REQUEST FOR FULL GRANT APPLICANTS

RFA #25-FAIR-08-2015

Assessment of ProgramsImplementation on

Citizen Report Cards Surveys andEnhancing Sustainable Cooperation betweenJudiciary and Civil Society Organizations

ToImprove the Quality of Judicial Services

Issuance Date: August27, 2015

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored Fair, Accountable, Independent, and Responsible Judiciary Program in Ukraine (USAID FAIR Justice Project), under the terms contained herein, invites you to submit an application for performing review of the implementation of recommendations provided to the courts following the Citizen Report Cards (CRC) surveys on public satisfaction with the quality performance in courts of Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Cherkasy, Sumy, Chrnivtsi and several courts of other Oblasts oblasts, conducted in 2014 and 2015.

Grants will be awarded and implemented in accordance with USAID and US Government regulations governing grants under contract and USAID FAIR Justice Project’s internal grant management policies.

Annexes to the Request for full grant applicants:

Annex 1. List of courts to undergo the assessment of implementation of the recommendations based on the CRC surveys

A.Full Grant Application Form

B.Implementation Plan Timeline

C.Budget Template

D.Applicant Self-Assessment

E.Monitoring and Evaluation Plan

F.Certification Forms

SECTION I. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

I.A. OBJECTIVE

The USAID FAIR Justice Project offersup to3 grants for Ukrainian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) able to implement activities in partnership with the courts and the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine (SJA) on performing reviewof the implementation of recommendations provided to the courts following the Citizen Report Cards(CRC) surveyson public satisfaction with the quality performanceincourts of Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Cherkasy, Sumy,Chrnivtsi and several courts of other Oblasts, conducted in 2014 and 2015 (the complete list of relevant oblasts and courts is set out under Section I.C. DETAILED PROGRAM DESCRIPTION “Regions where the Grant Program is to be implemented” and in Annex 1.)

The Grant Program primary objective is targeted at enhancing sustainable cooperation between the judiciary and NGO sector in order to improve the quality of judicial services and contribute to reinforcing public trust and confidence in the judiciary.

I.B. BACKGROUND

The USAID FAIR Justice Project is designed to support legislative, regulatory and institutional reform of judicial institutions to build a foundation for a more accountable and independent judiciary. The USAID FAIR Justice Project focuses on five major areas:

  1. Developing a constitutional, legislative, and regulatory framework for judicial reform that is compliant with European and international standards and reinforces accountable and independent judiciary;
  2. Strengthening the accountability and transparency of key judicial institutions;
  3. Strengthening the professionalism and effectiveness of the Ukrainian judiciary;
  4. Strengthening the role of civil society organizations as advocates for and monitors of the judiciary reform;
  5. Supporting the implementation of the Law on the Purification of Government and related legislation.

To achieve this objective the project coordinates with Ukrainian partners, other U.S. Government supported programs, and international donors to design and implement activities that support Ukrainian governmental and non-governmental efforts to strengthen the rule of law.

In 2008-2015, within the previous USAIDUkraine Rule of Law Projectand USAID FAIR Justice Project, 12 NGOs conducted 5 rounds of surveys among the court service users based on CRC in 65 courts located in 18 oblasts of Ukraine. In February 2015, the Project provided grants on a competitive basis to 7 more NGOs conducting surveys in all courts of 7 oblasts of Ukraine (Ivano-Frankivsk, L’viv, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Odesa oblasts)and some courts of other oblasts. The survey results are expected to be presented by October 2015 and by November 15, 2015 in Sumy oblasts. Additionally, in September 2016 – April 2017 the court visitors surveys will take place in all courts of Ternopil, Volyn, Khmelnitskyy, Kherson, and Chernihiv oblasts.

Moreover, on 2 April 2015 the Council of Judges of Ukraine with its resolution #28 approved the court performance evaluation framework “Court performance evaluation procedure: standards, criteria, indicators, and methods”, including Annex 1, under paragraph 6 by providing recommendations to conduct the court visitors surveys once in three years, including those based on Citizen Report Cards (

IC.DETAILEDPROGRAMDESCRIPTION

One of the major tasks of FAIR is enhancing the professionalism and efficiency of judicial officers of Ukraine and strengthening the role of CSOs as monitors of and advocates for judicial reform.

