Technical Services: Researcher-Trainer on Nonviolent Actions, Peacebuilding and Expert on community interventions
This announcement of technical recruitment is part of the following project:
“Local democratic governance initiative for a social, resilient and non-violent recovery in Kyiv funded by Barcelona City Council”
About us
The Institute Novact of Nonviolence is a non-profit association dedicated to conflict transformation and peacebuilding. It has been working in the Euro-Mediterranean region for more than 20 years.
NOVACT is committed to driving change in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, creating transformative policies that promote peace, defend civic space, generate human security, ecological justice, gender justice, digital justice, and prevent corporate abuses. The aim is to ensure that decisions affecting the future of communities can be made by the communities themselves.
NOVACT is closely connected to social movements through a comprehensive protection strategy, understanding that for social transformation, it is crucial to work on the collective strength of the people.
NOVACT was founded by a group of former conscientious objectors to the Spanish army during the Franco dictatorship. They created the association to share their experience in conflict transformation with the people. They aimed to work with individuals who organized themselves in response to violations of their rights, with the goal of contributing to a peaceful, just, dignified, and equitable world.
NOVACT operates in 14 countries across the Euro-Mediterranean region. Geographically, our intervention is divided into three regions: the Maghreb, with the central office located in Tunis and another in the Sahrawi Refugee Camps of Tindouf; the Mashreq, with the central office in Amman, Jordan, and one in Ramallah, Palestine; and finally, Europe, with the central office in Barcelona and additional offices in Madrid.
Context
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 marked a dramatic escalation of the eight-year-old conflict that began with Russia’s annexation of Crimea and signified a historic turning point for Ukraine territorial stability.
At the same time, Ukrainian civil society began spontaneously and courageously to organize themselves with the aim of countering the military occupation through hundreds of nonviolent actions, including civil disobedience, road blockades, civilian evacuation or communication campaigns.
Is in this sense where the idea of a project reinforcing democratic governance and civil society capacities took form. The current project aims to strengthening democratic governance within local governments and politically empowering the local communities of Kyiv, with the aim of creating a framework for social recovery grounded in principles of resilience, peace, and non-violence.
Introduction to the project
This project is funded by Barcelona City Council in the framework of the “Programa de Cooperació per a la Justícia Global a Ciutats Específiques 2024”.
The project is structured around three main axis:
- Citizen’s Participation
-To improve understanding of the needs and demands of the local communities of the city of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, while social leaders and initiatives for resilience, peacebuilding and nonviolence are identified;
-To promote a space for social and political dialogue on social recovery among those responsible for politicians and technicians of the Kyiv City Council, organized civil society and citizens from the channels of participation created and the mobilization of local communities created through a Community intervention program.
- Civil Resistance
To develop the capacities of Kyiv Local Government officers in and community leaders
- Communication
To create a favorable environment in the public opinion of Kiev with respect to the right to decide on social recovery reaching broad sectors of the citizenry.
Objectives of the consultancy
The project where the consultant will be contracted for aims to respond to the following problems in the current context in Kyiv:
1) the centralization of social recovery policies in the central institutions of the Ukrainian government; 2) the marginalization of nonviolent alternatives that makes invisible the efforts in terms of social cohesion and peace building that are carried out at a community level in the city; 3) the lack of spaces for political and social dialogue of local communities to contribute with their needs, demands and visions on the reconstruction of the country and the construction of peace.
The project proposes a double process of strengthening democratic governance with local government and the political empowerment of community actors, with special attention to the most vulnerable and invisible groups, encouraging social and political dialogue to face current challenges from a gender and human rights-based approach.
Specifically, the selected consultant will be required to:
- To research alongside our Ukrainian counterparts on civil resistance and community resilience through personal stories of Ukrainian civilians. The data obtained will be used on a specific interactive platform. The consultant is expected to employ a mix of methodological approaches that comprises: desktop literature review and primary data collection.
- To support our Ukrainian counterparts on applying community interventions programs based on the principles of peacebuilding, resilience, and non-violent conflict transformation.
- To participate in several workshops in Ukraine and train Kyiv City Council Staff and local community members on community dialogue and conflict resolution
- To participate giving professional assistance on community dialogue in Kyiv in the last project action, a Conference on Citizens Participation and Kyiv Social Recovery.
