1. BACKGROUND

The present Call for Proposals (CfP) is administered by UNDP project «Civil Society and Youth Support» which is a part of the Democratic Governance and Inclusive Social Fabric Portfolio of the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine (UNDP). Through this Portfolio, 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, supporting anti-corruption efforts, ensuring that all Ukrainian citizens can protect their rights, empowering civil society and youth activists.

On January 1, 2023, UNDP with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark launched the “Democratization and Human Rights 2023-2026 Project”, under which the sub-project Civil Society and Youth Support Project (CSYP) is being implemented until the 31 December 2026. The project has a three-dimensional approach:  

First, it works to strengthen civil society organizations, focusing first and foremost at the subnational level, to enable active civil society participation in strengthening Ukraine’s resilience, sustainable recovery and development processes, and to link established CSOs with youth groups – especially new initiatives that emerged after February 2022 – to ensure the cross-fertilization of skills. 

Second, the project works at the central level to create a more enabling policy environment for CSOs and support the national "youth machinery." At the national level, UNDP is also working with the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS) to redesign and transform the Youth Worker Programme by developing additional capacity development exercises, courses, and learning events for the youth workers, and to help the Ukrainian Youth Foundation kick-start its operations. CSYP supports CSOs in monitoring the implementation of national-level youth policies to determine how much progress has been made and which areas need additional effort. 

Third and finally, the CSYP empowers young Ukrainians to actively participate in the country’s recovery by honing their skills in good citizenship and leadership. The project supports youth-driven projects and exposes young women and men to how local governments operate to implement locally relevant social cohesion initiatives. 

Since the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation in February 2022, Ukraine’s human rights landscape continues to deteriorate. April 2025 was the deadliest month for civilians since September 2024, with at least 209 civilians killed and 1,146 injured.¹‑ A further 183 civilians were killed and 836 injured in May 2025.[1]² Between January and April 2025 alone, OHCHR verified 664 deaths and 3,425 injuries—59 per cent more than the same period in 2024.³ Overall, since the invasion began, OHCHR has confirmed more than 12,700 civilians killed and over 30,000 injured, while stressing that actual numbers are likely far higher.⁴ Conflict-related sexual violence also persists: OHCHR has documented 370 verified cases against women, men, and children since February 2022.⁵ 

The war has uprooted millions: the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Round 20 General Population Survey, conducted between 5 February and 4 April 2025, estimates 3.71 million people remain internally displaced inside Ukraine, while the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports approximately 5.6 million Ukrainian refugees hosted across Europe and other countries as of June  2025.⁷ Persons with disabilities, women heads of households, and minorities face intersecting barriers to safety, services, and justice. Many IDPs now reside in frontline or territories where the Government of Ukraine has regained control, where basic services are disrupted and legal aid is scarce where basic services are disrupted and legal aid is scarce. Persons with disabilities, women heads of households, and minorities face intersecting barriers to safety, services, and justice.

Within this context, empowered civil society organizations (CSOs) play an indispensable role in monitoring violations, providing lifesaving information and legal assistance, advocating for systemic reforms, and ensuring that recovery policies are people-centred and inclusive.

Through this Call for Proposals, CSYP aims to support innovative, evidence-based initiatives by Ukrainian civil society organizations that protect and restore human rights and fundamental freedoms during wartime, with a particular focus on vulnerable and marginalized populations. Selected projects should provide survivor-centered legal aid, psychosocial support, and safe referral pathways for those most at risk, including internally displaced persons, persons with disabilities, older individuals, Roma and other ethnic minorities, veterans and their families, stateless or undocumented individuals, survivors of conflict-related sexual violence or torture, former prisoners of war, and civilians from currently or formerly occupied areas. Additionally, the call seeks to strengthen and professionalize CSOs and networks of legal aid service providers in Ukraine through capacity building, peer learning, and coordinated outreach, ensuring that quality assistance is available in conflict-affected and high-displacement regions, including frontline and de-occupied areas where security conditions allow.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE COMPETITION: 

The primary focus of the competition is to enhance the efforts of civil society organizations in safeguarding human rights and protecting vulnerable population groups in Ukraine in the context of war. The competition prioritizes responses addressing the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs), persons with disabilities (PWDs), veterans and their families, and survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), among other vulnerable groups. Supported interventions are expected to reach up to 6,000 individuals with legal aid, protection services, and referrals.

Specifically, the competition aims to:

• Provide survivor-centered legal aid and safe referral pathways to individuals from the priority groups mentioned above;
• Prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV), including conflict-related sexual violence, through the provision of specialized support, strengthening of community-based referral mechanisms, and support to safe spaces and shelters;
• Support veterans and their families through targeted legal assistance, outreach, and protection of their rights in the reintegration process;
• Strengthen and professionalize CSOs and networks of legal aid service providers through capacity development, peer learning, and coordinated outreach, ensuring quality assistance in conflict-affected and high-displacement regions, including frontline, recently de-occupied areas where security conditions allow, and remote settlements;

Proposals should be designed to address one or more of these objectives and should clearly articulate how the proposed project will contribute to safeguarding human rights and protecting vulnerable population groups in Ukraine. Successful proposals will be evidence-based and grounded in a clear understanding of the needs and aspirations of communities and individuals impacted‑ by the war.

3. PARTICIPANTS OF THE COMPETITION: 

Non-profit organizations, in particular charitable organizations, public associations (including civil society organizations and unions) that are officially registered in Ukraine. Under the contest, grants will not be provided to profit organizations, political parties, state authorities, local governments, religious communities and private (physical) individuals, and entrepreneurs. 

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.

