Тендер на проведення збору даних для оцінювання Програми «Молодіжний працівник»

TERMS OF REFERENCE

RfP/2026/208; PRC0177844

Project title: Civil Society and Youth Support in Ukraine

Description of assignment: Data collection for the evaluation of the Youth Worker Programme

Country/place of implementation: Ukraine

Starting date of assignment: July 2026

Duration of assignment / contract: up to 6 months

Direct supervisor(s): Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst, CSYP and Civil Society and Youth Support Project Manager

Evaluation method: Request for proposals – Lowest priced among technically compliant proposals (minimum technical score of 70% (490 out of 700 points))

Payment arrangements: Lump Sum (payments linked to deliverables)

1. BACKGROUND

Through its Democratic Governance and Inclusive Social Fabric portfolio, UNDP Ukraine supports the Government, civil society, and people of Ukraine in advancing democratic policies and practices essential for accelerating progress on sustainable human development and the promotion of human rights. This includes advocating for human rights and gender equality, supporting anti-corruption initiatives, enabling all Ukrainian citizens to protect their rights, strengthening parliament, and empowering civil society and youth activists. Additionally, UNDP provides technical expertise to government leadership in aligning national strategies and programmes with the 2030 Agenda, emphasising gender equality as critical to achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The project “Civil Society and Youth Support” (CSYP), funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a nation-scale 4-year initiative that runs from 1 January 2023 until 31 December 2026. CSYP builds on many years of joint programming by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DMFA) and UNDP supporting civil society and youth empowerment. The project contributes to the long-term result: “Ukraine’s civil society and youth are impactful players in strengthening the country’s resilience and recovery, democracy and human rights agenda, including issues of respect to diversity and women’s rights and social cohesion.” The project has a three-dimensional approach, working with civil society organisations at subnational level, supporting an enabling policy environment for CSOs and the national “youth machinery” at central level, and supporting Ukrainian youth to actively participate in the country’s recovery.

In 2014, UNDP Ukraine launched the Youth Worker Programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the State Institute for Family and Youth Policy. The Programme was conceived as a way to introduce European approaches and shared values in youth work, while adapting them to Ukrainian realities through a structured training model and a national trainer team. Over the past decade, the Programme has evolved from a series of non-formal educational trainings for specialists working with youth into a nationally recognised system of non-formal education for professionals in the fields of youth work and youth policy.

The Youth Worker Programme comprises three levels of training: a basic course introducing the foundations of youth work and youth policy; specialised courses providing deeper learning on selected topics in response to sector needs; and a Training of Trainers track that prepares participants to deliver trainings, sustain quality and expand coverage. The Programme also invested in professional community building through national events, including the Forum of Youth Workers and the competition for best youth work practices.

A major milestone in the Programme’s institutional development was the growing formal recognition of youth work as a professional field. In March 2023, the professional standard for the profession Specialist on Youth Issues, Youth Worker was approved and registered, and the national classifier of occupations was updated to include the profession. As of 1 October 2024, the Programme counted 7,046 graduates, reflecting its scale and its role as a nationwide capacity development mechanism. In 2023, programme administration transitioned to the All-Ukrainian Youth Centre, replacing the State Institute for Family and Youth Policy.

The Youth Worker Programme is included in the State Target Social Programme “Youth of Ukraine” 2021–2025 and 2026–2030, reflecting its role in the national youth policy infrastructure. Against this background, in close coordination with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, UNDP is commissioning an external evaluation of the Youth Worker Programme covering the past ten years. The evaluation will inform decisions on the Programme’s continuation and future direction.

To ensure independent expert leadership, UNDP will engage a separate Individual Contractor (Lead Evaluation Expert) who is responsible for the methodology, evaluation design, all data collection tools, the desk review, the analytical framework, the verification and triangulation of findings, and the final evaluation reports. The present assignment covers primary data collection only. The Contractor under this Terms of Reference will operate under the supervision of UNDP and in close coordination with the Lead Evaluation Expert, executing the approved data collection plan and producing the empirical data and evidence which will be used by the Lead Evaluation Expert to produce the final evaluation report.

