has the IMP helped Ukraine to manage its crisis and to move towards necessary reforms in line with the Council of Europe’s standards?
3. Was the CoE Office in Kyiv able to respond efficiently and effectively to the Immediate Measures Package operational needs?
4. What lessons can be learned from the way in which the Council of Europe managed the programming and implementation of the IMP in order to apply such methodology to potential future crises in other contexts?
3. Target audience
The primary audience for this evaluation is composed of IMP implementation partners, IMP donors, as well as the CoE Office in Kyiv and CoE Major Administrative Entities involved in the implementation. The secondary audience is composed of broad beneficiaries of the IMP, including national stakeholders.
4. Evaluation methodology
The evaluation methodology will include documents review and semi – structured interviews with CoE staff in Strasbourg and Ukraine, as well as co-operation partners in Ukraine and selected donors. The evaluation will rely on the information on the IMP activities’ implementation, available in the CoE Activity Database. An online survey with different co-operation partners might be designed to gather additional information.
5. Evaluation deliverables
A 15 – 20 page draft and final Report on the Immediate Measures Package implementation will be prepared. A tentative outline of the Report should include the following:
· Executive Summary
· Introduction
o Description of the objectives of the evaluation
o Purpose of the evaluation
o Evaluation methodology
o Difficulties encountered during the evaluation
· Findings
o Findings related to evaluation questions
o Additional relevant findings
· Conclusions
· Recommendations
· Lessons learnt
· Annexes (including list of interviews, questionnaires and documents reviewed, such as reports etc.)
6. Team, logistics and evaluation management
The evaluation will be carried out by an external evaluator. It is estimated that this assignment will take approximately 30 working days. It is expected that the evaluator, in carrying out his/her assignment, conducts up to two missions to Strasbourg, including an initiation meeting for data collection work and a meeting for extensive interviews with CoE Major Administrative Entities’ staff involved in the IMP planning and implementation. At least one mission to Ukraine should be carried out to interview core and project staff in the CoE Office in Kyiv, as well as a sample group of IMP stakeholders and beneficiaries.
7. Timeframe
The evaluation will take place during the period 18 May to 30 June. The Draft Final Report will be due on 24 June and the Final Evaluation Report will be submitted by 30 June. Reports shall be submitted in English.
8. Budget
The allocated evaluation budget will comprise consultancy fees (up to 30 working days), travel and subsistence for field interviews and data-gathering in Strasbourg (2 missions) and Ukraine (1 mission).
9. Eligibility Criteria
· Only proposals that match the purpose of the evaluation are eligible;
· Proposals should be submitted in English at the latest by 12 May 2015. Proposals received after the closing date will not be considered;
· The proposed budget should be in Euros;
· The amount should include VAT;
· Administrative staff costs of applicants cannot be covered;
· Budgets should be (i) detailed (indicating unit prices and n° of units for each budgetary item); (ii) presented on an activity-by-activity; (iii) indicated exclusively in EUROS).
Only costs related to the project can be financed, i.e. the costs of the purchase of equipment (e.g. computers, printers, telephones) cannot be covered.
Applicants shall demonstrate:
· Proven experience in managing project evaluation-related assignments in an international context which is comparable to the CoE. Applicants are encouraged to include a sample evaluation report carried out under their responsibility for comparable projects.
· Sufficient experience in and knowledge of the CoE thematic areas of co-operation (human rights, democracy, rule of law)[3] and CoE working methods;
· Previous work experience in Ukraine (desirable);
· English drafting skills.
10. Activity and financial report(s)
Once a proposal has been approved for funding, a Service Provider Contract is signed between the Council of Europe and the Applicant. The applicant will be paid on the basis of deliverables defined in the Service Provider Contract. Applicants will be required to submit a financial report and invoices, according to the Council of Europe financial rules, for payment.
11. Awarding Criteria
Applicants will be assessed according to the following criteria and weighting:
Criteria / WeightingMethodology (understanding of the rationale and explanation of the methodology; proposed timetable of activities and delivery timeframe) / 40%
Resources (detailed CV, experience and knowledge of CoE) / 20%
Financial proposal (cost of activities, consultancy fees, travel expenses, etc.) / 40%
12. Deadline for submission of applications
A 2-3 page application highlighting the proposed methodology, resources and financial proposal must be submitted to CoE Office of the Directorate General of Programmes by 12th May 2015. The successful applicant will be notified by 15th May.
13. CoE Contact
Applications must be sent by e-mail to the following address:
Annex:
1. Co-operation with Ukraine – Immediate Measures Package (ODGProg/Inf(2014)7)
6
7
Annex
ODGProg/Inf(2014)7
Co-operation with Ukraine
Immediate measure package
CONTENTS
Introduction 3
1. Ensuring the Protection of Human Rights 4
2. Constitutional reform 4
3. Elections 5
4. Capacity building for Parliamentarians 7
5. Civil Society 7
Introduction
Later this year, a new Action Plan for Ukraine will be drafted in close cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities.