Activities and Deliverables
During the term of the assignment, the consultant will:
- Develop a work plan detailing expected time frames, methodological approaches and data collection tools that will be used in each planned activity.
- Conduct coordination and consultation meetings with Novact staff (Director, Program Director and Project Coordinator), partners, and other recommended interlocutors including a feedback and review meeting to review drafts and develop relevant recommendations.
- Researching civil resistance and community resilience initiatives and stories in Ukraine to feed the project website where at least there will be published 10 articles, 20 personal stories and a map with over 500 nonviolent and community resilience actions produced in English.
- Face-to-face on-site training for Kyiv City Council staff in community dialogue and community conflict resolution where at least 20 employees from the Department of Public Communications of the Local Government of Kyiv are trained in methodologies and strategies to promote citizen participation and in methods of conflict resolution, mediation and negotiation to establish processes of social and political dialogue with local communities.
- In the framework of a network of social leaders and community organizers of the Ukrainian School of Peacebuilding support the development of community interventions. Might require travelling to the field. At least 10 community organizing interventions to strengthen resilience and peace building should take place.
- In the framework of the Conference about citizen participation on the social recovery of Kyiv, support on workshops about community dialogue. The conference will last two full workig days with the participation of 80 people coming from Kyiv City Council, organized civil society and organized citizens.
Geographical Scope
Most of the activities and support can be done online but should be noted that the financial proposal must include field trips to Ukraine and all the necessary expenses that these trips entail. The presence of the consultant in the field will be necessary in the most relevant activities. (Trainings, Community Interventions and Conference about citizen participation on the social recovery of Kyiv).
Required skills
The consultant or team of consultants should respond to the following profile:
- University Master’s Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, International Relations and/or Human Security.
- Accredited experience as a researcher in the field of civil resistance and non-violence. (Publications, Workshops, Conferences.)
- Minimum 3 years experience on working in peacebuilding, human rights and/or non-violence action in Eastern Europe, with special attention to Ukraine.
- Minimum 7 years of demonstrable experience in designing and implementing training programs in the field of peace building, non-violence and civil resistance.
- Solid experience in giving public presentations, and organizing and running workshops, panels and similar events with participative mechanisms.
- Strong attention to detail, analytical, prioritization and problem-solving skills, and strong receptive communication and collaborative decision making skills
- Languages: Spanish and English Professional level (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages C1 or C2)
Desirable skills:
- Experience and knowledge in research with a gender perspective.
- Knowledge and/or articulation with national and international organizations, networks from CSO’s in Ukraine
- Knowledge of Ukrainian and/or Russian Language.
Clear and concise writing skills.
- Capacity to debate and lead political reflection activities at the regional level
Confidentiality and publication of materials
Novact will have copyright over the publications and data collected during the research and in any product the selected consultant will participate.
Contracting conditions
- Technical assistance contract for a period of 20 months. January 27th, 2025, to August 31st, 2026.
- Remuneration: 14,500 euros including al the taxes. (fourteen thousand five hundred euros)
- The selected consultant will provide their own tech equipment and material needed for the development and implementation of the tasks related to the contract.
Submission of proposals: deadlines and documentation
Candidates should provide the following documents in order to be selected:
- Updated and detailed CV
- Financial proposal (all taxes included)
- Significant previous experiences in previous articles/papers/research/conferences/workshops or projects related to the topic of this technical service.
- Methodological proposal including research plan and data collection tools.
A selection committee will be set up by Novact to study the proposals received. The criteria of eligibility will be as follows:
- Price (20%)
- Technical quality of the previous projects (40%)
- Experience of the candidate (40%)
The lack of any required information could lead to the refusal of the proposal.
The candidate cannot take advantage from omissions and mistakes in the present document. If candidates detect them must inform NOVACT immediately. The candidate should assume the total amount of cost preparations and submittal of the proposal.
Deadline for the submission of the proposal is 20th January 2025 before 23:59 local time in Barcelona.
Candidates should send their proposal to: carlosb@novact.org. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.
The email reference should be as follows: Kyiv – Barcelona Project
If you have any doubt, do not hesitate to contact carlosb@novact.org