2. OBJECTIVES

The objective of this assignment is to provide professional, high-quality primary data collection and basic data processing services that will form the empirical evidence base for the external evaluation of the Youth Worker Programme. UNDP, together with the Lead Evaluation Expert, will provide the Contractor with the approved evaluation methodology, the full set of data collection tools (interview protocols, online survey instrument, focus group discussion guides, case study templates), the sampling logic, and an initial list of respondent contacts (key stakeholders and Programme graduates) for outreach.

The Contractor will be responsible for: recruiting respondents in line with the approved sampling logic; conducting all primary data collection (in-depth interviews, online survey of programme graduates, focus group discussions, community case study fieldwork) using the approved tools; ensuring quality, ethical safeguards and confidentiality of data collection; cleaning, anonymising and managing all data; and producing descriptive statistical analysis of survey data and thematic coding of qualitative data, as a structured input for the Lead Evaluation Expert.

3. SCOPE OF WORK AND EXPECTED OUTPUTS

Under the supervision of the Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst, CSYP and Civil Society and Youth Support Project Manager, and in close coordination with the Lead Evaluation Expert, the Contractor will execute the approved data collection plan for the external evaluation of the Youth Worker Programme using a mixed-method approach. UNDP will provide all data collection tools and the sampling logic. The Contractor will operationalise the data collection, manage all logistics and fieldwork, and submit cleaned datasets together with descriptive analysis (for quantitative data) and thematic coding (for qualitative data) to UNDP.

1. Mandatory data collection activities

The following activities are required and must be conducted by the Contractor:

1. In-depth interviews with key stakeholders. The Contractor will conduct at least 8 (eight) in-depth interviews with key stakeholders identified in the approved sampling list, using the interview protocols provided by UNDP. At a minimum, stakeholder coverage shall include representatives of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and other relevant policy actors, the All-Ukrainian Youth Centre leadership, UNDP, and other major partners. Output: full audio recordings (with informed consent), verbatim or structured transcripts in the original language, and a tracking log of completed interviews.
2. Online survey of youth workers. The Contractor will administer the online survey instrument provided by UNDP to Youth Worker Programme graduates, achieving at least 350 (three hundred fifty) valid responses, with quotas for training cohort, region, training level, and type of organisation as specified in the approved sampling logic. The Contractor will be responsible for outreach (using the contact database provided by UNDP and any complementary outreach channels approved by UNDP), follow-up, response monitoring, and data cleaning. Output: cleaned, anonymised dataset (.xlsx and .csv) with codebook, and a short note on response rate, sample composition vs. quotas, and key data limitations.
3. Focus group discussions with youth workers (Programme graduates) – at least 3 (three). Conducted using the focus groups discussion (FGD) guide provided by UNDP. Output: audio recordings (with informed consent), transcripts in the original language, Ukrainian-language summary notes.
4. Additional data collection activities

In addition to the required activities above, the Contractor will conduct at least 2 (two) of the following additional methods, as agreed with UNDP at inception:

1. Mapping of the youth work training ecosystem. Structured information collection on other non-formal education and capacity development offers in youth work and youth policy in Ukraine, using the data collection template provided by UNDP. Output: completed mapping dataset / matrix.
2. Community case studies – at least 5. Each case study will involve a structured combination of short interviews and observation in the selected community, executed using the case study template provided by UNDP, with respondents recruited per the approved sampling logic. Output: completed case study templates with supporting raw data (transcripts, notes, recordings).
3. Focus group discussions with young people – at least 3. Conducted using the FGD guide provided by UNDP, with appropriate safeguarding and ethical arrangements for young participants. Output: audio recordings (with informed consent), transcripts in the original language, summary notes in Ukrainian.

1. Focus group discussions with Programme trainers – at least 2. Conducted using the FGD guide provided by UNDP. Output: transcripts and summary of the focus groups.

The Contractor must calculate the amount for the execution of at least two above mentioned data collection/research methods. The final selection of the methods will be communicated with the Contractor once the Lead Evaluation Expert completes the inception phase of their evaluation.

