FINISHED: Consultant Request for ENGAGE CSO Partners’ Capacity Development in Data Verification for Documenting Russia’s Crimes Using OSINT Methodology

Date of holding: 2023-09-29 00:00

The deadline for submitting documents: 2023-09-29 00:00

Finished

A. Introduction

Pact is an international development nonprofit that works on the ground in nearly 40 countries to end poverty and marginalization. We partner with local organizations, businesses, and governments to build lasting solutions for thriving, resilient communities. Our vision is a world where everyone owns their future. Pact has worked in Ukraine since 2006 in the areas of governance, capacity development, and health. Building on a decade of experience, we address key challenges facing civil society organizations in Ukraine.

Since the beginning of full-scale Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian civil society has demonstrated resilience ability to pivot quickly to provide critical, lifesaving support to Ukrainian citizens. Despite the horrific circumstances, the war has presented Ukrainian civil society with new opportunities to engage with constituents and demonstrate the value and importance of their work.  At the start of the war, Ukrainian CSOs were quick to pivot their activities to meet the new needs of their constituencies. As the war drags on, the needs of Ukrainian citizens, and consequently, of CSOs are continuing to shift. The needs are concentrated more on topics such as public messaging, documentation of war crimes, and identifying Russia’s propaganda and fakes.

This Consultant request (CR) is a part of the Activity to Enhance Non-Governmental Actors and Grassroots Engagement (ENGAGE). The purpose of ENGAGE is to increase citizen awareness of and engagement in civic activities at the national, subnational, and local level.

The goal of this CR is to hire a Ukrainian consultant to develop a comprehensive curriculum outline for the training course on data collection and verification, utilizing OSINT approaches for ENGAGE watchdog CSO partners that allow ENGAGE CSO partners’ investigators to verify, document and communicate Russia’s war crimes to citizens while also debunking Russia’s propaganda and fakes. Conduct all the educational activities for ENGAGE partner CSOs under the suggested curriculum, and mentor individually each ENGAGE CSO partner.

 

B. Scope of Work

Leveraging open sources, ENGAGE CSO partners are actively countering Russia’s deceptive information, recording instances of war crimes, and confirming the identities of Russian military perpetrators and assets linked to the Russian state. However, additional capacity building is required for ENGAGE partners to achieve elevated levels of proficiency in data verification and effective communication that adhere to top-tier professional standards.

Pact plans to launch a course and tailored mentoring on data verification for documenting Russia’s crimes using OSINT methodology. ENGAGE key watchdog partners (VoxUkraine, Automaidan, Ukrainian Toronto TV, Zaporizhzhia Investigative Center, the Anti-corruption Action Center, Center for Civil Liberties, Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, Transparency International Ukraine, and others) will join the course and mentoring.

Purpose: to equip ENGAGE watchdog CSO partners with Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools to verify, document and communicate Russia’s war crimes to citizens while also debunking Russia’s propaganda and fakes.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Task 1: Conduct a needs assessment of ENGAGE watchdog CSO partners on knowledge and skills needed in using OSINT tools to collect, verify, and use information to document Russia’s war crimes and fight Russia’s propaganda.

Task 2: Based on needs assessment results develop a comprehensive curriculum outline for the training course on data collection and verification, utilizing OSINT approaches for ENGAGE watchdog CSO partners (at least 10 CSOs and up to 20 participants) that allow ENGAGE CSO partners’ investigators to verify, document and communicate Russia’s war crimes to citizens while also debunking Russia’s propaganda and fakes. The outline can include, but does not need to be limited to the following aspects:

• key educational curriculum modules, ensuring a logical flow and progression of topics and considering the different levels of working with data verification among CSO partners;
• identified topics to be covered in each module;
• clearly defined learning objectives and outcomes of each module;
• methods and approaches to be used for each module based on the module’s content and objectives, estimated durations;
• anticipated results and methods to assess whether results are achieved;
• the outline must contain room for topics and questions suggested by the participants based on their specific needs, in the case of which details regarding these elements will be developed later.

 

Task 3: Prepare agendas, evaluation forms, and other materials for each educational activity as relevant (readings, videos, links to digital tools, etc.).

Task 4: Conduct all the educational activities for ENGAGE partner CSOs under the suggested curriculum within 2 months.

Task 5: Within 3 months mentor individually each ENGAGE CSO partner who passed the needs assessment and training course, to prepare their investigators to verify, document and communicate Russia’s war crimes to citizens while also debunking Russia’s propaganda and fakes.

Task 6: Prepare reports on the implementation of the curriculum and mentoring efforts for ENGAGE partner CSOs (in English and Ukrainian). Each report should contain quantitative and qualitative results and recommendations for further capacity development activities for CSOs in data verification and documentation of Russia’s war crimes, and propaganda and fakes.

ENGAGE welcomes more suggestions on topics and approaches within this curriculum focusing on the development of the participants’ practical skills on OSINT tools usage.

