Call for bids: supporting Women, Peace and Security in Ukraine under the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund Programme 2022-23

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and building on previous work undertaken by the UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) 2018 to 2022, and the Ukraine National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2020-2025, the UK is seeking to strengthen its contribution to the WPS agenda and, therefore, support project/s in Ukraine which aim to achieve (one or more of) the following five outcomes. This approach seeks to support and bolster the active contribution women, women’s rights organisations and excluded groups are making in their communities and on the frontline of the response during the unfolding crisis.

1. Empower primarily women’s rights organisations, as well as wider actors working for gender equality and social inclusion, in Ukraine to advance a localised and inclusive WPS agenda, meeting the urgent identified needs of women, girls and excluded groups in the community they serve, including older women and women with disabilities. This will include supporting interventions for improved social cohesion, community services and coordination with humanitarian and recovery efforts on gender and equality aims. It may include addressing the specific needs of women and children on the move and in host communities inside and displaced outside of Ukraine – where it relates to the WPS agenda.

2. Enable women’s rights organisations and wider actors to continue efforts to identify persons with specific needs and referrals to state services and humanitarian assistance and to provide lifesaving sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response services in line with the Inter-Agency Minimum Standards.

3. Working through Ukrainian women leaders, mediators, and women’s rights organisations to provide support to deliver on the second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2020-2025 objectives and support women’s engagement and meaningful participation in the humanitarian response, in national and international decision-making and policy agendas in response to the unfolding crisis, and in civil society action at the community level [with the flexibility to adapt to the unfolding situation].

4. Provision of rapid gender and inclusion real-time analysis; data disaggregation by sex, age and disability (to enable a gender-sensitive response during the crisis); human rights monitoring, including monitoring of sexual violence, and; enhancing accountability for gender equality, women’s empowerment and the rights of excluded groups in Ukraine

5. Collaboration with representative groups including organisations of persons with disabilities to ensure WPS and humanitarian responses address diverse needs and amplify meaningful and inclusive participation.

Bidding guidance:

• projects will be funded initially for 11 months from 10 May 2022 to 31 March 2023
• successful implementers must receive project funding in GBP and open a GBP bank account for the project
• project bids should demonstrate 85% spend by 31 December 2022 and 100% spend by 31 March 2023
• potential implementers are allowed to combine efforts and submit their project proposals in a consortium of several organisations (implementers). Those could be both international and local non-commercial organisations or multilateral organisations, working in the Ukrainian context. If this option is chosen, one entity should be the main Partner, which will coordinate efforts of the joint initiative and will be primarily responsible for the project implementation. Governmental institutions may act as project co-funders or beneficiaries only
• minimum budget limit: [GBP 500,000] (five hundred thousand pounds sterling)
• maximum budget limit: [GBP750,000] (seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling)
• bids where possible should not exceed 30 pages
• bids must be in English

Recommendations and requirements to project budgets are listed on tab 1 of CSSF activity-based budget template (ABB Template). Please note that we are unable to fund academic courses or research, English language tuition; the purchase of land, property, IT or other equipment (clarification is provided below) and finance construction works under this Fund.

Assessment:

Bids will be assessed against the following criteria:

• alignment with the above mentioned thematic priorities and outcomes
• realistic outcomes which are achievable within the funding period (10 May 2022 – 31 March 2023)
• evidence they have the capability to adapt and flex to the unfolding situation in Ukraine, potential shifts in WPS priorities and the needs of women and girls – including through use of rapid situational analysis
• project design includes clear monitoring and evaluation procedures, as well as risk and financial accountability procedures
• evidence of sustainability – demonstrating that project benefits continue after the funding ends
• alignment of the project budget with requirements and recommendations listed in CSSF activity-based budget template and the project proposal
• alignment with the Paris Agreement, demonstrating that a climate and environmental risk and impact evaluation was done and no environmental harm will be done
• the organisations have robust safeguarding policies and implementation plans in place to ensure the protection of beneficiaries and to safeguard against sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH). Evidence that the organisations will effectively tackle discrimination and ensure equality of opportunity for those with protected characteristics in line with UK equalities legislation, including International Development (Gender Equality Act) and Public Sector Equality Duty
• the project budget demonstrates a sufficient level of details and overall value for money
• we aim to ensure that the total amount of project management team costs, project operation support costs and office support costs would ideally not exceed the 10% ceiling of the overall project costs. In case your organisation has a central agreement with the FCDO to include head office overhead costs into the CSSF project budgets (e.g. international multilateral agencies), those can be added to the project budget in line with the central agreement and are not counted into the 10% ceiling mentioned above

Essential skills and competencies of the implementer

The implementer will have:

• strong operational experience of working in Ukraine or in similar environments in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECAD) region
• strong working knowledge on the women peace and security agenda, preferably on women’s meaningful participation in peace and decision-making processes
• good gender and conflict analysis skills
• strong knowledge of Ukraine’s informal and formal political structures and local and national-level conflict dynamics, and the ability to work closely with Ukrainian counterparts in all regions of the country
• the ability to source appropriate expertise to support the mapping, capacity building and advocacy components, both in-country and if necessary, from outside
• experience and familiarity of gender programming
• project and budget management skills, experience, capabilities and capacity
• experience of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning processes, including but not limited to outcome harvesting
• robust approaches to risk management, conflict sensitivity, disability inclusion, safeguarding

Funding exceptions

Funding cannot be used to finance the following:

• procurement of medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), vaccines, diagnostic tests/materials and COVID-19 related medicines
• procurement of land or property
• construction works
• purchase or maintenance of IT and capital equipment (if the equipment is essential for achieving the project outputs and impact, please complete a separate “Equipment Purchase Supporting Letter” and submit it with the project proposal and budget)
• fundraising efforts of the organisation

The digital spend – digital development costs in excess of £10,000 for “any external-facing service provided through the internet to citizens, businesses, civil society or non-government organisations” – has to be depicted separately in the Digital Spend Proposal form and be approved by FCDO.

Process

1. The deadline to submit project proposals is 11.55 pm (GMT) Tuesday 29 March 2022. Late proposals will not be considered.
2. When submitting, please indicate “Supporting Women, Peace and Security (WPS) in Ukraine” and the name of the bidder in the subject line of your e-mail.
3. Proposals must be submitted using the CSSF attached forms only (see below under Additional information and documentation).
4. Bidders must submit documents in standard Microsoft Office formats (Word, Excel).
5. Proposals must be submitted to CSSF.Programme@fcdo.gov.uk
6. Project proposals selected for further consideration will be notified on 11 April 2022.
7. The selected bidder/s will be asked to complete a Due Diligence Assessment (form will be sent to them).
8. The British Embassy seeks to finalise grant agreements with successful project implementers by 3 May 2022.

• CSSF Programme Team – CSSF.Programme@fcdo.gov.uk.

• CSSF Programme team will publish answers to all Frequently Asked Questions on the BE in Ukraine official website on Monday 14 March 2022.

Additional information and documentation

All implementers will be expected to sign a standard FCDO grant agreement with the Embassy. The terms of the contract or agreement are not negotiable.

As all projects are expected to have achieved 85% spend by 31 December 2022, Activity Based Budgets must reflect this requirement.