1. Data processing and analytical outputs

For all data collected, the Contractor will:

• Clean and anonymise the survey dataset; provide it in .xlsx and .csv formats with a codebook;
• Transcribe (verbatim or structured, as agreed) all interviews and focus group discussions in the original language; provide concise summary notes in Ukrainian for each interview / FGD;
• Apply thematic coding to all qualitative data using the codebook agreed with UNDP and the Lead Evaluation Expert at inception; provide coded transcripts and a coding summary matrix indicating the coverage of each code across respondent groups;
• Produce descriptive statistical analysis of survey data, including frequencies, key cross-tabulations, and basic disaggregations (e.g., by training cohort, region, training level, type of organisation, gender) as specified in the approved analytical plan;
• Submit all raw and processed data, transcripts, summaries, descriptive analysis tables, and coded outputs to UNDP for verification by the Lead Evaluation Expert.

STAGES

The above activities will be implemented through the following stages:

Stage 1. Inception, recruitment and data collection

At the start of the assignment, the Contractor will: (i) familiarise its team with the approved methodology and the data collection tools provided by UNDP and the Lead Evaluation Expert; (ii) hold a briefing meeting with UNDP and the Lead Evaluation Expert to confirm understanding of the tools, sampling logic and expected analytical outputs; (iii) prepare a detailed recruitment plan, including outreach strategy, sample composition and quotas, and a detailed fieldwork and data processing schedule; and (iv) pilot selected tools (e.g., one pilot interview and a soft-launch of the survey to a small sub-sample), flagging any operational issues for resolution by UNDP and the Lead Evaluation Expert. The Contractor will not redesign tools or modify the sampling logic; these activities are preparatory and do not constitute a separate milestone. UNDP and partner – Ministry of Youth and Sports and All Ukrainian Youth Center will provide a database with the contacts for all the data collection methods. The Contractor will have the primary responsibility to contact interviewees, focus group and online survey participants.

The Contractor will then execute all the required and selected data collection activities in line with the approved tools and sampling logic. During this stage, the Contractor will ensure: continuous outreach and follow-up to achieve the required sample sizes and quotas; application of ethical safeguards, informed consent and data protection arrangements as specified by UNDP; and documented quality control of fieldwork (e.g., interviewer / facilitator briefings, field supervision, transcript verification, sample quality checks). At the completion of the stage, the Contractor will submit all raw collection outputs to UNDP, including audio recordings of interviews and FGDs, transcripts in the original language, the raw survey dataset, completed case study templates with supporting data, the completed mapping matrix (if applicable), recruitment and fieldwork tracking logs, and a fieldwork completion note documenting the recruitment plan implementation, sample composition achieved, and any deviations from the approved plan.

Stage 2. Data processing, transcripts, descriptive analysis and analytical inputs for the Lead Evaluation Expert

The Contractor will deliver a structured analytical input package designed to enable efficient, evidence-based interpretation by the Lead Evaluation Expert. Specifically, the Contractor will:

• Clean and anonymise the survey dataset and prepare the dataset codebook;
• Produce descriptive statistical analysis of the survey data (frequencies, cross-tabulations, and agreed disaggregations by gender, age group, region and respondent type);
• Finalise transcription / structured note-taking of qualitative data (interviews, FGDs, case studies) in the original language, and prepare a concise English-language summary note for each interview, FGD and case study (covering respondent profile, key points raised, notable observations);
• Apply the agreed thematic coding to all qualitative data using the codebook agreed with UNDP and the Lead Evaluation Expert at inception, and produce a coding summary matrix indicating the coverage of each code across respondent groups;
• Extract key illustrative markers — anonymised pull-quotes for each main theme, with reference to respondent ID, respondent group and (where applicable) interview / FGD timestamp — to support the Lead Evaluation Expert in evidencing findings;
• Prepare a short field memo / observation note documenting recruitment dynamics, fieldwork conditions, refusals or non-participation, and any contextual factors that the Lead Evaluation Expert should consider when interpreting the data;
• Prepare a data limitations note (response rates, quota fill, missing data, transcription issues, coding reliability and any other limitations relevant to the analytical outputs).

