1. INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this announcement is to provide information to non-governmental organizations, on the call for proposals in support of communities, vulnerable groups and people in need in Ukraine which is launched by UNDP within the framework of the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, and to explain the procedure for submitting project proposals.

The Announcement sets out the criteria for compliance with the requirements of the call for proposals, the process of submission and selection of project proposals, as well as the criteria for evaluation of projects to be selected through this call.

The call for proposals is held in the following target area:

SGP_UN_RPP_2_2022_Services: “Grants for supporting communities in the provision of public and municipal services”

2. INFORMATION ON THE UNITED NATIONS RECOVERY AND PEACEBUILDING PROGRAMME

The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Twelve international partners support the Programme: The European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme is focused on the main priority needs for stabilization, peacebuilding, economic recovery and governance in eastern Ukraine. Following the escalation of the hostilities across Ukraine, the Programme is now seeking partners to implement rapid response activities to address the urgent needs of war affected populations in their communities and in areas of displacement.

The Programme activities are grouped according to the following key components, which reflect the priority needs of the region:

• Component I: Economic Recovery and Restoration of Critical Infrastructure
• Component II: Local Governance and Decentralisation Reform
• Component III: Community Security and Social Cohesion

This call for proposal is launched as part of the second component (Local Governance and Decentralisation Reform) of the programme in response to the sudden escalation of military activities, and the corresponding increase of needs in provision of public and municipal services on the local level.

Funding for the call for proposals will be provided with the support of the European Union (EU).

The financial management of the call for proposals is entrusted to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

3. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE APPLICANTS AND THE PROJECT TERRITORIES

3.1. Non-governmental or charitable organizations submitting project proposals for this call for proposals must meet the following requirements:

• be officially registered with the status of a legal entity in the territory of Ukraine;
• have the status of a non-profit or charitable organization (non-profit codes 0032, 0034, 0036, 0038, 0039, or 0048);
• do not have open court cases, as defendants, as well as heads of organizations;
• have a valid current account in a bank in Ukraine;
• demonstrate capability to implement activities in the given geographical areas under the current situation;
• have the appropriate expertise and professional staff to implement the project (project manager, finance professional/accountant, and other specialists as required by the project);
• experience in cooperation with international organizations will be an additional advantage.

3.2. The personnel involved in the project must meet the following requirements:

Project team should at least consist of: a project manager (in charge of the general coordination of project implementation and reporting to the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme), an accountant (in charge of accounting and financial reporting), and persons directly involved in the project implementation:

• project manager must have at least 2 years of experience in the public sector;
• accountant must have at least 2 years of experience in accounting;
• language proficiency: fluency in Ukrainian;
• readiness to implement all rules and regulations of cooperation proposed by the international donor.

3.3. Project territories:

Project activities are to be implemented in government-controlled communities and where the security situation allows in the following oblasts: Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv.

3.4. The UNDP will determine whether an NGO is eligible for the UNDP funding based on the results of the Capacity Assessment Checklist (CACHE).

Proposals from organizations that do not meet the above requirements will not be considered. Applications from individuals, commercial organizations, public institutions and organizations, local self-governments, trade unions, political parties, and religious organizations will not be considered.

4. TASK DESCRIPTION AND EXPECTED RESULTS

Support within this call for proposals will be offered to develop and adapt systems, processes, and community networks for better organisation and quality of local services, namely broader and faster access to services and information, or improved back-office operations of local governments and service information centers, including for projects to benefit displaced institutions or populations from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, or implemented by relocated non-governmental or charitable organizations from these areas. The application of transparency and accountability principles to the solutions regarding the quality of local services (e.g. administrative services) will allow better services to be provided over larger territories, as well as increase the accessibility, speed, accuracy, and convenience of the targeted services. They will contribute to realizing the efficiency gains of amalgamation, by enhancing the accessibility and quality of services and ensuring effective public oversight.

