Two National Consultants - Mid-term Review of She Demines Programme, Home-based, SSA

Background: UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. In Ukraine, UN Women supports government and civil society partners in implementing national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s human rights, with programming focused on peace and security, humanitarian action, women’s economic empowerment, and governance and participation in public life. Ukraine’s third National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security covers 2026-2030, while the National Mine-Action Strategy covers 2024-2033. The WPS agenda is closely linked to humanitarian mine action and emergency response in the context of Russia’s full‑scale aggression against Ukraine and the extensive contamination of Ukrainian territory by mines and exploded ordnance. Against this backdrop, UN Women has implemented the “She Demines” programme since 2025 to strengthen gender equality and women’s meaningful participation in humanitarian mine action and emergency response. An estimated 23 per cent of Ukraine’s territory (approximately 139,000 km2) is contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance, placing significant demands on national mine‑action capacities.

• She Demines” seeks to increase women’s participation and leadership in humanitarian mine action and emergency response by addressing institutional and social barriers to their recruitment, employment and retention. The programme combines technical and capacity‑development support, women’s empowerment and resilience interventions, institutional engagement, data and evidence generation, and efforts to challenge gender stereotypes in traditionally male‑dominated sectors. In doing so, it contributes to implementation of Ukraine’s WPS commitments to gender equality and women's empowerment and the National Mine Action Strategy.
• She Demines” brings together two complementary donor‑funded projects delivered under a unified implementation framework and results matrix, with an overall programme period of March 2025 – June 2028:
• Ukrainian Women at the Frontlines of Demining and Recovery”, funded by Global Affairs Canada through the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (28 February 2025 – 31 March 2027);
• Promoting Women’s Participation in Mine Action”, funded by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia (27 June 2025 – 26 June 2028).

The programme aims to provide approximately 3,000 women with gender‑responsive resilience and community support and to support at least 300 women from war‑affected areas to obtain certification in humanitarian mine action. It also seeks to influence wider public perceptions of women’s roles in mine action and emergency response. The programme is implemented in Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Sumy oblasts. NGO Girls leads the women’s empowerment, leadership and mental resilience component, while the Ukrainian Deminers Association (UDA) supports technical training and certification. BBC Media Action serves as the technical partner for the social norms and gender stereotypes component. Key national institutional partners include: Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine (responsible for the implementation of the National Mine Action Strategy of Ukraine) Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine (responsible for the National Action Plan 1325) Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine National Police of Ukraine State Emergency Service of Ukraine State Border Guard Service of Ukraine State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine. The programme is aligned with the following key national frameworks: National Mine Action Strategy of Ukraine 2024-2033 National Action Plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security 2026-2030; UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2025-2029 (Priority II on Inclusive economic growth and Priority IV on Peace, justice and strong institutions); State Strategy for Regional Development 2021-2027; and State Strategy for Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men by 2030. UN Women will undertake a mid‑term review (MTR) of “She Demines” covering implementation from March 2025 through December 2026. The MTR will generate evidence on programme progress and performance, capture lessons and stakeholder perspectives, and inform strategic and management decisions for the remaining implementation period. To support the MTR, UN Women seeks to engage two National Consultants for the period 15 October 2026 to 15 February 2027. The MTR team will comprise an International Consultant/Team Lead and two National Consultants. The National Consultants will contribute Ukrainian contextual expertise and support the review design, stakeholder consultations, data collection and analysis, development of case studies, formulation of findings and recommendations, and preparation and validation of MTR products. The review will engage programme participants and beneficiaries, implementing partners, government institutions and other relevant stakeholders at national, regional and local levels. The National Consultants will report to the MTR Team Lead and will coordinate their work with the Monitoring and Reporting Analyst as required. Description of Responsibilities/Scope of Work Objectives, key questions and areas of inquiry This mid‑term review will assess the programme’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, integration of gender equality and human rights, innovation, and adaptability to the evolving context. It will document lessons learnt and good practices, and provide actionable recommendations to enhance results and sustainability during the remaining implementation period, including in relation to the programme’s support to government stakeholders in implementing Ukraine’s NAP 1325 for 2026-2030, the National Mine Action Strategy, and other relevant national frameworks. The MTR will support UN Women and national stakeholders’ strategic learning and decision‑making for the remaining implementation period and strengthen accountability to the Government of Canada and the Government of Croatia as co‑funding partners, as well as to national counterparts. The main users of the MTR will include the Government of Ukraine, national mine‑action stakeholders, UN Women Ukraine CO, the Government of Canada (Global Affairs Canada), the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, and relevant UN counterparts involved in humanitarian mine action, emergency response and related recovery efforts. The specific MTR objectives are: To assess the relevance of the programme design and implementation strategy to the needs of women affected by mine contamination, national demining, recovery and gender equality priorities, and stakeholder needs; To assess progress and results achieved to date (effectiveness) against the programme’s results framework; To assess the efficiency of programme delivery, including resource use, management and monitoring arrangements; To assess the coherence of the programme with other UN Women programming, relevant UN system interventions, and national mine‑action efforts; To assess the extent to which gender equality, human rights and innovation have been integrated into programme design and delivery; To document lessons learned and good practices; To provide actionable recommendations to strengthen results, sustainability and programme’s potential for longer‑term impact during the remaining implementation period. At least three case studies will be developed to illustrate how and why selected results were achieved or constrained, including relevant enabling and hindering factors. Scope of the assignment The National Consultants will contribute to the MTR process and team deliverables as follows: 2.1 Desk review, Inception Report and Planning In consultation with the UN Women Ukraine CO/WPS team, the MTR team will conduct a desk review and develop an inception report presenting the proposed approach and plan for undertaking the mid‑term review. The report should be no more than five pages and should present the review approach, methodology, MTR matrix and list of key informants. A detailed workplan and draft data‑collection tools will be included as annexes. Data collection will combine in‑person and online methods, as feasible and appropriate. The inception report, including annexes, will be finalized in consultation with the UN Women Ukraine CO/WPS team and informed by a desk review of relevant programme implementation. Case studies may include (but are not limited to): model of cooperation between stakeholders to facilitate employment of women in humanitarian mine action and emergency services, processes of engaging and hiring women established by programme partners, evident advances in the sector/ individual women trajectories, institutional commitment/ change of practices etc. The National Consultants will contribute to the desk review, provide contextual inputs to the MTR design and matrix, support identification of relevant stakeholders and key informants, and contribute #J-18808-Ljbffr UN News