Deliverables:

• Needs assessment report.
• Final concept of curriculum on data verification using OSINT tools including detailed implementation plan. The curriculum should be based on needs identified during the needs assessment.
• Agendas, presentations, evaluation forms, and packages of compulsory and recommended readings (can also be videos, links to digital tools, etc. as appropriate) designed for individual use by each participant and for potential share within the organizations where the participants come from, as well as other materials as relevant within education.
• Trainings on data verification using OSINT for CSOs conducted.
• Mentoring plan per partner CSO.
• Report on mentoring results per partner CSO (in English and Ukrainian).
• Draft report (in English and Ukrainian) with main findings, lessons learned, and recommendations from the implementation of the curriculum and the mentoring. Lists of participants, results of evaluation forms, video recordings of online activities should be included in the reports as annexes.
• Finalized report after ENGAGE feedback.

Place of Performance: All services required under this solicitation will be performed in Ukraine.

Period of Performance: All services required under this solicitation will be delivered from October 09, 2023 to January 31, 2024.

Expected Level of Effort: Estimated Level of Effort is 128 consulting days. In frame of the timeline, all deadlines and due dates could be negotiated if strong arguments are laid in the proposal.

 

C. Qualifications

• Excellent knowledge of OSINT and other methodologies applicable to data verification from open sources.
• Proven experience in the implementation of OSINT projects verifying Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine and/or debunking Russia’s propaganda and fakes.
• Excellent knowledge of the latest developments and practical technical skills in the fields of OSINT investigations.
• Proven experience in conducting needs assessments, delivering training sessions, workshops and mentoring on matters of OSINT technology usage. The experience should show abilities to develop participants’ both theoretical and, most importantly, practical skills as much as possible.
• Technical knowledge, skills, and expertise in designing and organizing training sessions and workshops both online and offline.
• Demonstrated experience in developing evaluation forms and other assessment tools, ability to analyze them and produce well-structured and consistent reports.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills.
• Fluency in English is preferable.

 

D. Eligibility

All proposals which fail to comply with the basic minimum requirements outlined in the solicitation shall be eliminated. See Sections C and E.

 

E. Application Instructions

Proposals must be submitted electronically to kbondar@pactworld.org no later than 17:00 on September 28, 2023 (Kyiv time). The subject line should contain: “Proposal under Consultant Request P4767-2023-23.” The proposals expected to be submitted from an individual consultant as an individual/private entrepreneur.

Documentation required for application:

• Resume/CV. A short profile of an applicant featuring expertise and experience relative to the goals and objectives of this Consultant Request. Resume of a consultant or all experts engaged into the implementation the task if it is more than one person.
• Draft assessment methodology.
• Overall vision regarding the mentoring approach.
• Technical Proposal: An outline of the curriculum for training sessions and workshops (see recommendations and details above).
• Financial proposal (budget) in Excel file (in UAH currency). Clearly stated LOE with a requested rate per each Deliverable for consultants and per day.

Questions: All questions or clarifications regarding this Consultant Request must be in writing and submitted to kbondar@pactworld.org no later than 12:00 on September 25, 2023 (Kyiv time). The subject line should contain: “Questions to Consultant Request P4767-2023-23” Questions and requests for clarification, and the responses thereto, will be circulated to all Consultant Request recipients who indicate an interest in this Consultant.

 

F. Evaluation Criteria

Pact will evaluate applicants using the follow criteria (100 points in total) :

• Qualifications (Expertise of an applicant and ability to perform tasks outlined in this CR which includes previous experience in implementation OSINT projects as well as conducted) – 40
• Technical Proposal (Comprehensiveness, consistency, and relevancy of the suggested concept of trainings and mentoring approach) – 40
• Financial Proposal (Cost effectiveness) – 20

 

G. Terms and Conditions

Disclaimers:

• Pact reserves the right to modify by written notice the terms of this solicitation at any time in its sole discretion. Pact may cancel the solicitation at any time.
• Pact may reject any or all proposals received.
• Issuance of solicitation does not constitute award commitment by Pact.
• Pact reserves the right to disqualify any quotation based on applicant’s failure to follow solicitation instructions.
• Pact will not compensate applicants for their response to the solicitation.
• Pact reserves the right to issue an award based on initial evaluation of applications without further discussion.
• Pact may choose to award only part of the scope of work in the solicitation or to issue multiple awards the scope of work.
• Pact reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition.
• Pact may contact applicants to confirm information and that the proposal was submitted for this solicitation.
• Pact may contact listed past performance references without notice to the applicant. Pact also reserves the right to contact other past performance information sources that the applicant did not list in the proposal.
• By submitting a proposal, the applicant confirms they understand the terms and conditions.
• Information pertaining to and obtained from the applicant as a result of participation in this solicitation is confidential. The applicant consents to the disclosure of the documents submitted by the applicants to the reviewers involved in the selection process. Please note that all reviewers are bound by non-disclosure agreements.