Development and Piloting of the national system of granting of psychological assistance to whistleblowers during war and post war period for the National Agency on Corruption Prevention
Terms of Reference
1. Background
1.1. General overview
Supporting anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine is a high political priority for the European Union. By combating corruption, the EU contributes to the consolidation of democracy and economic growth of Ukraine, as well as successful approximation of Ukraine with the EU. Following the significant results of the EUACI in 2017-2020, Denmark and the EU engaged in a second phase of the programme aimed at sustaining existing results and further expanding the support to newly established institutions.
The National Agency on Corruption Prevention forms the state policy in the field of whistleblowers protection, cooperates with whistleblowers, participates in ensuring their legal protection and conducts inspections of compliance with the legislation on the protection of whistleblowers. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention forms the state policy in the sphere of protection of whistleblowers, one of the elements of which is ensuring the whistleblower's right to psychological assistance.
Whistleblowers are a vulnerable category in peacetime, but it is even more difficult to expose offenses in wartime considering the psychological pressure on a person both by external circumstances and within the team where the person works. It should be noted that the provision of psychological assistance already provided by law remains declarative due to the lack of appropriate procedures. Whistleblowers who report the information that contains a state secret need a greater level of protection.
For now, Ukraine does not have a unified state system of providing psychological assistance, which makes it necessary to analyze the existing world models of psychological assistance to whistleblowers, the peculiarities of providing such assistance during martial law. Based on the results of the research, it is necessary to develop a concept of providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers in peacetime and during martial law. The result of the implementation of the concept should be the development of a mechanism for providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers, which will include: (1) methodological recommendations for establishing psychological contact with whistleblowers and receiving information from them for employees of the NACP and Anti-Corruption Officers, (2) methodological recommendations for psychologists regarding the procedure for providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers and conducting training on these issues.
The implementation of the project will make it possible to increase the capacity of NACP employees and Anti-Corruption Officers in working with whistleblowers, taking into account the best practices of establishing psychological contact and obtaining information from whistleblowers.
An important result will be the creation of a network of psychologists who will undergo training and gain knowledge on how to provide psychological assistance to whistleblowers properly and to whom whistleblowers can reach out for psychological assistance.
1.2. Contracting authority
The contracting authority is the European Union Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine, hereinafter referred to as the “Customer”.
1.3. Beneficiary
The beneficiary is the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, Department of Corruption Detection and Prevention.
2. Objective
The main objective of the technical support to be provided to the NACP within the framework of this engagement is to assist the Agency with expert services in developing effective tools to grant psychological aid to whistleblowers in war and post-war period.
3. Scope of work and expected deliverables
3.1. Scope of work
Within the framework of this assignment the service provider(-s) is expected to provide the following services:
- Provide an analytical review of models of providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers, taking into account the peculiarities of providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers in wartime;
- Provide analytical review of Ukrainian legislation and the system of agencies and organizations that provide psychological assistance;
- Develop the concept of providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers in peacetime and during martial law (as separate sections);
- Develop methodological recommendations for establishing psychological contact with whistleblowers and receiving information from them using the investigative interview method;
- Conduct at least 2 sessions of training for NACP employees and anticorruption officers on the psychological approach to working with whistleblowers;
- Develop methodological recommendations for psychologists regarding the procedure for providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers;
- Conduct at least 2 sessions of trainings for psychologists on providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers.
3.2. Expected deliverables:
- Analytical report "Models of providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers" (accounting for best international practices);
- Analytical report "Providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers during armed conflict" (accounting for specifics of the higher vulnerability cause by the armed conflict);
- Analytical review "System of providing psychological assistance in Ukraine";
- Concept of the system of providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers;
- Methodological recommendations for establishing psychological contact with whistleblowers and receiving information from them;
- Conducted at least 2 sessions of training on the psychological approach to working with whistleblowers for NACP employees and anticorruption officers;
- Methodological recommendations for psychologists regarding the procedure for providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers;
- Conducted at least 2 sessions of training for psychologists on providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers;
- Narrative report on the result of assignment implementation and key recommendations written in English and Ukrainian (up to 5 pages).
Note: All the materials developed under this assignment shall include the EUACI logo as a part of the EUACI visibility strategy. Logo shall be used in accordance with the EUACI Visibility Guidelines and Brand Book. The Contractors shall consult with the EUACI Communications Experts.
4. Timeline
The period of implementation of the contract will be 12 months. The intended commencement date is the date of signature of the contract with the service provider.
5. Requirements for the Contractor
The expert team should include people who meet the following requirements:
● Advanced University degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Psychology, Law, social sciences. A first-level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
● A minimum of 5 years of professional experience of working in the relevant field (providing psychological assistance, practicing as a certified psychologist);
● Extensive knowledge of the local context, including dealing with the people who happened to be under extreme stress level after the war broke out;
● Proven ability of analytical and report drafting work;
● Proven experience of conducting psychologist training;
● Experience of working and collaborating with stakeholders including government, civil society and communities;
● Experience of working and providing psychological assistance to whistleblowers is an asset;
● Fluency in written and oral Ukrainian; English will be an asset.
6. Monitoring and evaluation
Definition of indicators
The performance of the contractor will be judged upon reaching the purpose of this contract as well as obtaining its results, as indicated in the sections "Objective" and "Expected Deliverables" herein respectively. Moreover, the performance of the contractors will be judged upon successful implementation of all the specific activities indicated above.
Special requirements
By signing the contract, the contractor agrees to hold in trust and confidence any information or documents ("confidential information"), disclosed to the contractors or discovered by the contractors or prepared by the contractors in the course of or as a result of the implementation of the contract, and agrees that it shall be used only for the purposes of the contract implementation and shall not be disclosed to any third party.
The contractor reports to the EUACI. The contractor shall be briefed by the NACP prior to starting with the assignment. The contractor shall de-brief the EUACI prior to finalising the assignment.
7. Cross-cutting issues (integration of the youth, equal opportunities)
The project will be implemented ensuring equal opportunities for men and women and integration of the youth.
HOW TO APPLY
Deadline for submitting the proposals is 12th September 2022, 18:00 Kyiv time.
The proposal shall include each expert’s CVs, calculation of time needed for specific parts of assignment implementation for each expert and daily fee of each expert, total budget for the assignment, motivation letter, proofs of relevant experience (if available) and should be submitted within the above deadline to [email protected] with the subject “Development and Piloting of the national system of granting of psychological assistance to whistleblowers during war and post war period for the National Agency on Corruption Prevention”.
Bidding language: English.
Clarification questions
Any clarification questions regarding the bid request should be addressed to Oleksandr Komarov, [email protected] not later than 9th September 2022, 18:00 Kyiv time.