The Contractor will submit the consolidated analytical package to UNDP for verification by the Lead Evaluation Expert and will respond to verification queries (e.g., requests for clarification on coding choices, dataset issues, sample composition). The Contractor will not be responsible for analytical interpretation, triangulation, conclusions, recommendations or report writing — these remain the responsibility of the Lead Evaluation Expert.

All the deliverables/outputs shall be submitted in Ukrainian (with original-language transcripts and recordings retained for the qualitative data), in Microsoft Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx) and / or .csv formats, font 11 (Times New Roman or equivalent for written deliverables).

DELIVERABLES:

4. REQUIREMENTS FOR MONITORING/REPORTING

The Contractor shall report to the Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst, CSYP and Civil Society and Youth Support Project Manager. The format of the reports must be agreed upon at the inception stage of the contract; UNDP reserves the right to make further changes and clarifications to the report’s format. The Contractor shall coordinate closely with the Lead Evaluation Expert engaged separately by UNDP, including through regular check-ins on fieldwork progress, sample composition, and any operational issues encountered.

UNDP will be the ultimate authority to control the quality of work results and assess the Contractor’s performance during the assignment. The Contractor shall comply with the quality assurance system of UNDP, and provide the necessary information, reports and statistics according to a preliminary determined schedule or as soon as possible (within a reasonable period of time).

All reports are submitted to UNDP in electronic form (*.docx, *.xlsx, *.csv, *.pptx, *.pdf or other formats accepted by UNDP) with the final products attached. The reporting documents must be written in English.

5. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND PROPRIETARY INTERESTS

The Contractor shall comply with applicable data protection requirements, including the principles of informed consent, anonymisation, secure storage of raw data, and transfer of data to UNDP through secure channels. Personal data of respondents shall not be retained by the Contractor beyond what is necessary for the completion of the assignment, and shall be transferred to UNDP and / or destroyed in line with arrangements agreed with UNDP at inception.

The Contractor shall not publish, distribute, or share any data, transcripts, recordings, datasets, or analytical outputs with any third party without the prior written approval of UNDP.

6. EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Requirements to the company / organisation / consortium (if the proposal is submitted from a Joint Venture / Consortium / Association, unless otherwise specified in the criterion, the requirement can be met cumulatively):

• Officially registered Company / Organisation with a valid registration (for Ukrainian companies, the company should be registered in the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine).
• At least 5 (five) years of experience in conducting data collection (surveys, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, case studies) in evaluations, assessments, research studies or sociological surveys at the national or oblast level.
• At least 3 (three) examples / brief overview of evaluations, assessments, research studies, or sociological surveys involving primary data collection (surveys, interviews, focus groups, case studies) related to youth policy, youth work, education, public administration, civil society development, social inclusion, or related fields, with at least two (2) of them implemented after 2022, following good practices of data protection and confidentiality, including through remote data collection where relevant (list of publications to be provided with web-links for verification or downloading).
• Demonstrated capacity to conduct online surveys with at least 350 valid respondents, including outreach, sample monitoring against quotas, follow-up, and data cleaning, will be considered as an asset (provided with web-links links for verification or shared documents).
• Proven experience of conducting the evaluations, assessments, research studies, or sociological surveys, dealing with gender-responsive data collection, gender analysis, and bias-free interviewing or inclusive research approaches will be considered as an asset (if available, a list of examples/brief overview/publications to be provided with web-links for verification or downloading or shared documents).
• Proposed team consisting of both women and men (at least 30% of the team are women) will be considered as an asset.
• Minimum 2 (two) positive reference letters on assignments similar to this one (data collection in evaluations / assessments / research) from previous Clients / Partners.
• Availability of human resources that will ensure due quality and timely implementation of the contract. The project team proposed for conducting this assignment should include at least the following two (2) key experts (the Contractor may, at its own discretion and cost, deploy additional fieldwork support staff such as interviewers, FGD facilitators, transcribers and survey administrators; these additional staff do not need to be named in the proposal but shall meet the same ethical and quality standards):