Grants in this call for proposals can be focused on the following areas:

a) better administrative, municipal, and social services, for example, but not limited to, through online application form and delivery of documents like certificates, approvals, etc. minimizing the physical interaction with local government staff and reducing the time for processing (development of administrative/social services portals; assistance to local self-government authorities, TsNAPs, Social Centers, non-state social service providers in implementing new types of services that require additional equipment, automation of service delivery systems, interactive maps, mobile applications for local infrastructure, etc.);

b) faster and more accurate processing of documents, through improved back and front offices operations (information and technical support for the work of TsNAPs / social centers / structural subdivisions of local self-government authorities that provide public and municipal services, etc.).

c) access to public and municipal service providers and information (digitization of registers; technical support of structural units that provide relevant services, etc.);

d) other projects aimed at improving the quality of public and municipal services, including the provision of quality health services.

5. PROJECT DURATION

It is expected that the duration of proposed projects should be up to five months.

6. PROJECT PROPOSAL EXPENSES

The maximum budget of the project proposal should not exceed 25 000 USD.

6.1. Permitted expenses

Acceptable expenses are deemed to be those that:

necessary to achieve the project's goals and objectives;

consistent with the principle of efficiency and cost-effectiveness ("high quality at the lowest price").

The funds provided within the call for proposals may be used only as follows:

• remuneration of project staff, including remuneration, insurance, and other additional costs; may not exceed 5% of the total grant amount;
• travel and accommodation costs of the team for project activities;
• costs for the purchase of equipment and furniture (normally, the value of one lot of purchase cannot exceed 3000 US dollars. If it is required to make a purchase of one lot for more than 3000 USD, it is necessary to obtain additional approval from UNDP),
• costs of stationery and consumables;
• costs of paying for the services of experts/consultants, developers of evaluation tools, online applications, etc.;
• costs under subcontracts (webinars, transport and logistics services, etc.);
• other costs directly related to the implementation of the project (dissemination of information, evaluation process, translation, publications, communications, etc.), including financial services (including bank transfers and commissions).

6.2. Ineligible costs due to grant funds:

• preparing a project proposal for participation in the call;
• recovery of expenses related to exchange rate fluctuations
• refund of VAT and other taxes;
• rent of CSO office rent and utility bills;
• payment for repairs of premises and equipment;
• acquisition of land, buildings, vehicles;
• debts and provisions to cover losses and debts;
• payment of interest;
• debts of third parties;
• international business trips
• hospitality.

7. PROCEDURE FOR SUBMITTING PROJECT PROPOSALS AND OBTAINING ADVICE DURING THE PREPARATION OF PROJECT PROPOSALS

Application package consists of the following:

1) Full application form (filled in MS Word format, *.docx / *.doc);

2) Project budget (in Excel format, *.xlsx / *.xls);

3) Appendices - scanned copies of the following documents (*.pdf):

- Extract from the USREOU

- Non-profit certificate

- Bank account certificate

- Copy of the CSO’s Charter

- Project manager resume (by the template)

- Project accountant resume (by the template)

- Letter of support from the LSGA or MCAs (by the template)

- Document on cooperation (partnership), etc. between the applicant and the project implementation partner, indicating the amount of co-financing of the project and the distribution of responsibilities for the project

- Report on the use of revenues (profits) of a non-profit organization for the previous year for CSOs established before 2021

- Training programs, if provided by the project

- Project budget

4) Completed Capacity Assessment Checklist (CACHE) and supporting documents thereto.

5) A letter of support from the local self-government body or the MCA on support for the implementation of the project in the territory of the community.

One CSO can submit more than one application but can receive funding only for the implementation of one project.

Organizations submitting project proposals must complete the online application form (paragraph 1) and submit the full application package (paragraphs 2-5) above, to the e-mail address grants.ua@undp.org, indicating the subject of the message: SGP_UN_RPP_2_2022_Services_Name of organisation.

The full application package must be submitted by 23:59 7^th of August 2022. The application package (paragraphs 2-5) must be sent by one letter in the archive (*.rar), the size of which must not exceed 15 Mb.

If CSO submits several applications for this Call for Proposals, each application must be submitted in a separate e-mail.

Received project proposals will be checked for compliance with the requirements of the call, and those that meet the requirements will be submitted for consideration by the Selection Committee.

Project proposals received after the deadline will not be considered.

To receive answers to questions that may arise during the preparation of project proposals under this call for proposals, please contact grants.ua@undp.org with the message subject SGP_UN_RPP_2_2022_Services: information request. Responses to questions received will be provided in writing within 1-2 working days.