Projects which are implemented in the framework of the ongoing Action Plan 2011-2014 have been adapted to take into account the changing situation.
For example,
· an urgent expertise of the draft “Law on the restoration of trust in the judiciary of Ukraine”, which envisages a full lustration of the current body of judges in Ukraine, is carried out in the context of a project on “Strengthening the independence, efficiency and professionalism of the judiciary in Ukraine”;
· the ongoing project on “Support to criminal justice reform in Ukraine” could assess amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure and has produced joint recommendations with the Venice Commission, which should be taken into account for the reform of the Public Prosecution Service;
· a conference on the safety of journalists was organised in the framework of the project “Integration of European standards in Ukraine’s media environment”.
In order to address legislative and institutional challenges in the areas of human rights, the rule of law and democratic governance which the country faces now, and which are not directly covered by the ongoing Action Plan more comprehensively, this document sets out a package of immediate measures.
They can be implemented as from April 2014.
A comprehensive project on corruption is under construction already and is therefore not included in this package.
The implementation of the immediate measures package also requires the reinforcement of the Council of Europe Office in Kiev and support to the Secretary General’s Special Advisor to the President of the Verkhovna Rada.
Overall cost of the immediate measures package: €2500 000
1. Ensuring the Protection of Human Rights
1.1. Effective investigations
Objective: support the authorities and society to address effectively issues of human rights violation resulting from abusive and/or excessive use of force during the recent violent events.
Proposed Action
Ø Support the setting up of the International Advisory Panel;
Ø Support the investigation into the serious human rights violations which took place, through expert workshops: help to secure evidence, police records etc.;
Ø Organise a capacity building activity on effective investigations on massive human rights violations, to be organised in Kyiv in April or beginning of May 2014. Themes covered: documentation of cases of ill-treatment and forensic examination, with exchange of best practices.
1.2. National Minorities
Objective: support authorities in restoring minority communities’ confidence in public authorities and institutions.
Proposed Action
Ø Establish a regular consultation mechanism between the government and representatives of all national minorities;
Ø Advise the government on key measures and messages on this mechanism for the general public.
Objective: raise awareness of minority rights under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and share international experience and good practice.
Proposed Action
Ø Organise training of relevant officials, including from the Ministry of Interior and law enforcement;
Ø Conduct joint round-table with government officials and representatives of national minorities to raise awareness of the rights and obligations under the FCNM, in particular with regard to language rights.
2. Constitutional reform
2.1. Constitutional process support
Objective: provide support to the constitutional process in order to ensure that constitutional amendments are in line with Council of Europe standards.
Proposed Action
Ø The Venice Commission adopts an Opinion on the draft amendments to the Constitution;
Ø The Venice Commission provides assistance to members of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian experts and officials on the possible amendments to the Constitution;
Ø Public meetings on this issue are held in order to ensure civil society involvement in the process.
2.2. Legislative Reform concerning Public Assemblies
Objective: improve the national legal framework regulating Public Assemblies in view of the forthcoming election(s) and in light of the ECHR judgments
Proposed Action
Ø the Council of Europe assists in the drafting and adopting of a new legal framework for public assemblies taking into account ECHR judgments (Vyerentsov vs. Ukraine (20372/11).
2.3. Local democracy
Objective: provide expertise and support for constitutional reform with regard to local self-government and for draft legislation that is already under consideration, in particular on territorial reform, inter-municipal co-operation promotion, Budget Code, local elections and participatory democracy
Proposed Action
Ø the Council of Europe provides relevant legal expertise;
Ø a peer review and forum on local self-government is organised.
3. Elections
3.1. Election preparation assistance
Objective: Provide support with a view to ensuring that European standards are applied to the electoral law
Proposed Action
Ø the Venice Commission works, together with the Verkhovna Rada, on access to voting in Ukraine and abroad;
Ø taking into account the ECHR case law and Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, European standards in the field of electoral complaints and appeals procedures are promoted (if requested by the High Administrative Court).
Objective: ensure that the reform of legislation on parliamentary and local elections is carried out in accordance with European standards and in line with the previous Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR recommendations.
Proposed Action
Ø The Venice Commission provides expertise through a series of events on electoral reform and practice.
3.2. Domestic observation of elections
Objective: contribute to the integrity, transparency and quality of the election process in Ukraine and prevent potential electoral fraud
Proposed Action
Ø increase capacity of domestic election observation, monitoring and reporting through a training of trainers programme
3.3. Media coverage of elections
Objective: contribute to a fair and balanced media coverage of the Presidential election by the national state-funded broadcaster and eight commercial channels