In November, EU and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) issued grants to 15 civil society organisations under the WE ACT: Women Empowerment Action Programme to build their capacity to provide services to survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). Over the next six months, organisations from Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Odesa, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Mykolaiv regions will increase their capacity through workshops, training sessions, and experience exchanges.

“On November 25, the annual global campaign “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” has begun. The worldwide need for conducting such events shows that the problem still exists, and its solution requires consolidating our joint efforts. It is essential that Ukraine’s active civil society is ready to step up, learn, and progress to help those in need. But the ones that support also need to be supported. These grants are a unique opportunity for organisations to focus on their development,” noted Tetiana Shulha, Sector Manager and Gender Focal Point at the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.

 

During June – July 2021, the Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health (UFPH) experts within the WE ACT Programme conducted a comprehensive needs assessment. They identified 12 regions of Ukraine where the problem of accessing GBV specialised services has become very acute since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the recommendations of the UFPH, derived from the assessment, was to involve relevant civil society organisations to provide services to persons who have experienced gender-based violence, using funding from local authorities. To strengthen the capacity of CSOs in providing services to survivors and competing for municipal funding, EU and UNFPA have announced a call for proposals for capacity-development of civil society organisations.

“In Ukraine, many CSOs already provide services to gender-based violence survivors. Local communities understand the importance of the problem and are willing to fund specialised services. Partnerships between local community councils and CSOs are the most sustainable form of funding services for survivors of violence,” said Maksym Liushan, WE ACT Programme Coordinator, UNFPA Ukraine.

Within the call for proposals, UNFPA received 33 applications. Fifteen of them, chosen by the selection board, developed their capacity-building plans and received grant support for its implementation. The grant recipients are:

1. Non-governmental organisation “DOM48.24” (Ivano-Frankivsk)

2. Charitable Foundation “Don Calabria Ukraine” (Kharkiv)

3. Charitable organisation “Charitable Foundation “Butterfly” (Lviv)

4. Charitable organisation “Charitable Foundation “Winds of Change”“ (Odesa)

5. Non-governmental organisation “Women’s Informative-Consulting Centre” (Ozerne, Zhytomyr region)

6. Non-governmental organisation “Institute of Gender Programmes” (Kyiv)

7. Non-governmental organisation “Divergent Woman” (Kremenchuk, Poltava region)

8. Non-governmental organisation Sign Language Interpreters and Persons with Disabilities “Bridge” (Poltava)

9. Non-governmental organisation “Innovative social solutions” (Mykolaiv)

10. Non-governmental organisation “ELEOS Ukraine” (Kyiv)

11. Zhytomyr Regional Youth NGO “Parity” (Zhytomyr)

12. Mykolaiv Local Charitable Foundation “Liubystok” (Mykolaiv)

13. Youth organisation of war (ATO) veterans, persons with disabilities “Strings of Heart” (Kremenchuk, Poltava region)

14. Poltava regional youth public organisation “Your world” (Lubny, Poltava region)

15. Kharkiv department of All-Ukrainian charity “Fund of help for victims of violence” Violence (Kharkiv) 

Background information: 

EU and UNFPA join their efforts to provide gender-responsive emergency support to address the COVID-19 aftermath and strengthen gender equality in Ukraine within the flagman programme ‘WE ACT: Women Empowerment Action.’ The Programme is aimed to protect women from gender-based violence (GBV), remove barriers for women’s leadership, and support female frontline healthcare responders to COVID-19. More about the Programme. 

For additional information, please contact Alona Zubchenko via zubchenko@unfpa.org.