Call for Participation: Constituency and Influence for Reform
We invite Ukrainian civil society organizations (CSOs) to participate in the “Constituency and Influence for Reform” project, which:
- Worked in the areas of gender equality, anti-corruption and environmental protection before February 2022;
- Want to improve their resilience with tools in advocacy, communication, organizational management and fundraising considering new national challenges caused by the hostilities.
The 21 best applicants will receive trainings* and mentoring, followed by 8 of them (as a result of the second stage of selection) – up to 6,000 euros to finance their own projects.
About the project
The aim of the Call of the “Constituency and Influence for Reform” project is to increase the capacity of Ukrainian CSOs to plan and implement advocacy campaigns, effectively communicate their goals, and manage organizations. Project activities will focus on helping the organizations to adapt to the new circumstances of protracted hostilities and related challenges. Organizations and coalitions will be able to improve their capacity through training, mentoring, and financial assistance. As a separate measure, selected applicants will gain access to the special emergency fund and other funding and capacity building opportunities.
Its objectives:
- Strengthen the communication and advocacy capacity of civil society organizations, which work/ed in the three above mentioned areas, the base of supporters, financial sustainability and quality of governance that enable them to continue their activities during ongoing hostilities.
- Strengthen the use of strategies to influence the policies of local and national authorities, applying international and national standards, procedures and situational tactics of civil society.
- Increase the operational security of civil society and its sustainability.
Organizer: Netherlands Helsinki Committee with the support of the European Commission under the program “Strategic Partnership for Capacity Building of Civil Society Organizations in the Eastern Partnership”.
How to participate
To participate in the competitive selection it is necessary:
- Have an idea for an advocacy campaign or project;
- Download and fill in the application form;
- Send the application in electronic form by 23:59, 13 July 2022 to the address HRD@nhc.nl and hrdprogramme.nhc@protonmail.com
CSOs will be admitted to the competitive evaluation, which:
- Work in the areas of gender equality, anti-corruption and environmental protection. Applications from organizations working on other topics will not be considered.
- Are legal entities registered in Ukraine.
- Had at least 2 employees as of February 2022
- Do not have in the staff or governing bodies representatives of the organizers of the competition, their close relatives and persons who prepared the provisions of the competition;
- Filled in all mandatory fields of the application and met the deadlines for its submission;
- Signed and sent the applicant’s declaration and all annexes specified in the application.
Evaluation
Criteria by which applications will be evaluated:
- Availability of online resources in the organization (site, pages in social networks) – 5% of the total score;
- Realism, relevance, innovation of the project idea – 30% of the total score;
- Relevance of training needs of CSO staff to the project objectives – 20% of the total assessment;
- Motivation to participate in the project – 20% of the total score;
- Ability/capacity to implement the project – 25% of the total assessment.
All CSOs that scored at least 60% form an overall rating. Each CSO in the overall ranking also has a mark on belonging to the thematic area (according to the application). The winners of the selection will be seven CSOs with the highest scores in each thematic area: gender equality, anti-corruption and environmental protection.
If less than 7 CSOs in any of the three thematic areas are included in the ranking, the CSO with the highest score among all other thematic areas, which was not included in the winners in its thematic area, is selected for the vacant place.
Coalitions of CSOs will have an advantage over other applicants.
Announcement of selection results
The results of the competitive selection will be announced no later than July 20, 2022 by e-mail specified in the applications.
About training of selected participants
The training will take place online as 10 workshops, 3 hours each. Two training groups will be formed according to the needs of applicants. Some workshops will be separate for each group while others – for all 21 organizations. Training period: July-September 2022. Each of the organizations delegates 2 representatives (may vary depending on the topic of training and in particular can include an accountant, chair of the organization, communications officer, legal adviser, advocacy manager etc.). The training program includes individual and organizational tasks. Detailed information (schedule, program, links) will be sent to the selected CSOs.
Topics to be covered during the exercises:
Advocacy: definition of advocacy and its place in the work of the organization, the scheme of the advocacy campaign, tools of local democracy, criteria for the success of the campaign and best practices, development of your own campaign.
Communication: organization brand, goals of communication campaigns, external and internal communications, writing a communication strategy, SMM, attracting supporters and volunteers, working with the media, information hygiene, public communications ethic during a war.
Project management: crisis management, organizing work online, team-building and maintaining internal connections, organizational self-assessment, risk management, fundraising and crowdfunding, legal foundations for operations under current circumstances.
The 8 winners of the second stage of selection will have up to 6 months to implement the project ideas. All projects must end before April 30, 2023.
CONTACTS
If you have any questions about the competition, send them to HRD@nhc.nl and hrdprogramme.nhc@protonmail.com Questions received after July 8 , 2022 will remain unanswered.
Read more about the call here (only in Ukrainian): Українська
Application form (only in Ukranian): Українська
