BACKGROUND

The present Call for Proposals (CfP) is administered by the UNDP “Transformational Recovery for Human Security in Ukraine” Project. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February 2022 continues to have profound and far-reaching consequences on civilian lives and regional stability. The war has caused unprecedented social and economic disruptions, internal and external displacement, and a breakdown in public service delivery. In response to this multifaceted crisis, UNDP, with support from the Government of Japan, has launched the project “Transformational Recovery for Human Security in Ukraine” to bring transformational recovery and promote human security by undertaking immediate actions against multidimensional threats that Ukraine is currently facing. To maximise positive results on transformational recovery, the project interventions will focus on the following 6 priority thematic areas:

Output 1 (Infrastructure restoration): Critical infrastructures and facilities restored to meet immediate needs to provide essential public services and establish enabling conditions for transformational recovery.

Output 2 (Mine action & Victim Assistance): Capacities of mine action authorities and emergency service responders expanded to protect the civilian population from mine/explosive ordnances and secure a safe environment for people’s living and socio-economic activities.

Output 3 (Debris removal and recycling): Debris, waste, and environmentally hazardous materials cleared and dangerous damaged structures safely demolished for the swift reconstruction of housing and public socio-economic facilities.

Output 4 (Economic revitalization):  Local economy revitalised by strengthening and expanding the private sector in targeted sectors through immediate response solutions in developing capabilities, improving employability, and enhancing business-enabling conditions.

Output 5 (Government Recovery Coordination): Integrity and transparency of government mechanisms and processes for crisis management and recovery process strengthened at both national and local levels.

Output 6 (Access to justice and human rights): Capacities of national and local state and non-state actors enhanced to promote human rights and ensure access to justice for all people, with a focus on IDPs and vulnerable groups.

The ongoing full-scale war continues to negatively impact the national justice and administrative system, human rights, and individuals’ access to justice. Judicial institutions and justice providers also face significant pressure due to conflict-related legal issues and public demand for legal services. The human rights situation is dire amid the ongoing conflict — particularly in areas of ongoing military hostilities and territories under the control of the Russian Federation — resulting in a wide range of violations affecting both civilians and combatants. 

Support under Output 6 will be provided for justice reform, particularly quality legal aid, strengthening capacities of police, prosecutors, and judges, as well as a comprehensive and long-term national victim support programme will be required to improve access to justice at the national and community levels. The impact of such interventions will have an effect in short and long-term perspectives given that addressing immediate needs will help build systems and frameworks for the future.

The support under Output 6 will also enhance access to justice and human rights protection that will be enabling and people-centred both in time of the current conflict and in its aftermath, and to support development and operationalization of transitional justice mechanisms of prosecution for war crimes and reparations, in line with international standards. 

Through this CfP, UNDP would like to engage civil society organizations (CSOs) to respond to human rights challenges in Ukraine and strengthen the capacity of national actors in evidence-based investigation and processing of human rights violations, war crime cases, CRSV crimes, and armed conflict-related property loss and claims, as well as provision of legal services to the war-affected population. 

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE COMPETITION: 

The CSO project proposals should aim to enhance the capacity of national actors such as the Prosecutor General's Office, the National Police of Ukraine, the system of providing free legal aid, the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and others. 

The CSO project's suggested activities may include:

• Training and capacity development
• Human rights documentation and reporting
• Develop coordination mechanisms to facilitate communication and collaboration between different agencies
• Victim and witness support
• Provision of services to war-affected population
• Public awareness and advocacy to strengthen the national legal framework for investigating and prosecuting human rights violations and war crimes
• Etc.

Lot 1: Strengthening capacities of the national actors in evidence-based investigation, processing of and addressing war related human rights violations, war crime cases, including CRSV crimes.

Lot 1 of the CfP supports the activities of CSOs aimed at contributing to operationalization of transitional justice mechanisms of prosecution for war crimes in line with international standards, strengthening legal and institutional frameworks for addressing human rights violations and war crimes, including CRSV.

Activities under this Lot shall foresee strengthening institutional setting and key institutional infrastructure of the national judicial and law enforcement institutions in order to increase their effectiveness in receiving, communicating with, and interviewing survivors and witnesses of serious crimes. The preliminary focus should be on provision of support to survivors of war crimes and other conflict related human rights violations, including CRSV, that can be further scaled up to provision support and protection to victims, survivors and witnesses of all violent crimes, in line with international standards, and in particular in accordance with 2012 EU Directive on establishing the minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime (The Victims’ Rights Directive). That will create conditions for survivor-centered and gender-sensitive criminal justice process that avoids re-traumatisation and secondary victimisation, enhances protection of survivors’’ human rights, including access to justice and remedy and fair trial rights, as well as rights of other participants in criminal proceeding. By resulting, i.a., in the effect of encouraging and facilitating victims’ and witnesses’ participation in criminal proceedings and their readiness to give statements and testify, it will increase the overall efficiency of criminal justice process. 

Lot 2: Strengthening the capacity of national justice actors in provision of services to war-affected population to facilitate access to justice

Lot 2 of the CfP supports activities of CSOs aimed at strengthening capacities of the national justice actors to provide justice services, to communicate and to work with survivors and witnesses in a survivor-centred and gender sensitive manner. The overall goal of this Lot is to facilitate access to justice and ensure that the support services are more accessible and adapted to especially vulnerable groups (highly traumatized victims, survivors of conflict-related or gender based sexual violence, children, people with disabilities, elderly, and other). Activities under this Lot should ensure practical realization for:

• Survivor-centred approach: to create a supportive environment in which the survivor’s rights and wishes are respected, their safety is ensured, an environment enabling their participation is provided, and they are treated with dignity and respect.
• Do No Harm: Considering the gravity of the crimes of CRSV, as well as witnessing mass atrocities against their families, friends and communities, particular attention will be given to avoiding re-traumatization and countering stigmatisation, while taking into consideration prevalent cultural environments and norms.
• Adherence to international standards and best practices: UN and other international standards in regard to redress for International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law violations, as well as international strategies, best practices, and lessons learned in respect to CRSV.
• Conflict sensitivity: In this environment, no intervention is conflict-neutral, meaning that the project’s activities, regardless of their intended aims, will almost certainly impact positively or negatively on the conflict dynamics. For this reason, all project steps will be built upon the conflict analysis, analysis of the project interaction with the conflict dynamics, and planning to maximise positive and minimise negative effects. At all stages, the said analyses will be performed through a gender lens. 

3. PARTICIPANTS OF THE COMPETITION:

Have the status of a non-governmental public or charitable organization, civic union, or association of CSO/NGOs officially registered in Ukraine for no less than a year and/or have a proven record of implementation of similar projects with the support of international donors or technical assistance projects. The contest does not provide grants to profit organizations, political parties, state authorities, local governments, religious communities, private (physical) individuals, and entrepreneurs.

3.1. Eligible organizations

The parameters that will determine whether a CSO or NGO is eligible to be considered for funding by UNDP will be based on the Capacity Assessment Checklist CACHE (Annex 5).

3.2. Geographic locations:

For the activities under Lots 1, and 2, UNDP will accept applications for all oblasts of Ukraine.

4. COMPETITION STAGES:

Stage I – Submission of project proposal concepts according to the following structure:

●          name of the applying organization and the proposed name of the project;

●          contact details, including email and phone number of the project coordinator;

●          priority area(s)

●          main goal(s) and objectives;

●          preliminary list of activities to achieve the goal(s);

●          quantitative (the number of direct and indirect beneficiaries, including EO victims, persons with disabilities, patients, services recipients, the population of EO affected communities, etc.).  and qualitative expected results,

●          partners;

●          the implementation timeframe;

●          estimated total budget without details.

Project concepts are to be submitted in an arbitrary form, no more than 2 А4 pages in total. The grant competition will be conducted on a rolling basis, with the first round of concepts submitted no later than 2 weeks after the announcement of the competition. All concepts submitted after the initial deadline will be reviewed on a monthly basis until the budget for grants is fully allocated. The concepts are being screened and analyzed by the Project team against the eligibility criteria and CfP relevance.

Stage II – Submission of the project proposals

The selected organizations will be invited to submit finalized project proposals based on the review of results and preliminary evaluation of the concepts. The applying organization will have up to a week to submit the completed project proposal.

The CSOs to be recommended for awarding grant support will be chosen based on the evaluation results of the project proposals by the Grant Selection Committee. UNDP will conclude grant agreements with those finalists that will be recommended for funding.

5. BUDGET AND ALLOWED EXPENSES:

Eligible costs must:

• be necessary for carrying out the project activities;
• have been incurred by the applicant during the implementation period;
• comply with the principles of sound financial management, in particular, value for money and cost-effectiveness;
• be adequately recorded, identifiable and verifiable, and be backed by original supporting documents.
• communication and information services;
• purchase of consultative services and contracts provided that these are essential to project goals and objectives;
• procurement of equipment for emergency medical assistance, healthcare services, telemedicine, rehabilitation, psychological support, social services provision, prosthetics workshops, inclusive education institutions, accessible sports, leisure, and culture; 
• procurement of vehicles for emergency medical assistance, mobile rehabilitation, and social services provision; 
• procurement of equipment and small-scale repairs for ensuring accessibility and barrier-free public places, administrative buildings, and services; 
• procurement of assistive devices and prosthetics items;
• renting, catering, and other services envisaged by the project activities;
• printing and copying;
• audio, video production costs: 
• placement and promotion in a media:
• utility services;
• consumables and supplies;
• travel costs (provided that travel complies with internal UNDP regulations).

UNDP LVG costs may only be used to cover the following costs:

• staff salaries and expert fees;

Not more than 75% of the grant funds may be spent of equipment, provided a clear justification is offered as to its need to achieve project goals. 

The following costs are ineligible:

• costs of project proposal preparation;
• academic research;
• debts;

• currency exchange losses.

   

6. FINANCIAL CONDITIONS AND TERMS OF IMPLEMENTATION:

It is envisioned that the budget within the project proposal should be no more than USD  150,000.

Not more than 75% of the grant funds may be spent on equipment, provided a clear justification for its need to achieve project goals.

All grants under Lots 1,2, should envision completion by 1^st February 2025.

The grant tranches are paid by UNDP in advance, except for the last tranche. The last tranche, with a minimum amount of at least 10% of the total grant budget amount, should be covered by the CSOs' own funds. After successfully processing the final financial report, UNDP will compensate the eligible expenses incurred under the third tranche.

7. SUBMISSION PROCEDURE:

The CFPs will be advertised through the websites of the following organizations:

• UNDP Ukraine: www.undp.org.ua and its Facebook page
• as well as other relevant social networks and information portals.

Applications (project proposals) must be developed in Ukrainian according to templates that will be part of the CfP.

The application package shall consist of

1. The filled-out Application form (done on a computer as a Microsoft Word file);
2. Copy of Charter of the applicant organization (PDF);
3. Copy of State registration certificate (PDF);
4. Banking details (PDF);
5. Resumes of proposed specialists for project implementation (Microsoft Word or PDF)
6. Self-assessment form (template will be provided, PDF) 
7. Supporting letter from appropriate beneficiaries;
8. Other relevant supporting documentation, including reference letters, report samples, or others (Microsoft Word or PDF).
   • The Project team screens LVG project proposals against the eligibility criteria and CfP relevance;

The document package shall be archived as *.zip or *.rar and not password-protected; it shall not be larger than 35 Mb in total. The package shall be sent to the designated e-mail with the letter title containing the name of the competition as stated in the CFP. Applications sent through means other than the one described above will not be considered.

Concepts of the project proposals are submitted in Ukrainian and sent by e-mail to: grants.ua@undp.org and olena.kryvko@undp.org, specifying in the subject line the title of the competition “Responding human rights and access to justice challenges in Ukraine”. Please also fill in the obligatory Microsoft form for the submission.

Contact persons:

Kseniia Semorkina kseniia.semorkina@undp.org 

Olena Kryvko  olena.kryvko@undp.org 

8. SELECTION PROCESS

8.1. Assessment procedures

To ensure full transparency and equity in the process, UNDP forms a Grant Selection Committee (GSC) to appraise the proposals that have made it through the first stage. The GSC is a temporary authorized body responsible for considering, selecting, and recommending funding proposals. The GSC may decide to request an additional independent expert opinion during the selection process.

The LVG proposal assessment process will follow this sequence:

• The Grant Selection Committee convenes and reviews all eligible LVG full project proposals based on evaluation criteria and recommends those that have gained the biggest number of points for concluding the agreements. In addition, the Partner Capacity Assessment Tool (PCAT) will be utilized to assess the capacity of the applicants and their potential to implement the grants proposed, including screening on anti-money laundering issues and PSEA capacity. Pre-selected applicants will also be obliged to provide the project team with certificates confirming PSEA Training completion (UNDP will provide the link) for all applicants’ staff);
• Based on the capacity assessment results of the short-listed CSOs, the Project team submits the Grant Selection Committee minutes (list of CSOs recommended for funding) for approval;
• UNDP concludes grant agreements with the CSOs.

8.2. Criteria for the assessment of proposals

The GSC shall assess the proposals in accordance with the following criteria:

9. REPORTING, MONITORING AND EVALUATION

9.1. Monitoring and evaluation, frameworks for project implementation

The Grantee is responsible for monitoring project implementation and evaluating its results. UNDP will monitor the project through Grantee reports, online consultations, site visits, meetings with project personnel and stakeholders, and participation in project events.

9.2. Reporting

The Grantee shall submit the following reports according to UNDP format:

• Interim reports, including description of activities, results, and agreed monitoring indicators, as well as financial reports – depending on the length of the project proposed (to be specified in the relevant agreement);
• Brief reports on demand occasionally requested by UNDP in cases when information on Programme implementation is required in between reporting periods;
• A Completion report, including a summary of activities and results and a financial report for the agreement's total duration.

ANNEXES

Annex 1

Annexes 2, 3, 4

Annex 5

Annex 6