3.1. Eligible organizations

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

3.2. Geographic location:

UNDP will accept applications from all regions under the control of the government of Ukraine. The applying CSO has to prove its capacity to operate in the proposed area of the intervention which will be assessed by the Grant Selection Committee.  

4. BUDGET AND ALLOWED EXPENSES:

Eligible costs must:

• be necessary for carrying out project activities;
• comply with the principles of sound financial management, in particular value for and cost-effectiveness;
• be properly recorded, identifiable and verifiable, and backed by original supporting documents.

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

• Staff salaries and expert fees;
• Purchase of consultative services provided that these are essential for project goals and objectives;
• Consumables and supplies, including minor personal protective equipment;
• Printing and copying;
• Utility services;
• Renting, catering and other services envisaged by the project activities;
• Travel costs (provided that travel complies with internal UNDP regulations and national quarantine and other restrictions).

The following costs are ineligible:

• Costs of project proposal preparation;
• Debts reconciliation;
• International travel;
• Reimbursement of expenses related to exchange rate fluctuations;
• Creation and registration of the organization;
• Direct fiscal support to state authorities;
• Political activity;
• Religious propaganda;
• Activities leading to direct or indirect discrimination of any social strata;
• Projects aimed at gaining profit from activities;
• Construction or repair work;
• Purchase of vehicles and / or luxury goods and related services;
• Purchase of goods for distribution in the form of humanitarian aid, gifts.

6. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PROCEDURE:

Project proposals should be submitted in Ukrainian and sent by e-mail to the address:  grants.ua@undp.org  pecifying in the subject line, the title of the competition “Civil Society Empowerment for Human Rights Protection during the War in Ukraine”.

The application package must consist of: 

1. The filled-out Application form (done on a computer as a Microsoft Word file);
2. Copy of the 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. Other relevant supporting documentation, including reference letters, report samples, or others (Microsoft Word or PDF).

The document package should 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.

All applications must arrive to UNDP no later than 23:59 on August 17, 2025.

Contact persons:

Maksym Mazypchuk, Project CSO Development & Outreach Associate, UNDP: maksym.mazypchuk@undp.org

7. FINANCIAL CONDITIONS AND TERMS OF IMPLEMENTATION:

The maximum budget available under this call for proposals is USD 80,000. The maximum timeframe for the project implementation is 12 months. Applicants may request a grant of up to USD 40,000 for a project duration of up to 6 months. Therefore, under this call for participation either two proposals with the amount up to 40, 000 or one proposal with the budget up to 80, 000 will be considered.

The contribution from the implementing organization or from other sources will be considered and will be regarded as an advantage for the applicant. This contribution could be made both financially and in non-financial form (for example, remuneration of the personnel of the organization, provision of its office or equipment for project tasks, etc.).

Nota bene! 

• The Selection Committee reserves the right to recommend adjustments to the proposed budget, including potential increases or reductions, based on the scope and justification of the project activities.
• The final tranche of 10% will be disbursed to the grantee organization upon 100% completion of project reporting, including confirmation of all financial transactions. Upon review and approval of the final financial report, UNDP will reimburse the eligible expenses incurred under the last tranche. 

8. SELECTION PROCESS

8.1. Assessment procedures

UNDP specialists will review the submitted project proposals against the criteria for the assessment of proposals. The Programme can request additional information from the applicants at its own discretion.

To ensure full transparency and equity of the process, UNDP forms a Grant Selection Committee (GSC) that will appraise the proposals that have met the contest requirements. GSC is a temporary authorized body that is responsible for considering, selecting and recommending proposals for funding. The Grant Selection Committee may decide to request additional independent expert opinion during the selection process.

8.2. Criteria for the assessment of proposals 

The proposals shall be assessed by the GSC in accordance with the following criteria:

8.3. Additional round of interviews 

After a comprehensive review of project proposals, the Grant Selection Committee may recommend additional online interviews with the highest-scoring organizations to finalize project selection. The interview may include questions about the proposed project approach, budget, and team composition among other things.

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:

• Brief reports on demand occasionally requested by UNDP CSYP in cases when information on Programme implementation is required in between reporting periods;
• A Completion report, including a summary of activities and results as well as financial report for total duration of an agreement.

Annexes:

Project proposal

Templates

1. ^{OHCHR, Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict — April 2025: https://ukraine.ohchr.org/en/Protection-of-Civilians-in-Armed-Conflict-April-2025}
2. ^{OHCHR, Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict — May 2025: https://ukraine.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/Ukraine%20-%20protection%20of%20civilians%20in%20armed%20conflict%20%28May%202025%29_ENG.pdf}
3. ^{OHCHR, "April the Deadliest Month for Ukraine’s Civilians" — Press Release, 8 May 2025: https://ukraine.ohchr.org/en/April-the-Deadliest-Month-for-Ukraine%E2%80%99s-Civilians-Since-September}
4. ^{OHCHR, UN Commission Concludes Russian Armed Forces' Drone Attacks Against Civilians Amount to Crimes Against Humanity — 28 May 2025: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/05/un-commission-concludes-russian-armed-forces-drone-attacks-against-civilians}
5. ^{OHCHR, A/HRC/58/CRP.4 — Situation of Human Rights in Ukraine: 1 Sept–30 Nov 2024 (docx, 11 Mar 2025): https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session58/a-hrc-58-crp-4.docx}
6. ^{IOM, Internal Displacement Report — General Population Survey Round 20 (April 2025): https://dtm.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1461/files/reports/IOM_UKR_Internal%20Displacement%20Report_GPS%20R20_April%202025.pdf}
7. ^{UNHCR, Ukraine Situation — Operational Data Portal: https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine}