Deadline: 10 September 2018
The Program “Human Rights and Justice” which is jointly prepared by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) are seeking applications for a program entitled “Strengthening the Legal Capacity of Local Communities”.
The policy of decentralization of power sets new challenges for local self-government. At the same time, new needs and opportunities for addressing problems in local communities arise. Accessibility and prioritization of legal ways of resolving disputes and conflicts is a prerequisite for eliminating non-legal practices and effective implementation of reforms at the level of local communities.
The purpose of the competition is to strengthen the ability of local communities to address their development issues in a legal way..
Priorities
- stationary, outgoing and distance provision of primary legal aid (legal information, legal advice), registration and accounting of services provided, public reporting;
- introduction of a systemic approach to community development through monitoring of local problems and development of development priorities, expert support of such processes by civil society organizations;
- support for systematic cooperation with local governments on the dissemination of best practices in creating and supporting community-based models for providing free primary legal aid in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Free Legal Aid”, “Model Provision on Provision of Primary Legal Aid” and “Procedure and criteria for the involvement of local self-government bodies of private law entities in providing free primary legal aid “;
- development and strengthening of the institutional capacity of civil society organizations, local authorities and local self-government bodies in providing high quality and affordable legal services to the population;
- cooperation with legal aid providers in covering the activities of the institutions providing primary legal assistance, collecting and systematizing information about free legal aid provided, application of innovative technologies in providing such assistance.
Budget Information
- The total budget of the contest is 5 400 000 UAH. ($ 200,000)
- Maximum Grant Amount: – 350 000 UAH.
- The minimum term of the project is 6 months.
- The maximum term of the project implementation is 12 months.
Participants of the competition: Civil society organizations. The competition does not provide grants to lucrative organizations, political parties, religious communities and private (physical) persons.
Eligibility Criteria
- The following organizations are invited to participate in the competition:
- have the status of a non-profit organization and are officially registered in Ukraine;
- have previous experience in providing legal assistance, human rights protection, law education;
- have the minimum required material and resource potential (a separate office space (room) suitable for public reception of clients (legal aid applicants), a lawyer’s equipped workplace) and have appropriate financial procedures, may appropriately accept and use funds provided within the framework of a grant, which is confirmed by the official letter of the applicant;
- Preference will be given to project proposals that:
- Are based on the assessment of the needs of the local population in the area of access to justice or provide for such an assessment;
- have a confirmed letter of interest of local self-government regarding participation in the project with the subsequent possibility of financial support;
- contain a plan of cooperation with local self-government bodies, a system of free legal aid with a certain division of responsibilities, planned activities, etc.;
- have a strategic plan for organizational development;
- Provide activities for several priorities of the competition.
- All supported organizations will be encouraged to collaborate with the partners of the initiative (participation in educational events, development of information materials, reporting and customer accounts, participation in national law-enforcement campaigns, etc.).
How to Apply
Interested applicants can apply via given website.
Eligible Country: Ukraine
For more information, please visit Legal Capacity of Local Communities.