Call for Proposals | Support to the Needs of Ukrainian Civil Society Organisations | Small Grants for Direct Emergency Needs

[1] The Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC) in a consortium with People in Need (PIN) and Prague Civil Society Centre (PCSC) has designed a multi-faceted 24-month intervention “Resilient Civil Society and Media Respond to the Ukraine War”. With the financial support of the European Union, the project aims to build the resilience of civil society and independent media in the EaP+ region with the skills and financial resources to respond to the needs of the conflict-affected population effectively. Within the framework of this project NHC will organize financial support to third parties (FSTP) schemes in order to enable civil society organisations (CSOs) working on the protection of human rights, whose existence further came under threat as a result of the war in Ukraine, to continue and adjust their work in the current circumstances.

Background

The majority of NHC’s civil society partners and individual human rights defenders in Ukraine have stayed in the country since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Most of them continue their work in at least some capacity, focusing their efforts on providing services to the affected populations and on documenting war crimes, but also continuing to monitor attacks against human rights defenders. However, since the outbreak of the war, these organisations have been operating in constant crisis mode. As the staff members of many CSOs are scattered all over the country, communication with each other has become challenging for them. They often have no access to their work equipment such as laptops, phones, cameras and other supplies. Many organisations struggle to pay salaries to their staff members. People are running out of money for necessary medication, protective gear and other basic needs. In order to be able to continue their work effectively, these CSOs require financial assistance to address their direct emergency needs.

Objective of the Call

NHC aims to provide small grants to civil society organisations (CSOs) and grassroots initiatives in Ukraine that are working on the promotion and protection of human rights. The grants are aimed at responding to their direct emergency needs and can be used to cover organisational costs that contribute to the continuation of their work in the new reality affected by the ongoing war.

This may include, but is not limited to:

• Purchase of protective gear and medical supplies;
• Costs for relocation of staff;
• Costs for equipment necessary to continue work;
• Costs to enhance digital and physical security;
• Costs related to capacity building or purchasing of goods in relation to adjusted activities.

Retrospective activities (costs related to activities implemented prior to signing the grant agreement) are eligible under this call only if they occurred after 24 February 2022 and because of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

As the current needs of the Ukrainian CSOs are diverse and can differ per organisation based on their situation and where they are located, support will be provided in an accessible, flexible and tailor-made way.

Grant amount and duration

NHC aims to provide approximately 20 small grants, between 1,000 and 9,000 EUR per grant. The anticipated starting date for the selected projects is 1 February 2023. The selected project should be implemented within 6 months from the starting date of the project. In case there are leftover funds available after awarding grants within this call, NHC will publish the second round of call for proposals.

Eligibility criteria

This call for proposals is open for the CSOs in/from Ukraine a large part of whose staff remains in Ukraine and is still present on the ground.

The grant can be received by:

• Non-profit civil society organisations registered as legal entities in Ukraine;
• Grassroots initiatives in Ukraine (a group of private people represented by one responsible person, united with one civic aim);
• CSOs and grassroots initiatives should be working on the promotion and protection of human rights in Ukraine and have a demonstrated track record before the outbreak of the war;
• The work of the organisation should have been severely impacted by the war in Ukraine;
• Organisations working on the protection and promotion of human rights outside NHC’s network of partners in Ukraine may also apply.

Public administration institutions, state agencies, local or regional authorities, political parties or organisations affiliated with political parties are not eligible for this call.

Ineligible costs

The budget must be in line with the activities described in the application form. The following activities and expenditures are not eligible under this call:

• Humanitarian support to third parties;
• Military purposes or support to military;
• Retrospective activities that occurred before 24 February 2022 and/or are not related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine;
• Medical or any other unexpected (emergency) expenses;
• Commercial activities;
• Infrastructure projects (constructing roads, bridges, buildings, etc.);
• Purchase of land or property;
• Political or religious activities;
• Environmentally harmful projects.

Application process

Interested organisations are asked to apply online in English or in Ukrainian no later than 16 January 2023. Please find the online application form here.

The following documents need to be attached to the online application form:

• Budget
• Registration certificate of the organisation (if applicable)
• Statute of the organisation
• Declaration of honour
• References: A list of relevant projects (promotion and protection of human rights in Ukraine) in which the organization has been involved (Max. 3 projects).

For questions regarding the call for proposals or the application procedure, please send us an email to hrd@nhc.nl no later than 9 January 2023. Only full applications consisting of a completed online application form and requested additional documents will be assessed.

Proposal selection process

An independent evaluation committee will evaluate submitted proposals based on the following criteria:

The applicants will receive feedback to their proposals no later than 30 January 2023 via email. Any concerns or feedback related to the proposal selection process can be submitted to the NHC via e-mail to hrd@nhc.nl.

Find the full call for proposals in English here.

Find the full call for proposals in Ukrainian here.

Find the budget template in English here.

Find the budget template in Ukrainian here.

Find the declaration of honour in English and Ukrainian here.

Find the references document in English and Ukrainian here.

[1] This document was funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Netherlands Helsinki Committee and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.