East Europe Foundation announces the “Capable and Resistant” grant competition (hereinafter referred to as the Program) and invites civil society organizations (CSOs) to participate.

The competition is designed to strengthen the sustainability and performance of civil society organizations (hereinafter referred to as CSOs) that provide services to the civilian population affected by the full-scale invasion, as well as to promote the effective response of CSOs to the needs of territorial communities and the promotion (advocacy) of the needs and interests of vulnerable groups in Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernivtsi regions.

Objectives of the Grant Competition

Within the framework of the Program’s grant component, we will support initiatives by CSOs that provide services to war-affected individuals, particularly vulnerable groups such as women, internally displaced persons (hereinafter referred to as IDPs), the elderly, people with disabilities, veterans, family members of military personnel, ethnic minorities, LGBTQI communities, children, and others.

Our support will focus on addressing issues related to gender-based violence (hereinafter referred to as GBV), human rights protection, support for IDPs and national minorities (communities), as well as providing psychosocial support and other humanitarian assistance to those impacted by the war, including advocacy for the rights and needs of vulnerable groups (except as otherwise described below).

Initiatives can address the needs of the organization’s target audience (hereinafter referred to as the TA), supporting existing and/or developing new services and activities that are important to the TA and the local community, promoting (advocating) the needs of vulnerable groups.

Possible areas of activity within the framework of the grant competition include, but are not limited to:

• Measures to protect human rights and combat GBV, including sexual violence.
• Support and services for (multi-)vulnerable civilians: women, the elderly, people with disabilities, veterans, family members of military personnel, veterans and civilians in captivity, national minorities (communities), members of the LGBTQI+ community, and others.
• Measures to facilitate social integration and rehabilitation of IDPs, including employment assistance, legal aid, psychological support, other counselling support, and the like.
• Measures aimed at acquiring new skills and developing competencies that will help IDPs and/or the affected local population adapt to new conditions, as well as activities to support and develop entrepreneurship, to increase employment, and the like.
• Measures that facilitate the involvement of IDPs and other vulnerable groups in addressing problems of territorial communities, such as conflict prevention and mediation.
• Measures aimed at creating/improving conditions for IDPs to stay in the host community.
• Establishment/operation of safe and inclusive coworking spaces, spaces for work, study, and/or cultural leisure for IDPs and the local population (including youth, children and their parents, and elderly people), etc.
• Measures to promote, protect, or represent the needs and interests of vulnerable groups (awareness campaigns, promoting adoption or advocacy of decisions by local self-government authorities, etc.).
• Other activities and initiatives that provide support to people affected by the full-scale invasion, including IDPs and vulnerable locals.

Submitted projects may stipulate up to 15% of the grant to be allocated to strengthening the CSO capacity, including:

• Expanding staff to support and strengthen the organization’s programmatic activities, such as new positions for communications, monitoring and evaluation, fundraising, etc.
• Acquisition of equipment or services that are crucial to the organization’s mission or project objectives. Examples: IP phones for a hotline; additional furniture and equipment if the organization expands its operations and staff, etc.

Applicants

Eligible applicants are CSOs, namely: charitable organizations (non-profit societies, institutions, foundations, etc.) and civil society associations (civil society organizations, unions) registered as legal entities in Ukraine with non-profit status (numeric identifiers assigned to nonprofit organizations 0032, 0034, 0036) and who:

• have proven experience working in target regions, or
• are ready to expand their activities to target regions and demonstrate the ability to effectively engage with local territorial communities.

Organizations applying for the competition must be guided by humanitarian principles in their activities, namely, humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. Within the grant competition, organizations may plan their project activities to aid the affected civilian population and/or vulnerable groups. Support for the military is not allowed under the terms of this grant.

Grants cannot be issued to organizations that, at the time of signing the grant agreement, are registered (have a legal address) in territories defined as temporarily occupied (included in the list of settlements where the Ukrainian state authorities temporarily do not exercise their powers, as well as settlements located on the demarcation line).

Purchase, transportation, and distribution of humanitarian aid (including food and non-food items, medicines, etc.) cannot be supported within the scope of this competition.

Grant amount: UAH 800,000 to UAH 3,000,000

The final number of supported projects will depend on the quality and relevance of the submitted proposals and their budgets.

One organization can submit only one application for this competition.

All applications submitted to the competition will be reviewed and evaluated by an independent Expert Council based on the following selection criteria:

• Relevance of the project application to the competition thematic areas.
• Justification of the target audience’s needs.
• Possibility for achieving the expected results given the available resources and deadlines.
• The experience of the organization’s members and involved professionals.
• Previous successful experience in implementing similar projects with a similar budget.
• Justification and balance of the budget.

Expected duration of projects: 6 to 12 months.

Expected start of operations: February/March 2026.

The third phase of the “Capable and Resistant” Program also includes measures to develop civil society organizations to strengthen their sustainability in wartime. By applying for the grant competition, organizations commit to participating in the “Capable and Resistant” Program’s training and information events, as well as to comply with reporting requirements (interim and final narrative and financial reporting are required). Before signing grant agreements, it is also planned to finalize applications and budgets in cooperation with the Foundation.

Applications can only be submitted through East Europe Foundation Grant Portal.

For those willing to participate in the competition, an online information session will be held on November 12, 2025. Please fill out the form at the link to join the event.

Before application submission, please review the document templates and guidelines in the “Documents” section of the Grant Portal.

East Europe Foundation reserves the right not to award funding if submitted applications do not meet the competition’s requirements.

Please note:

• own contribution is not a requirement, but it is recommended to involve partners, in particular public authorities or territorial communities, for example, to ensure premises or other resources for the initiative implementation;
• the availability of letters of support/recommendation letters and/or memorandums of cooperation with local public authorities and local self-government bodies will add points to the application;
• a list of expenses that cannot be supported by the Foundation, except for those specified in the announcement, is included in the project budget template and is available in a separate tab, “Guidelines to filling out the budget”;
• applications must be submitted in Ukrainian;
• applicants will be notified of the results via their Grant Portal account and by email.
• The decision of the competition committee is final and not subject to review.
• East Europe Foundation reserves the right not to comment on the results of the application review.

Application deadline: December 2, 2025, 06:00 p.m.

The results of the competition will be announced in January-February 2026.

Competition geography: Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernivtsi regions

Is there a requirement for co-financing?

No, however, it is recommended to involve partners, in particular local authorities or communities, for example, to ensure premises or other resources for the initiative implementation.

Questions can be submitted at [email protected]. Please indicate the competition name in the subject line – Grants within the third phase of the “Capable and Resistant” Program.