Deadline: 15-Jan-24
This call for grants is launched within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening judicial and non-judicial remedies for the human rights protection of the war-affected people in Ukraine”.
It aims to co-fund national, regional, local projects aimed at strengthening the capacities of public entities to provide legal support to the war-affected people in Ukraine.
The Project aims at improving access to justice, human rights protection, and information for the war-affected people in line with Council of Europe standards and good practices.
In particular, it aims to:
- improve the national legal framework and data collection on effective remedies for the war-affected people in line with Council of Europe human rights and rule of law standards;
- strengthen judicial remedies and facilitate access to legal aid for the war-affected people in conformity with European human rights standards and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights;
- strengthen access to non-judicial human rights restoration mechanisms for the war-affected people.
General Objective
- The grants will fund projects designed to:
- strengthen the capacities of the target stakeholders to provide legal support to the war-affected people in Ukraine;
- implement awareness raising campaigns on access to rights and remedies for the war-affected people.
- The projects should be focused on the government-controlled areas and communities across Ukraine, including de-occupied territories.
Further to the general objective, preference will be given to:
- Projects/actions involving the target stakeholders who suffered destruction, damage, displacement or relocation;
- Projects/actions improving and advancing the quality of services provided by the target stakeholders;
- Projects/actions causing a prompt practical effect for the final beneficiaries, i.e, vulnerable individuals and groups of the war-affected people;
- Projects/actions involving local authorities and promoting sustainable budgeting for legal services to the war-affected people at local level;
- Projects/actions involving local authorities and compensation commissions and strengthening capacities of the target stakeholders to implement programmes on compensation for housing damage caused by the aggression against Ukraine;
- Projects/actions integrating and promoting the Council of Europe standards;
- Projects/actions that are focused on raising awareness of the final beneficiaries, i.e, vulnerable individuals and groups of the war-affected people on access to rights and remedies;
- Projects/actions aimed at raising awareness on access to education and implementation of the right to education in Ukraine targeting young war-affected people including Internally Displaced Persons and youth from the temporary occupied territories of Ukraine.
Funding Information
- The indicative available budget under this call for proposals is 75,000€ (seventy-five thousand Euros). The Council of Europe intends to award up to 4 grants of up to 25,000€ (twenty-five thousand Euros) each.
Implementation Period
- The implementation period of the projects should start on 1 March 2024 and shall not extend beyond 30 September 2024.
- Reporting requirements shall be completed on 15 October 2024 at the latest
Target Stakeholders
- Projects should target in particular the following key stakeholders:
- legal aid bureaus, free legal aid centres and independent providers of legal aid;
- Coordination Centres for the Support of the Civilian Population under regional, Kyiv and Sevastopol city state (military) administrations; and
- the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, other state, and non-state entities with a focus on awareness raising and informational campaigns for the war-affected people.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible for a grant, an applicant must:
- be legally constituted as a non-governmental organisation;
- be entitled to carry out in Ukraine activities described in its project proposal;
- have been active for at least 6 (six) months since its registration in the field related to the war-affected people matters in Ukraine;
- have sufficient financial capacity (stable and sufficient sources of funding) to maintain its activity throughout the period for which the grant is awarded and to participate by way of its own resources (including human resources or in-kind contributions);
- have sufficient operational and professional capacity, including staff, to carry out activities described in its project proposal;
- have a bank account.
- Multiple applications are not allowed and shall lead to the exclusion of all applications concerned.
Ineligible
- Applicants shall be excluded from the grant award procedure where they or, in the case of legal persons, their owner(s) or executive officer(s):
- have been sentenced by final judgment on one or more of the following charges: participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, child labour or trafficking in human beings;
- are in a situation of bankruptcy, liquidation, termination of activity, insolvency or arrangement with creditors or any like situation arising from a procedure of the same kind, or are subject to a procedure of the same kind;
- have received a judgement with res judicata force, finding an offence that affects their professional integrity or constitutes a serious professional misconduct;
- do not comply with their obligations as regards payment of social security contributions, taxes and dues, according to the statutory provisions of the country where they are established;
- are an entity created to circumvent tax, social or other legal obligations (empty shell company), have ever created or are in the process of creation of such an entity;
- have been involved in mismanagement of the Council of Europe funds or public funds.
For more information, visit Council of Europe.