CFPs: Inclusive Recovery Support for Resilience and Human Security in Ukraine

Deadline: 11-May-25

The present Call for Proposals (CfP) is administered by UNDP projects Inclusive Recovery Support for Resilience and Human Security in Ukraine and Civil Society and Youth Support, which are part of the UNDP Democratic Governance and Inclusive Social Fabric Programme.

Through this Programme, UNDP assists the government, civil society, and people of Ukraine in advancing democratic policies and practices needed to accelerate progress on sustainable human development. This includes advocating for human rights and gender equality, promoting active civic participation, strengthening social cohesion, supporting anti-corruption efforts, ensuring that all Ukrainian citizens can protect their rights, strengthening parliament, and empowering civil society and youth activists.

Objectives

Through this CfP, UNDP would like to achieve the following objectives:
- UNDP seeks to engage civil society organizations to address human rights challenges in Ukraine and strengthen the capacities of national actors in the evidence-based investigation and processing of human rights violations, war crimes, and conflict-related crimes, including CRSV and property loss.
- The CfP also aims to support the provision of legal services to war-affected populations and promote transparency and accountability within the justice system.
- Additionally, the UNDP aims to identify and partner with experienced civil society organizations to support initiatives that strengthen social cohesion, foster civic engagement, and enhance governmental response through the development and implementation of comprehensive communication strategies.

Lots

Lot 1: Strengthening capacities of national actors in evidence-based investigation, processing of and addressing war-related human rights violations, war crime cases, including CRSV crimes.
- Activities under this Lot will focus on strengthening the institutional frameworks and core infrastructure of national judicial and law enforcement bodies to enhance their capacity in receiving, communicating with, and interviewing survivors and witnesses of serious crimes. The initial focus will be on supporting survivors of war crimes and other conflict-related human rights violations, including CRSV, with the potential to expand to broader support and protection for victims, survivors, and witnesses of all violent crimes.
- This approach aims to enable a survivor-centered and gender-sensitive criminal justice process that prevents re-traumatization and secondary victimization while promoting the protection of survivors’ rights—including access to justice, remedy, and fair trial guarantees—as well as the rights of other participants in criminal proceedings.
Lot 2: Strengthening the capacity of national justice actors in the provision of services to war-affected populations and monitoring transparency and accountability to facilitate access to justice
- Lot 2 of the CfP supports civil society organizations in strengthening the capacities of national justice actors to deliver justice services and engage with survivors and witnesses in a survivor-centered and gender-sensitive manner. The overarching goal is to facilitate access to justice and ensure that support services are more accessible, responsive, and tailored to the needs of particularly vulnerable groups—including highly traumatized victims, survivors of conflict-related or gender-based sexual violence, children, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and others.
- In addition, this Lot aims to promote the monitoring of transparency and accountability of courts to build public trust and enhance the accessibility and responsiveness of the justice system. These efforts are expected to contribute to a more open, people-centered justice system aligned with international standards.
- Regarding Lots 1 and 2, 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.
- Proposed activities under CSO projects may include:
  - Capacity development and training for justice sector actors on people-centered, trauma-informed approaches;
  - Monitoring and reporting on human rights, transparency, and accountability;
  - Developing coordination mechanisms to enhance inter-agency collaboration;
  - Providing support services for victims and witnesses;
  - Delivering legal and social services to war-affected populations;
  - Conducting public awareness and advocacy campaigns to strengthen the national legal framework for investigating and prosecuting human rights violations and war crimes;
  - Enhancing coordination between justice institutions, legal aid providers, and civil society;
  - Strengthening outreach and communication to improve public awareness of available justice services.
Lot 3: Strengthening social cohesion through strategic communication
- The primary focus of this lot is to support CSOs that are promoting resilience and social cohesion in the context of the ongoing war or contributing to the strengthening of governmental institutions’ capacities in these areas through the development and implementation of comprehensive communication strategies.
- Therefore, this CfP supports the activities of CSOs aimed at contributing to:
  - Strengthening social cohesion by promoting active civic participation;
  - Enhancing the capacity of governmental institutions on various social cohesion-related topics through targeted CSO support;
  - Supporting the development of comprehensive communication strategies aimed at enhancing social cohesion and societal resilience;
  - Promoting inclusive governance and democratic values at the local and national levels;
  - Conducting awareness-raising or advocacy campaigns that promote community resilience and social cohesion.
Lot 4: Strengthening practice for community-based social, health, inclusive education, rehabilitation, and assistive technology services for war-affected populations, including EO-victims, persons with disabilities and veterans within the framework of EO Victims Assistance Model
- This CfP supports the activities of civil society organisations aimed at contributing to:
  - conducting a needs assessment to identify the gaps in existing services;
  - enhancing capacity of the local providers of social, health, MHPSS, rehabilitation, and inclusive education services through equipment procurement, training, and advisory support;
  - ensuring accessibility of local entities and information /communication systems, emergency alarms;
  - developing and introducing an efficient system for the provision of psychological support services for war-affected populations;
  - enhancing the capacity of local stakeholders to provide social support under job placement and adaptation on a workplace of war-affected populations, including people with disabilities and veterans;
  - introducing services on the adaptation of living and working environments for people with disabilities caused by the war;
  - developing and implementing the new community-based service targeted on war-affected population; improve access of the population to social, medical services and rehabilitation;
  - implementating programmes targeted at rehabilitation through adaptive sports;
  - developing and implementing the peer-to-peer programmes for veterans and people with disabilities:
  - developing assistive technology services in local communities.