This grant program is aimed at facilitating engaging civil society representativescooperation with courts and judicial authorities to perform monitoring of the judicial services provision to the citizens.

To achieve these tasks FAIR will provide support to CSOs in conducting assessment of the implementation of recommendations provided by NGOs re. their satisfaction on the courts performance based on Citizen Report Cards (CRC) methodology, assessment of efficiency and long-term impact of the CRC survey program in all courts of 7 oblasts in Ukraine (Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Odesa oblasts), including some courts of Kyiv oblast and selected courts of other oblasts, where the survey took place in 2014. This includes developing recommendations on improvement of the courts performance and judicial service provision, and is expected to increase public trust and confidence in the judiciary. The grantees shall coordinate their activities with the courts and SJA, which provides conducting a range of consultations on data collection, survey program evaluation based on CRC, and developing mainstream and long-term recommendations on improving the courts performance and judicial service provision. In addition, the grantees in conjunction with the courts and SJA territorial units are to develop and implement the initiatives targeted at sustainable development of the methodology.

This grant program is aimed at achieving the following objectives:

  1. Assessment of the CRC survey program implementation under FAIR Project in the selected courts, with special emphasis on consideration and implementation by the respective courts of the recommendations developed on the basis of the CRC surveys;
  2. Collaboration with the selected courts participating in the CRC survey program with the view of facilitating the development of plans targeted at improvement of the court performance and service provision based on the prior recommendations that have been not yet implemented. The organization is free to propose conducting assessment in all courts or in several courts according to selectionsample; however the selection sample generating process is to be justified.
  3. Development of furtherrecommendations on improvement of courts performance based on the recommendations provided prior to the courts, including implementation of the CRC survey program at the national level;
  4. Dissemination of the survey results among the courts, judiciary authorities, wide public and mass media;
  5. Development and implementation of initiatives aimed at the methodology sustainability and engaging the public into discussion highlighting the importance of the judicial services quality assessment.

Activities

The applications should include at least the following activities:

  • Identifying tools and methods for assessment of the CRC survey program effectiveness/efficiency, including review of the CRC survey performers’ reports, discussion of the recommendations implementation review, conducting survey involving questionnaires for relevant courts, focus-group discussions, etc. The organization may propose the analyses/assessment methodology (See Annex 1 for the complete list of courts);
  • Performing thoroughanalyses involving comparison of the recommendations provided to each court, defining the recommendations consideration scalein each court, reasons for decisions on their implementation/non-implementation, implantation and efficiency scale.
  • Performing thoroughanalyses of efficiency and long-term perspective of every recommendation provided to the selected courts, identifying reasons for implementation/non-implementation of recommendations by the courts;
  • Assessment of the courts environment to identify preconditions for efficient recommendation implementation. The prerequisites may include resources such as number of staff, capacity level, budget, leadership, or external factors such as engagement of community or support from local self-government authorities;
  • Development of a standard proposed program action plan, following which the NGOs can continue participating in the monitoring of courts activities and improving of their performance, assisting in the development and implementation of new activities targeted at the quality improvement that may include additional CRC surveys. The applicants should propose methods for further funding and implementation of such program at the national level in the longer term;
  • Analytical reports and recommendations based on the survey outcomes prepared, widely disseminated and discussed with the involvement of the courts representatives (court staff, court staff managerы, judges, chief judges), SJA representatives, NGOs and media representatives, social networks.
  • Activitiesaimed at the methodology sustainability performed, for example by setting up coalitions on external courts monitoring, conducting information campaigns for courts and NGs regarding CRC tools, conducting relevant training on the methodology, etc.
  • The methodology sustainability development plan including recommendations proposed to the beneficiaries.

FAIR Project will facilitate round table discussions between the grantees, courts involved and the SJA and CJU representatives dedicated to the project outcomes presentation.

Applicants to this competition should be aware that FAIR Project may recommend to one or all winners of the competition to print and disseminate in courts informational materials on court performance in addition to their project activities (for additional funding).

It is advisable that the applicants:

  • Engage experts previously involved in the CRC survey program;
  • Establish consortium with several NGOs in order to enable the sustainable development of initiatives targeted at the external court services quality assessment based on CRC.
  • Ensure adequate coverage of the activities in media and social networks.

