Background
Support to anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine is a high political priority for the European Union. By combatting corruption, the EU contributes to the consolidation of democracy and economic growth of Ukraine, as well successful approximation of Ukraine with the EU.
The National Agency on Corruption Prevention is a central executive body with a special status, which ensures the formation and implementation of state anti-corruption policy in particular through the system of authorized units/persons (hereinafter - the AC officers) on the prevention and detection of corruption in state authorities, local self-government bodies and other legal entities.
The competencies of the National Agency include coordination and methodological assistance to AC officers to identify corruption risks in activities of target organizations and conduct measures to eliminate them. According to the latest NACP survey, 9,000 AC officers currently work in 3,600 institutions. They are authorized to perform a number of anti-corruption measures in target institutions, such as corruption risk management, conflict of interest identification, consideration of reports on possible corruption offenses and protection of whistleblowers, monitoring submission of declarations, preparation of anti-corruption programs, etc.
The important instrument used by anti-corruption officers is legal proofing of normative acts of target institutions regulating administrative, economic activities and personnel issues. This instrument allows identifying potentially corrupt norms at the stage of drafting the document, preventing corruption risks, as well as ensuring transparent, clear and consistent regulation of the target institution’s activities.
Legal proofing of normative acts by AC officers corresponds with the anti-corruption expertise conducted by the Ministry of Justice, NACP and the Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy that covers acts submitted by the Verkhovna Rada, the CMU, legal acts of ministries and other central executive bodies. Legal proofing by AC officers is especially important for local self-government bodies (regional, district, city councils) whose acts are not covered by other types of AC expertise.
That is why the NACP aims at enhancing the capacity of the AC officers regarding anti-corruption analysis of normative act provisions as part of legal proofing. The NACP has already presented a new methodological guidance that explains in detail all aspects of the work of AC officers in the legal proofing of documents of their organizations, and launched a series of offline training sessions.
Based on methodological materials and feedback gained during offline training sessions, the NACP plans to develop a comprehensive online course that will help AC officers to improve their knowledge of anti-corruption expertise and peculiarities of legal proofing. Developed course will be also useful for other target audiences such as authors of legal acts (civil servants, employees of Legal Departments), civil society activists, law students.
Objective
The objective of this assignment is to enhance the capacity of the anti-corruption officers in target institutions in anti-corruption expertise and legal proofing of legal acts. The assignment will contribute towards this end by development of an online course on legal proofing by NACP. EUACI intends to make this contribution by signing a contract with a relevant professional service provider.
Scope ofwork and expected deliverables
1. Scope of work
In order to develop an on-line course on legal proofing the Contractor is expected to work in close cooperation with NACP and EUACI (The NACP will provide the Contractor with the content (texts) of the online course. This content will be reviewed and, if needed, updated by the EUACI) on fulfilling the following tasks:
1. Designing the course in accordance with the structure provided by the NACP. The course should include not less than 12 videos grouped in 6 modules, with each module complemented by additional materials available for download, followed by a test and a possibility to obtain a certificate of successful completion, with the following requirements:
- each video should be 5-10 minutes long, complemented by Ukrainian and English subtitles;
- each module should be followed by a short test consisting of approximately 15 questions. Passing level for successful testing: 80% (i.e. 12 correct answers to each test question). Passing the test should not affect the possibility of accessing the next module by a user, but should affect the possibility of obtaining a certificate at the end of the course;
- the course should include a “Law-Proofing Simulator” as a format of practical task;
- the student interface should provide an opportunity to read a list of all course topics. At the same time, the user can choose to pass only the topic of the current module, or those modules that have been accessed before. The videos of the module should be available to the user in any order;
- the certificate should be awarded only to those course participants who have watched all the videos and successfully passed all the course tests. It should be possible for a student to retake any test and receive the certificate in case of successful passing. It should be possible for a student to return to the topics covered at any time during the training, as well as after receiving the certificate;
- the course should be adapted for mobile devices;
- the course needs to be designed in such a way that its relevance persists or can easily be ensured (through amendments) in case of changes in respective legislation.
2. Preparation of all materials of the course, including scripts and production of the videos, tests, additional materials for download, etc.
3. Online publication of the course with built-in user authorization system using e-mails. The placement of the course should ensure easy free of charge access for the public willing to take the course and possibility to manage the course (edit/complement with new videos, etc.) by NACP in future. All materials of the course should be compatible with the NACP educational platform for further placement.
4. Promotion of the course that would include creation of promotional videos and its publishing on social networks, creation and launching promo page of the course, mailshot, promo campaign at social networks.
5. Follow up support of the course and NACP if requested (i.e. bug fixes, customization, providing instructions to NACP staff, etc.)
The Contractor undertakes to perform the Services with the highest standards of professional and ethical competence and integrity.
The Contractor pass all the materials developed in the course of this assignment to the NACP, as well as pass all material intellectual property rights regarding the developed product to the NACP.
2. Expected deliverables
The main deliverable of this assignment is an online course, available and easily accessible online. The reporting package required for the acceptance of the results, includes:
- All scripts produced during the implementation of the assignment;
- All videos produced during the implementation of the assignment;
- All tests and additional practical materials developed;
- Link to the course published online with all details required for managerial access and relevant instructions;
- All promotion materials;
- Acceptance letter from NACP;
- The Act transferring all the developed products and all material intellectual property rights on them to the NACP;
- Short narrative report describing the methodology applied to designing the course, list of the themes covered, possible/recommended future developments, identification of the ways in which the course can be complemented/adjusted if needed, i.e. in case of changes to the legislation.
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 Anastasiia Kapranova, the EUACI Communications Experts via e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected] .
Timeline
The intended commencement date is the date of signature of the contract by both parties. It is expected that the course should be launched not later than November 30, 2022. All activities with regard to this assignment should be completed by 31 December 2022.
Requirements for the Contractor
The Contractor shall:
- Have at least 3 (three) years of proven working experience in designing and implementing educational online courses;
- Proven experience in the development of educational courses on the anti-corruption topic will be an advantage;
- Proven experience of cooperation with the EU or other donor funded projects will be an advantage;
- Provide a methodology on how this assignment will be implemented, identifying key steps to be taken;
- Propose key staff for the implementation of this assignment. Their CVs should demonstrate relevant experience and expertise;
- Provide a budget estimate with identification of the cost for key progress steps during the implementation of the assignment.
Minimum technical requirements to the final product
- Video track requirements: video file duration - 5 to 10 minutes. Resolution: 2560x1440 without digital coding artifacts. Bitrate: 40 Mbps or higher. Codec: h.264. Container: mp4. Number of plans: 2 (general and major).
- Solid white, solid pastel color or solid dark color background.
- Bright studio light of neutral light temperature without sharp shadows.
- Audio track requirements: audio codec: AAC. Sample rate: 48 kHz. Audio Quality: High. Bitrate: 320 kbps. No digital coding artifacts, extraneous noise and audio interference, desynchronization with the video track or mounting gluing, which negatively affects the perception of the audiovisual series of educational videos.
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 prior to starting with the assignment. The contractor shall de-brief the EUACI prior to finalising the assignment.
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 30 July 2022, 18:00 Kyiv time.
The proposal shall include key staff CVs, methodology on assignment implementation, identifying key steps to be taken, financial information/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 NACP Online Course on Legal Proofing.
Bidding language: English.
Clarification questions
Any clarification questions regarding the bid request should be addressed to Oleksandr Komarov, [email protected] not later than 25 July 2022, 18:00 Kyiv time.