Nota Bene:

● The materials submitted for the call are not returned and not reviewed.

● The results of the call will be communicated to applicants via e-mail.

● The final decision on the project or proposal is not subject to review.

● Reasons for project rejection or support will not be communicated.

● Applications submitted after the deadline or not in full (application form, appendices, budget) will not be considered.

8. PROJECT PROPOSAL EVALUATION

8.1. The evaluation of project proposals consists of several stages.

Stage 1: Evaluation of the submitted project proposals by the Grant Selection Committee. At this stage, the submitted project proposals are evaluated according to the established evaluation criteria. Project proposals that get less than 70 points of the total score will be rejected. Proposals requiring further improvement in accordance with the recommendations of the Grant Selection Committee will be returned for revision with a relevant deadline set for the submission of the updated proposal.

Stage 2: UNDP reserves the right to conduct the defence of grant applications by the CSO team before final approval of the winning projects' proposals recommended by the Grant Selection Committee for support.

The Grant Selection Committee will be composed of the representatives of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme in accordance with their key areas of work, and other experts involved. In addition, the Grant Selection Committee will have the right to seek an independent expert opinion during the selection process, as well as the opinion of local authorities from the territory where the project activities will take place.

8.2. Project evaluation criteria:

	Summarised form for the technical proposal evaluation	Maximum score
1.	Compliance with the subject and priorities of the call (the submitted application is fully consistent with the subject and priorities — 25 points; the application partially complies with the subject and priorities — 15 points; the application does not comply with the subject and priorities of the call — 0 points)	25
2.	Specificity, feasibility and effectiveness of the project’s planned measures (the project’s planned measures are specific — 5 points, feasible — 10 points, and effective — 10 points, measures do not meet the above conditions — 0 points)	25
3.	Ability of the applicant organization to successfully implement the project with provided resources and in a timely manner (the applicant organization has necessary experience and resources for successful implementation — 20 points; the applicant organization partially has necessary experience and resources for successful implementation — 15 points; the applicant organization has no necessary experience and resources for successful implementation — 0 points)	20
4.	Relevance of planned costs and required resources relative to the expected results (the financial proposal is reasonable and adheres to the “highest quality at the lowest price” approach — 15 points; the financial proposal requires revision and/or cost reduction — 10 points; the financial proposal is not reasonable — 0 points)	15
5.	The level of competence (specialized education, work experience) of the project staff (involved staff has the appropriate level of competence – 10 points, does not have the necessary level of competence – 0 points)	10
6.	The project is explicitly targeting displaced institutions, NGOs or populations from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (the project is explicitly targeting displaced institutions, CSOs or people from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts - 5 points; the project is focused on other target groups - 0 points)	5
	Total Score	100

 

9. REPORTING, MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF GRANT PROJECTS

9.1. Monitoring and Evaluation

The grant recipient is responsible for monitoring project implementation and evaluation of the results thereof. The United Nations Development Programme will monitor implementation of the grant project through the grant recipient's reports, meetings with project staff, their partners and beneficiaries, monitoring visits, and participation in project activities.

9.2. Reporting

The Grant recipient will submit reports in the format specified by the United Nations Development Programme:

• interim reports, including description of the activities and results as per the agreed monitoring indicators and the financial component (to be clarified within the framework of the respective grant agreement);
• on-demand summary reports that may be required by UNDP from time to time when information about the grant project is required between regular reports;
• a final report, which will include description of the activities and results, as well as a financial report for the entire period of the grant agreement.

The activities under the grant agreement shall be carried out in accordance with the norms, rules, policies and procedures of the UN Development Program. The instructions on the implementation of grant projects can be found through this link.

10. FINANCING

The grantee organization will receive an advance payment for the planned activities under the grant agreement. The amount of advance and subsequent payments will be specified in the grant agreement. This amount will be determined individually based on the total grant amount, type of activity, etc. The subsequent tranches will be disbursed upon receipt and approval by the UNDP of the organization’s interim reports.

Nota bene! The final tranche will be disbursed to the grantee organization upon 100% completion of project reporting, including confirmation of all financial transactions.