Where’s the Money for Women’s Rights in Ukraine? – Consultancy Assignment for The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation and the Ukrainian Women’s Fund

The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation and the Ukrainian Women’s Fund are contracting one or several consultants to produce a research report about the funding landscape for women civil society organizations and feminist groups in Ukraine.

Building on the methodology developed by AWID, the report “Where’s the Money for Women’s Rights in Ukraine” will build on both quantitative and qualitative data. Data collection and report writing will take place September-December 2024.

1. Background

The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, supports women in regions affected by war and conflict to increase women’s power and influence. Today, we cooperate with more than 140 women’s organizations in the Western Balkans, South Caucasus, Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Kvinna till Kvinna operates within the framework of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda, supporting and collaborating with women’s rights organizations that actively participate in peace and transition processes and promote women’s rights and gender equality.

Kvinna till Kvinna’s Programme in Ukraine
Kvinna till Kvinna has supported women’s rights in Ukraine since 2014 through cooperation with organizations working for women’s rights. When Russia’s full-scale invasion began, the supported organizations shifted to address urgent humanitarian needs, helping women exposed to violence, internally displaced women, and families. As the war continues, women’s rights organizations are bringing the needs and priorities of women into decision-making processes, including Ukraine’s recovery plans. In Ukraine, Kvinna till Kvinna supports organizations focusing on the needs and rights of diverse women, including LBTQI women and women with disabilities.

Ukrainian Women’s Fund (UWF)
Founded in 2000, the Ukrainian Women’s Fund (UWF) is the first and only women’s fund in Ukraine, specifically established to support the development of women’s and feminist organizations by capacity building, grants support, sharing information, providing training, and other resources.

This project is co-managed by UWF and Kvinna till Kvinna. A project group consisting of staff from both organizations will hold regular meetings to handle major questions and make decisions. The consultant(s) will report to the project group.

2. Expected Outcome of the Assignment

The consultant shall support the implementation of Kvinna till Kvinna’s programme in Ukraine, with the focus on mapping the situation and needs for women’s civil society organisations (WCSOs) in Ukraine.

Despite Ukraine being a recipient of large amount of ODA since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, we have gotten reports that WCSOs are still working with very limited resources, as large amounts of funding are difficult to access for smaller organisations, and that the funding available is largely donor-driven with high administrative burden. This limits the possibilities for WCSOs to act independently and based on their self-identified agendas and mandates. With this research, we aim to look more into detail at the funding landscape in Ukraine when it comes to gender equality and women’s rights work. The aim of the research is to gather qualitative and quantitative data on the situation for WCSOs working in Ukraine, and on how the influx of funding to Ukraine after the full-scale invasion has affected their working conditions. The research will look at the amounts of funding, under what conditions funding has been and is being distributed, the consequences this has had for WCSOs, and also propose recommendations to donors going forward.

3. Deliverables:

1. A research plan detailing the methodology, time plan, and study limitations.
2. A draft report including findings, analysis, and recommendations.
3. A final report in English.
4. A translation of the final report into Ukrainian.

4. Methodology
A mixed methodology of a desk study, survey, and online interviews with WCSOs and donors is proposed. Detailed planning and priorities will be discussed and decided on together with Kvinna till Kvinna and UWF.

5. Time Frame
The assignment duration is 40 working days between September 16th and December 31st, 2024.

6. Required Skills and Competencies

The consultant/s should have:

• Good understanding of women’s and feminist organizations in Ukraine, and experience of work with women’s funds, preferably in Ukraine;
• Experience working with women’s rights;
• Experience working with women’s civil society actors;
• Experience doing policy advocacy;
• Good understanding of the Ukraine context;
• Good understanding of international donor environment in the field of women’s rights and/or civil society;
• Extensive experience in drafting policy reports;
• Experience in information gathering from varied resources;
• Strong analytical skills including extensive experience in drafting policy reports;
• Excellent written English;
• Excellent skills in Ukrainian language

7. Cost Frame

The total consultancy cost must be specified as fees per day. Contracted consultants cannot subcontract the assignment.

8. Application

Please submit your application no later than August 31 2024 to Ukrainian Women’s Fund at the following address uwf@uwf.org.ua. Before submitting your application, please see the full Terms of Reference. Please note that we only accept full applications written in English and submitted to the address mentioned above.

The complete application package shall include all four of the following:

• An updated CV (or an updated CV per person, if applying in consortia);
• A one-page letter of motivation (if applying in consortia, the letter may be two pages but shall clearly outline and motivate which topics each consultant would work on);
• An offer with a detailed Cost Frame for the assignment (broken down per person if applying in consortia);
• Signed Declaration of non-conflict of interest (per person if applying in consortia) – please note that applications missing this Declaration will not be taken into consideration.

Kvinna till Kvinna aims to sign an agreement no later than September 15th, 2024.

1. Questions:

If you have any questions regarding this position or the recruitment process, please contact katarina.stenqvist@kvinnatillkvinna.se.