Thematic Areas

To maximise positive results on transformational recovery, the project interventions will focus on the following thematic areas for the project outputs, which are:
- Output 3. Mine action and war victim assistance: Capacities of mine action authorities, local communities, and service providers expanded to protect the population affected by war, including veterans, and secure a safe environment for people’s living and socio-economic activities
- This Output is aimed at enhancing national mine action policies and building institutional capacity through bilateral and triangular cooperation and knowledge exchange with mine-affected states and Japanese institutions. This includes policy advice, technical training, and equipping national institutions to align where practical with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) and assist sustainable progress in mine action.
- Output 5. Government recovery coordination: Integrity, transparency, and accountability of government mechanisms and processes for crisis management and inclusive recovery strengthened at both national and sub-national levels, empowering citizen participation and engagement, including vulnerable groups, youth, veterans, and women.
- Under this Output, UNDP provides support to the Government in enhancing multi-level governance collaboration and policy dialogue in the recovery and regional development process. This Output aims to ensure that national recovery and regional development priorities are effectively integrated into regional and local policies, decisions, and projects. It also focuses on strengthening information resilience and building the capacity to counter disinformation across Ukraine by developing the strategic communication skills of government officials and empowering civil society. The aim is to foster trust between the population and the government and to empower communities — particularly through women-led initiatives and support for vulnerable groups.
- Output 6: Access to justice and human rights: Enhanced accessibility, inclusiveness, and accountability of the justice system and human rights mechanisms through strengthened, people-centered, and gender-sensitive approaches, with a focus on war-affected and vulnerable populations.
- This Output falls within UNDP’s broader efforts to advance human rights and access to justice. Building on its established partnerships and expertise, UNDP will support both urgent wartime justice needs and long-term institutional reforms. Activities will focus on promoting transparency in justice and law enforcement and strengthening the capacity of national actors to respond effectively to the needs of affected populations. Key counterparts: Office of the Prosecutor General, Ombudsperson’s Office, Free Legal Aid Coordination Center, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and National Police.

Approach

The project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and takes a three-dimensional approach:
- Strengthening civil society organizations, including youth groups—particularly at the subnational level—to enable active civil society participation in enhancing Ukraine’s resilience, sustainable recovery, and development processes.
- Supporting the creation of a more enabling policy environment for CSOs and strengthening the national youth infrastructure.
- Empowering young Ukrainians to actively participate in the country’s recovery by developing their skills in good citizenship and leadership.

Funding Information

It is envisioned that the budget within the project proposal should be no more than
- Lots 1 and 2 – up to USD 100,000.
- All grants under Lots 1 and 2 should envision completion by 15th February 2026.
- Lot 3 – up to USD 75,000.
- All grants under Lot 3 should envision completion by November 2025.
- Lot 4 – up to USD 50,000.
- In exceptional cases and if confirmed by the Grant Selection Committee, the supported project may be up to USD 70,000 (strong justification is required from the applicant).
- All grants should envision completion by 15th February 2026.

Eligibility Criteria

Participants of the competition
- The CfP will not accept proposals from for-profit entities, political parties, state authorities, local governments, faith-based organisations, or religious communities, as well as from private individuals and entrepreneurs.
- For Lots 1, 2 and 4:
  - 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.
- For Lot 3:
  - 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 four years. To be considered for funding, the proposal must be submitted by an organisation that:
    - has a track record of active operation of at least four years;
    - has a proven track record of cooperation with the international donor community, proper project implementation, and reporting.
Geographic locations:
- For the activities under this CfP, UNDP will accept applications for all oblasts of Ukraine.