Regions to be covered by Grant Program

FAIR Project proposes the NGOs to participate in the competition. For the regions, please see the below table (grouped according to regions, see Annex 1):

NGO 1 / CourtsinOdesa and Cherkasy oblasts and 1 court in Mykolayiv oblast
NGO 2 / Courts in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Chernivtsi oblasts, 5 courts in Khmelnitsky oblast, 1 court in Volyn oblast, and 4 courts of Rivne
NGO 3 / CourtsinSumy and Kharkiv oblasts, 1 court in Chernihiv oblast, and 3 courts in Kyiv oblast

FAIR Project encourages the organizations that have already acted grantees under USAID Ukraine Rule of Law Project, as well as under FAIR Project, to share their experience of conducting surveys, provide training for the NGOs selected under the Grant Program, and share the past CRC survey’s findings.

Expected results

Based on the 6-months Grant Program implementation outcomes, the Program participants are expected to achieve the following results:

  • The percentage of the implemented recommendations provided to the courts following the CRC surveys, categorized according to the courts titles and oblasts, as well as to the implementation scale (for instance, partially implemented, fully implemented, implementation expected, rejected according to the principle measure);
  • The methodology impact on the judicial services provision identifiedfor each quality indicator of the methodology;
  • Change in in the perception of the court visitors on the courts performance and services provision;
  • Comparative analyses involving the previous assessment of the CRC based recommendations implementation;
  • The implementation database following the assessment results created; focus-group discussions held;
  • Recommendationsimplementationassessmentre. the improvement of courts operations performed for each court in the oblast;
  • Analytical report prepared, printed and disseminated;
  • Activities on the methodology sustainable development carried out, results discussed at public events, for instance at the round table;
  • Theassessment results presented to the judges, community representatives, mass media, and other parties concerned;
  • The respective plans specifying the range of initiatives on the methodology sustainable development proposed.

Monitoring and Evaluation

To evaluate the efficiency of their activity the applicants should submit monitoring and evaluation plan (up to 2 pages). The applicants must develop 2 their own indicators for each project goal (expected results).

The indicators below are mandatory for the Grantees engaged in the respective activity:

  1. Number of courts undergoing the implementation assessment of the recommendations obtained in the course of the external performance evaluation;
  2. Number of recommendations (against each indicator) implemented by the courts on the basis of the CRC survey findings.
  3. Numberofpersonstrainedtoperformmonitoring.
  4. Numberof recommendations prepared by the judiciary authorities and community aimed at the methodology sustainability.

Reports with Results and Conclusions

Analytical report based on the assessment results including recommendations on the methodology sustainable development should be submitted by April 2016.

The analytical report should provide:

  1. Recorded and described assessment results with an emphasis on challenging issues; conclusions and recommendations on the courts performance improvement should be drafted and submitted.
  2. If the survey was earlier performed in a court (in 2012), it is essential to track the change history if compared to the implementation resultsfor the recommendations provided in 2014-2015.
  3. The analytical report structure is to include the following sections: Introduction, Description of Assessment Methodology for Implementation of Recommendations Provided to the Courts by NGOs, Key Results, Conclusions and Recommendations.
  4. Initiatives on the methodology sustainable development and recommendations for the judiciary and community beneficiaries proposed and piloted.

The grantees should organize and conduct a round table to present their report to the relevant judiciary authorities;by involving the representatives of SJA territorial units in relevant oblasts and community representatives to disseminate the assessment findings in media and among other stakeholders in state or judicial authorities in April 2016.

The USAID FAIR Justice Project understands that some Grantees may need technical assistance to more efficiently implement the tasks. Therefore the applicants may indicate in their applications the need in technical assistance and/or training.

ID. REGULATORY AND LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS

The USAID FAIR Justice Project provides grants adhering to guidance provided under the US Law “On Foreign Policy” and USAID’s Advanced Directive System (ADS), Section 302.5.6, “Grants Under Contracts”. Grants provided to non-U.S. organizations shall comply with the guidance available in USAID’s Advanced Directive System (ADS), Chapter 303 “Grants and Cooperative Agreements to Non-Governmental Organizations”, and be within the terms of the USAID Standard Provisions applicable to Non-U.S. Non-Governmental Recipients and the USAID FAIR Justice Project’s grant provision procedure.