Team Leader / Senior Researcher (Field and Survey Coordinator):

• At least Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, sociology, statistics, public policy, evaluation, management, or related fields.
• At least 5 (five) years of experience in coordinating or managing data collection assignments (surveys, interviews, focus groups, case studies) in evaluations, assessments, research studies, or sociological surveys, in areas such as youth policy, youth work, education, civil society development, public administration, or related fields.
• At least 3 (three) years of experience in conducting evaluations, assessments, research studies or sociological surveys involving gender-responsive data collection, gender analysis, bias-free interviewing or inclusive research approaches.
• At least 2 (two) years of experience in conducting online surveys, including survey administration, sample monitoring, follow-up, data cleaning and descriptive statistical analysis.
• At least 3 (three) examples / samples / brief overview of assignments where the candidate led or coordinated data collection (to be provided as links in CV / proposal or as separate documents).
• Minimum required: fluency in Ukrainian (speaking, writing, editing) and working knowledge of English (should be clearly specified in the CV and confirmed by the relevant examples / samples of documents provided for the experience criteria or by certificate, if available).

Field Researcher (Qualitative Specialist):

• At least Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, sociology, anthropology, public policy, education, or related fields.
• At least 3 (three) years of experience in conducting qualitative data collection (in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, case studies);
• At least 3 (three) years of experience in applying thematic coding to qualitative data and producing structured analytical outputs (coded transcripts, coding summary matrices, illustrative quotes / markers).
• At least 3 (three) examples / samples / brief overview of personal participation in qualitative data collection assignments that included a combination of methods such as interviews, focus groups, case studies, or observation (to be provided as links in CV / proposal or as separate documents).
• Minimum required: fluency in Ukrainian (speaking, writing, editing). Working knowledge of English will be an advantage (to be clearly specified in the CV).

7. DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED IN A PROPOSAL

8. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Evaluation and comparison of proposals

For all the proposals successfully passed preliminary examination the method of Request for proposals – Lowest priced among technically compliant proposal (point system with a minimum threshold) shall be applied. The financial proposal of only those proposers obtaining the minimum 70% score during technical evaluation should be opened. The remaining financial proposals of the proposers whose technical proposals are deemed unqualified and non-responsive shall be remain unopened.

The contract will be awarded to the proposal that meets all the minimum requirements, obtains a minimum technical score of 70% (490 out of 700 points) in the evaluation of technical proposals and offers the lowest price.

Technical evaluation criteria

Technical evaluation forms are provided for information below. The maximal points obtainable as per each criterion indicate the relative importance or score weight in general evaluation process.

Technical Evaluation Forms:

 Form 1. Experience of the firm/organization submitting the proposal

 Form 2. Proposed work plan and approach

 Form 3. Personnel

Form 1. Experience of the firm / organisation submitting the proposal

Form 2. Proposed work plan, approach and quality control for data collection

Form 3. Personnel

9. FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount. Payments are based upon outputs, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, according to the schedule of deliverables above.

Financial proposal shall be supported by a detailed cost breakdown (Tables A and B below) for the purpose of assessing price reasonability. The total amounts in both Tables A and B must match.

The Contractor will be responsible for all administrative expenses associated with undertaking this assignment, including office accommodation, printing, stationery, telephone and electronic communications, and report copies incurred in this assignment.

The expenses related to the implementation of services, such as accommodation, meals, technical devices, rental of premises for the activities, travel costs, online survey platform fees, transcription, and team fees and their travel costs, should be included in the financial proposal.

Taking into account that procurement of services will be carried out within the project of international technical assistance without VAT exemption, prices of proposals must be presented with VAT.

Prices shall be quoted in USD or UAH.

The currency for proposals evaluation and comparison purposes to convert all proposals’ prices expressed in various currencies into a single currency shall be United States Dollars (USD).

