East Europe Foundation announced initial winners of the grant competition. They are nine NGOs that provide comprehensive support to IDPs and host communities in war. The competition received nearly 300 applications from NGOs.

The list of winners and a brief description of the projects they are implementing within the Phoenix Project with the support of the European Union:

• NGO “Peaceful Sky of Kharkiv” with the project “Sustainable Future”, in the Kharkiv region. The project will facilitate social reintegration and employment of female IDPs in the Kharkiv region and includes individual sessions with a psychologist and a training course on social, psychological and professional adaptation under martial law. Training courses will be organized covering freelance work, information technology, business plan preparation and improving knowledge of business language in Ukrainian.

Grant Amount: UAH 799,784.29.

• NGO “Aleksandra & C” with the project “Center for Reintegration of Families of Internally Displaced Persons Future”, in Zaporizhzhia. The project will provide support for emotional and psychosocial recovery of IDP families. It will organize support for IDP families, provide psychological counseling and conduct training for children and adolescents. Leisure groups for children and the elderly from IDP families will be organized, medical appointments will be scheduled and social services provided.

Grant Amount: UAH 799,053.00.

• NGO “Mariupol City Center for Support and Development of Small and Medium Business” with the project “Entrepreneurship as a Way of Employing IDPs and Social Integration into the Community of Dnipro City”, in Dnipro. The project will improve entrepreneurial skills and knowledge of IDPs and equip workplaces for IDPs to accommodate coworking. Three entrepreneurship training elements will be organized by the Mariupol School of Entrepreneurship, including business plan preparation. 

Grant Amount: UAH 425,487.60.

• All-Ukrainian Association of Local Self-Government Bodies “Ukrainian Association of Rayon and Oblast Councils” with the project “Raising awareness among local authorities and citizens to record the destruction caused by the war”, will work throughout Ukraine. The goal of the project is to ensure that the population of Ukraine has access to information on the procedure for recording damage caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. It is planned to hold outreach events, operate a call center, create and fill a website and a chatbot on the issues of recording damage.

Grant amount: UAH 800,000.00.

•  NGO “All-Ukrainian Public Center Volunteer” with the project “Volunteer Day Camp for Teenagers from Among Internally Displaced Persons”, in Kyiv city and the Kyiv region. The project goal is improving the psychological state of IDP adolescents and share implementing activities among specialists who organize summer recreation for children in Ukraine. A summer day camp for 120 adolescent children will be organized to help them acquire psychological resilience skills, develop communication and leadership skills, and promote volunteerism.

Grant amount: UAH 797,980.68. 

• NGO “Equality in Action” with the project, “Strengthening Activities of IDP Councils in the Territorial Communities of Khmelnytskyi Region”, in the Khmelnytskyi region. Through development of councils in Khmelnytskyi region communities, IDP strengthening and integration will be promoted. The project will identify needs of IDPs, conduct about 50 trainings covering legal elements of IDP councils and IDP rights, professional burnout, leadership, stress resistance, monitoring target audience problems and effective management of individual households. Advisory and information support to IDP council representatives will be provided.

Grant amount: UAH 759,480.00. 

• Local Association of Self-Government Bodies “Association of Participatory Community Development” with the project, “Support for Social Integration and Psychotherapeutic IDP Support in Partner Communities in the Shyrokivska Territorial Community in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Pervomaiska Territorial Community in the Kharkiv region, the Novovodolazka Territorial Community in the Kharkiv Region, the Tomakivska Territorial Community in the Dnipropetrovska Region, the Chernihivska Territorial Community in the regional Zaporizhzhia region’s relocated administration.  This widely-administered project’s goal is improving IDP socialization in target communities by increasing opportunities for IDPs to receive psychological, informational and educational assistance. The project will organize call centers to improve counseling for IDPs, provide emotional support for IDPs and raise awareness of entrepreneurship and employment opportunity for IDPs.

Grant amount: UAH 727,705.00. 

• NGO “Progressive Youth+” with the project, “Ask”, which will be implemented in the Smila Territorial Community of the Cherkasy Region. The project will promote the role of IDPs in the public life of the Smila Territorial Community. IDPs will be involved in development and advocacy of the Smila Territorial Community Capacity Building Program. Activities will include study tours, a sociological study of IDPs’ needs and advocacy trainings.

Grant amount: UAH 727,705.00. 

• NGO “Our Council” with the project, “Our Support”, in Kropyvnytskyi city. The project will promote psychosocial recovery and integration of IDPs into Kropyvnytskyi. Psychological counseling, self-reliance training, organized group psychological games for IDP children and a survey to identify factors preventing IDPs from integrating into communities.

Grant amount: UAH 795,516.00. 

We will soon announce more organizations qualifying for and receiving Phoenix Project grants.

The grant competition is part of the Phoenix Project implemented by East Europe Foundation with European Union financial support.