ADS 303 refers to an additional regulatory document issued by the U.S. Agency for International Development – 2 CFR 200, the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. Only subpart E ‘Cost Principles’ apply to non-US organizations.

Full text of this document can be found at FAIR is required to ensure that all organizations receiving USAID grant funds comply with the guidance found in these circulars, as applicable to the respective terms and conditions of their grant awards.

USAID retains the right, at all times, to terminate, in whole or in part, FAIR’s authorities with respect to the award of grants within the USAID FAIR Project’s grant program.

SECTION II. INFORMATION ON THE GRANT

Under this grant program FAIR is planning to award:

  • Not more than one (1) grant for the amount of up to UAH 450,000 to conduct review of the implementation of recommendations provided to the courts followingthe citizens survey to identify their satisfaction on the courts performance based on the Citizen Report Cards (CRC) methodology in courts of Odesa and Cherkasy oblasts and 1 court of Mykolayiv oblast.
  • Not more than one (1) grant for the amount of up to UAH 450,000 to conduct review of the implementation of recommendations provided to the courts followingthe citizens survey to identify their satisfaction on the courts performance based on the Citizen Report Cards (CRC) methodology in courts of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Chernivtsi oblasts, 5 courts in Khmelnytsk oblast, and 1 court in Volyn oblast.
  • Not more than one (1) grant for the amount of up to UAH 450,000 to conduct review of the implementation of recommendations provided to the courts followingthe citizens survey to identify their satisfaction on the courts performance based on the Citizen Report Cards (CRC) methodology in courts of Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, 1 court in Chernihiv oblast, and 3 courts in Kyiv oblast

The payments will be made based on actual expenditures in tranches after the completion of the agreed upon stages or as an exception – on the basis of monthly advance payments. The decision will be made by FAIR as part of a final assessment of organizational capacity of the Applicant to manage grant funds.

The duration of grant awards under this solicitation is expected to be up to 6 months. The estimated start date of grant awarded under this solicitation is November 1, 2015. All grant activities should be completed by the end of April, 2016.

SECTION III. ELIGIBILITY

IIIA. RECIPIENTS

To be eligible for funding applicants mustcomply with the following criteria:

  • be a Ukrainian NGO, professional organization, think tank or other organization formally constituted in compliance with all applicable civil and fiscal regulations as a non-profit organization, be recognized by and in good standing with appropriate Ukrainian authorities;
  • applicants must be able to demonstrate successful past performance in implementation of development programs related to FAIR’s priority areas and be knowledgeable in the court reform procedure;
  • applicants must have previous experience of conducting programs in involving public support relating to the group of beneficiaries indicated in the Grant Program description. That should be supported by the enclosed comments of beneficiaries.
  • applicants must have some experience of conducting surveys, doing focus-group work, have the capability of involving a group of interviewers on voluntary grounds;
  • applicants must have previous experience of working with information using modern computer data processing software;
  • applicants must have previous experience of preparing gender research, analytical reports and presentations based on survey results;
  • applicants must have previous experience of making public presentations of survey results during conferences, round-table discussions, etc.;
  • applicants must be knowledgeable in the issues of functioning of the Ukrainian judiciary;
  • faith-based and community groups will receive equal opportunity for funding except for faith-based organizations whose objectives are for discriminatory and religious purposes, and whose main objective of the grant is of a religious nature;
  • applicants must display sound management in the form of financial, administrative, and technical policies and procedures and present a system of internal controls that safeguard assets, protects against fraud, waste, and abuse, and supports the achievement of program goals and objectives. FAIR will assess this capability prior to awarding a grant;
  • have sufficient computer software for the project implementation;
  • applicants must sign the following required certifications prior to receiving a grant (FAIR will provide the certifications and review them with applicants):
  • Recipient Certificate of Compliance
  • Certification Regarding Terrorism Financing
  • Representation by Organization Regarding a Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Criminal Conviction

The project will work with the grantee at the development of the draft marketing and branding plan that is going to be an annex to the Grant Agreement