National call for capacity-building activities to strengthen anticorruption CSOs and investigative media
The EUACI is a collaborative initiative funded by the European Union and the Government of Denmark, with the aim of supporting Ukraine in its efforts to reduce corruption at both national and local levels. The new phase, launched in January 2024, focuses on key strategic objectives: reducing corruption in Ukraine, advancing anti-corruption reforms, and implementing reconstruction efforts in war-affected areas with a strong emphasis on transparency, accountability, and integrity.
Civil society and media play an important role in Ukraine in enhancing awareness, investigating corruption, developing and advocating legislation and other state policies, influencing integrity of state institutions at the national and local level.
The EUACI operates across four intervention areas:
- Support to independent state institutions fighting and preventing corruption
- Transparency and accountability of the reconstruction process
- Support for cities in war-affected areas to enhance integrity in the reconstruction process
- Civil society and media engagement in preventing and fighting corruption
The national call for capacity-building activities to strengthen anticorruption CSOs and investigative media is announced under intervention area 4.
The goal of the call is to contribute to attracting new talent to the anticorruption sector, the capacity development of the CSOs, and fostering networking and sharing of best practices among national and regional CSOs in the field of anti-corruption.
The specific objectives of the call:
- Development of human potential for anticorruption institutions, CSOs and investigative media.
- Attraction of new talent to the anticorruption sector.
- Enhancement of expertise for the regional anti-corruption CSOs and investigative media.
- Strengthening women's leadership and participation in the anticorruption activities.
- Promoting youth participation in the anticorruption activities.
- Support the professional discussions and networking for anticorruption CSOs and institutions.
- Encourage networking and cooperation between anticorruption institutions and CSOs.
- Conduct the capacity-building activities to increase the level of the analytical and investigative skills of the anti-corruption CSOs and investigative media (for example, working with open data, OSINT, budget analysis, crypto assets).
The proposed format of the capacity-building activities may include, but not be limited to:
- Schools.
- Internship (middle and long term).
- Peer-learning.
- Mentoring.
- Workshops.
- Development of university courses.
- Creating and supporting platforms for the learning, per-exchange, and professional discussions.
- Creating platforms and learning possibilities for the mixed group of representatives of anticorruption institutions, CSOs, and academia.
- Learning possibilities for youth (school children and students).
Capacity-building events should be tailored to the specific needs of different participant groups, such as CSOs, investigators, youth, etc.
Applicants are expected to submit one grant proposals focusing on one or more specific objectives outlined in the call.
Grant competition budget: 250,000 EUR. The aim is to fund at least 2 or 3 projects within the scope of the call. The applicants should ensure that the annual grant budget remains below 120,000 EUR.
Grant budget structure
- capacity building activities (expert fees, logistics, printing etc.).
- salary for the staff (executive director, deputy executive director, accountant, communication manager, project manager, etc.) and fees for permanent and external experts.
- administrative services (office rent, communication, bank fees, project audit).
- unallocated funds up to 7% of the budget.
Selection process
Applicant eligibility criteria:
To be eligible for a grant, the applicant must:
- be a legal entity officially registered according to Ukrainian legislation.
- be a non-profit civil society organization with codes 0032, 0034, 0036, 0038, 0039.
- have proven experience and expertise in capacity-building, networking and/or anticorruption sector.
The full proposal with the budget will be evaluated against the following criteria:
- compliance with formal eligibility criteria.
- relevance to the goal and objectives of the call for proposals.
- the level of thematic experience in the capacity-building sphere and the example of the successful capacity-building events.
- proven history of project implementation.
- well-structured and clear project proposal with measurable outcomes and outputs of the proposed project.
- reasonable budget and clearly outlines costs (budget items should be explained adequately in the narrative).
- a partnership with experts or CSOs located in the regions of Ukraine may be advantageous.
Please note that it is important to monitor the effectiveness and impact of the capacity-building events within the project's framework.
The evaluation and selection of grant proposals will be conducted by the Selection Committee in accordance with the criteria mentioned about. The committee comprises external experts with expertise in the fields of anticorruption, capacity-building, and members of the EUACI management team.
Timelines
The project must be submitted no later than May 31, 2024 23:59 Kyiv time.
The information about the competition result will be published no later than June 21, 2024.
The grant agreements are expected to be signed no later than mid-July 2024. Applicants may start the project between mid-July and mid-October 2024.
The project duration should not exceed 12 months, with all projects required to conclude before end of October 2025.
How to apply The applicants are required to complete the proposal and budget forms in English language (ANNEX 2. Project Proposal and ANNEX 3. Project Budget forms). The proposal with the budget shall be submitted by e-mail to: sofgol@um.dk with the subject: Response toNational call for capacity-building activities to strengthen anticorruption CSOs and investigative media
Deadline for proposal with the budget submission is May 31, 2024 23:59 Kyiv time. The proposal either received after the deadline or incomplete, without detailed budget will not be considered.
Competition presentation. The presentation of the grant call in online and offline format is planned on May, 13 at 11 am. The online broadcasting will be available at EUACI YouTube chanel and EUACI Facebook page The registration link on the event https://forms.gle/KSXxAFnCJ4U3F33H9
Questions in English or Ukrainian for the National call for capacity-building activities to strengthen anticorruption CSOs and investigative media should be submitted to: sofgol@um.dk no later than May 24, 2024 17:00 Kyiv time, indicating clearly the title of this call for proposals. The EU Anti-Corruption Initiative reserves the right to not provide clarifications to questions received after the deadline. Replies will be posted on the EUACI website by May 28, 2024 17:00 Kyiv time. To ensure transparency and fairness of the application process, the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative cannot express any prior opinion on the eligibility of applicants, proposed actions or specific activities.