Grant for the development of Community Sustainability Centers

Deadline: 31-Aug-23

The United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) announces a grant for the development of community sustainability centers in kamianske, dnipropetrovsk region and kremenchuk, poltava region.

This Announcement provides information for non-governmental organizations operating in Ukraine regarding the call for proposals announced by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine for the development of physical and institutional infrastructure with the aim of involving civil society in recovery processes through the creation of community sustainability centers; it also provides explanations on the procedure for submitting project proposals. The announcement contains criteria for meeting the requirements of the call for proposals, explains the process of submitting and selecting project proposals, as well as criteria for evaluating projects that must be selected based on the results of this call for proposals.

UNDP and the United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine (UNFPA) within the framework of the “EU4Recovery — Community Empowerment in Ukraine” (EU4Recovery) project, with the financial support of the European Union, are jointly implementing a specific initiative, namely: the creation of community resilience centers (CSRs).

The activities of CJH cover a wide range of youth programs led by UNFPA, including ProSkills, promoting the development of future communication skills and strategies for overcoming war-related trauma among adolescents; youth forums; initiatives to support the development of the potential of youth non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as the implementation of youth projects. The CJH will also pay special attention to activities aimed at families, taking into account the current social context of Ukraine. For example, depending on the conditions in the target community, activities may include UNFPA best practices and resilience-building activities, with a particular focus on displaced families; families separated by war; families who lost their loved ones; families of veterans, etc.

Components

Within this component, the selected organization must perform the following tasks:
- Development of the community security component of the CJH model
  - The project team should develop a comprehensive community safety component of the LHC model (e.g, collaboration between the community and security service providers using the LHC platform). The concept should encompass various dimensions of cooperation and programmatic activities that may involve security service providers and other partners that will implement activities to raise awareness, cooperation and develop skills among male and female community members, including youth, IDPs, veterans, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. This component will be based on facilitating improved relations and mutual understanding between key stakeholders.
- Creation of educational programs and materials
  - An integral part of the methodology will be a training program, which should include the aspects described in the previous section, including the basic skills needed by community representatives to work effectively with security service providers. The training program should ensure that after its completion, the participants will have the appropriate skills and ability to increase the level of safety in the community.
- Facilitation of classes and educational events
  - The organization will lead/provide the organization of training activities developed during the previous phase. The project team is expected to develop, organize and implement a comprehensive training course consisting of several interrelated topics. Such a training course should be holistic, meeting the needs of both community members and security/other service providers, and covering all the necessary areas of knowledge and skills for effective collaboration.
- Monitoring and evaluation of project results
  - The organization will monitor and evaluate the project, which will include the collection of data on the performance of tasks, the assessment of the achieved indicators and the assessment of the impact on the target groups. Such results of monitoring and evaluation will provide an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the project and make the necessary adjustments to achieve the set goals.
- Coverage of the content and results of the activities of the involved groups
  - Information can be provided through local and regional mass media, official websites of local self-government bodies, other information resources (in particular, social networks).
  - The overall goal of the project is to expand the rights and opportunities of community members and to strengthen community security in the context of post-war reconstruction. The renovation of the center will provide a favorable environment for learning and social interaction, and will also be a significant contribution to the development of the social infrastructure of the community.

Duration

The duration of the project is up to 12 months.
The planned start of project implementation is September 2023.

Expected Results

Accelerated Youth Empowerment: The project will empower youth by providing them with leadership, communication and conflict resolution skills. Such skills are useful not only for dealing with security service providers, but also for personal and professional development in general.
An established model of cooperation: a significant result will be the development of a reliable model of cooperation between community representatives (including youth, IDPs, veterans, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups) and community security service providers. Such a model, based on a clear implementation methodology, can be replicated in other similar contexts.
Increased Community Safety: Greater cooperation between the community and security service providers will significantly increase community safety. Youth, who are the powerhouse of any community, can play an important role in keeping their communities safe, if properly guided and trained.
Restoration of community infrastructure: renovation of the youth center and installation of necessary equipment will provide a favorable environment for learning and social interaction, and will also significantly contribute to the development of the social infrastructure of the community.
Successful implementation of the training program: A significant result will be the development and implementation of a comprehensive training program that will provide for the mastery of key skills, as well as lay the foundation for future training initiatives.

Eligibility Criteria

Public or charitable organizations that will submit project proposals under this competition must meet the following mandatory requirements:
- be officially registered with the status of a legal entity in the controlled territory of Ukraine;
- have the status of a non-profit or charitable organization;
- have work experience of three years or more in accordance with the subject of the competition (in the field of social cohesion, support of social initiatives, empowerment of youth, integration of IDPs, gender equality, raising public awareness of the rights and needs of veterans and other vulnerable population groups, assistance to victims of gender conditioned violence, etc.);
- have proven experience of implementing at least three projects and reporting on them;
- have appropriate specialists and project personnel for its implementation (project manager, financial specialist/accountant, local coordinators and other specialists according to the needs of the project);
- have experience in implementing projects with an infrastructure component;
- experience of cooperation with international organizations is an additional advantage.
The personnel involved in the implementation of the project must meet the following requirements:
- the project team should at least consist of a project manager (responsible for the overall coordination of project implementation and submission of relevant reports to the UN Development Program), an accountant (responsible for keeping accounting and financial reporting) and persons directly involved in project implementation;
- higher education in pedagogy, sociology, economics, public administration, social sciences or other related fields for the project manager, higher education of other team members;
- experience of working with civil society for at least five years (for the project manager), proven practical experience of working with youth projects will be a significant advantage;
- knowledge of languages — fluency in the Ukrainian language;
- the accountant must have a higher education (related to accounting) or work experience in the field of accounting for at least three years;
- willingness to implement all rules and regulations of cooperation proposed by international partners.
Territories of the competition, requirements for registration and experience of organizations:
- The project, which will be implemented with the funds of this grant competition, is planned for implementation on the territory of Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions.
- Only public organizations that are registered and carry out their activities in the relevant areas are allowed to participate.

For more information, visit UNDP.