The source of exchange rate shall be the United Nations Operational Rates of Exchange (UNORE) for the date of proposals submission deadline available at:

https://treasury.un.org/operationalrates/OperationalRates.php

The Contract with the awarded proposer will be signed in the currency of the proposal.

Addressing local currency fluctuations, local proposers are encouraged to specify an alternative preferred currency arrangements chosen from the options listed below in their Financial proposal form:

1. Currency of the proposal and contract is USD

1.1. Payments can be made in USD in case the local proposers agree to this arrangement and have a USD bank account. USD payment details should be included in the proposer’s “Supplier’s account in Quantum” and in the invoice.

1.2 Payments can be made in UAH in accordance with the USD/UAH UNORE applicable on the date of payment (UNORE rates can be checked here: https://treasury.un.org/operationalrates/OperationalRates.php)

The invoice should be issued in UAH and contain reference to equivalent USD amount in line with the Contract.

2. Currency of the proposal is USD, currency of the contract is UAH

The contract is signed in UAH based on UNORE applicable on the date of contract signature, if agreed by the Contractor.

TABLE A. Cost Breakdown per Deliverables

Proposers should submit their Financial proposals in the following format that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price (lump sum) for all breakdown according to stage, types of services and schedule of their provision.

The payments shall be arranged in stages in accordance with the scheme of deliverables above and upon acceptance of the deliverables based on quality control and recommendations.

The payment is made by UNDP within 30 (thirty) calendar days from the date of respective deliverable acceptance by UNDP based on certification of acceptance signed by UNDP.

TABLE B. Cost breakdown by components

The Proposers are also requested to provide the cost breakdown for the above-given total lump sum and prices for each deliverable based on the following format. UNDP shall use the cost breakdown for the price reasonability assessment purposes.

Provision of the detailed breakdown as per form below as a part of proposer’s financial proposal is required.

UNDP shall use the cost breakdown for the price reasonability assessment purposes.

The total amounts in both Tables A and B must match.

*NOTE: Provided administrative and other costs mentioned as example. Please provide your administrative and other costs. Administrative and other costs should not be included to/duplicate the Personnel daily fees.

1. RESPONSIBLE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN OFFER/PROPOSAL PREPARATION

The use of AI tools, including generative AI, for drafting, editing, translation, research support, or formatting of proposals is permitted unless otherwise specified in the solicitation document.

However:

• The bidder remains solely responsible for the accuracy, completeness, legality, and originality of all submitted materials;
• Technical and intellectual components of the proposal, including the Approach and Methodology, technical solutions, implementation strategy, staffing approach, and similar narrative deliverables, must reflect the bidder’s own professional expertise and genuine technical understanding;
• AI-generated content must be subject to appropriate human review, validation, and oversight prior to submission;
• The bidder shall not submit fabricated references, fictitious experience, manipulated evidence, plagiarized material, or inaccurate information generated through AI tools;
• Confidential, personal, or non-public UNDP information shall not be uploaded into public AI platforms without proper authorization and safeguards.

UNDP may request clarification regarding the bidder’s use of AI tools during the procurement process.

1. RESPONSIBLE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN CONTRACT IMPLEMENTATION

Where AI tools are used in the performance of the contract or development of deliverables, the contractor shall ensure that:

• AI use is appropriate, proportionate, and subject to effective human oversight and professional judgment;
• Deliverables are accurate, reliable, explainable, non-discriminatory, and fit for purpose;
• No confidential, personal, sensitive, or proprietary information related to UNDP, beneficiaries, partners, or third parties is disclosed to unauthorized AI platforms or systems;
• AI-generated outputs are reviewed, verified, and validated by qualified personnel before submission to UNDP;
• The use of AI does not infringe intellectual property, copyright, privacy, or data protection obligations;
• The contractor remains fully liable and accountable for all deliverables and outcomes, regardless of AI involvement.

UNDP reserves the right to request disclosure of material AI use in the preparation of deliverables and to require revision or replacement of outputs where AI use creates quality, ethical, legal, security, or confidentiality concerns.

More information: https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_negotiation.cfm?nego_id=46893