U.S. Embassy Kyiv’s Office of the Assistance Coordinator: Development Cooperation Partnership (DCP) Grant for Ukraine’s European Integration and Resilience

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 

U.S. Embassy Kyiv’s Office of the Assistance Coordinator announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications for the tenth round of the DCP to continue building U.S. foreign assistance partnerships with 11 partner donor governments (PDGs) in Central and Eastern Europe aimed at supporting aspirations of the Ukrainian people for European integration, democratic transformation, peace, and security. Please carefully follow all instructions below. 

Priority Region: EUR (Ukraine)  

This notice is subject to availability of funding. 

Funding Instrument Type: Grant  

Program Objectives:  

The U.S. Department of State Office of the Assistance Coordinator for Europe and Eurasia (EUR/ACE) has launched the tenth round of the DCP program in Ukraine to continue building U.S. foreign assistance partnerships with 11 partner donor governments in Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Through the DCP initiative, the United States builds partnerships with these partner donor countries by co-financing joint foreign assistance activities aimed at sharing the PDGs’ transition and EU integration experiences with Ukraine, and promoting Ukraine’s legislative, economic, social, and technological approximation to EU standards in light of recent approval of EU candidate status for Ukraine.  

EUR/ACE has identified the following priority objectives for the tenth round of DCP funding: 

Energy and Cyber Security: The U.S. Embassy Kyiv’s Office of the Assistance Coordinator will consider proposals that improve energy and cyber security in Ukraine. On energy, proposals could support Ukraine’s efforts to improve the legislative and regulatory environment for the energy sector and comply with EU and Energy Community requirements. Proposals could also enhance energy diversification by improving the ability of Ukraine to plan, implement, and sustain energy projects, including clean technology and renewable energy initiatives, and by increasing opportunities for Western investment. Cyber activities could include proposals to assist Ukraine to develop critical cybersecurity capacities within the public and private sector, promote public awareness of cybersecurity and cyber hygiene, strengthen detection and response mechanisms, or develop curricula for cybersecurity training.      

Access to Western Markets: The U.S. Embassy Kyiv’s Office of the Assistance Coordinator will consider proposals that increase integration with Western markets, establish a fair and transparent business environment, and increase opportunities for U.S. investment and trade. Proposals could include facilitating the implementation of relevant EU and international standards, improving the ease of doing business, or enhancing the ability of private sector companies to compete in Western markets and increase exports.    

Strengthening Resilience through Democratic Consolidation: The U.S. Embassy Kyiv’s Office of the Assistance Coordinator will consider proposals that build greater democratic resilience in Ukraine. This could include proposals to strengthen independent media and civil society organizations, combat disinformation, improve media literacy, approximate EU legislation in judicial and anti-corruption areas, bolster democratic institutions, and increase government transparency and accountability, including through e-governance capabilities and decentralization reform and other efforts needed to narrow the space for corruption to occur.  

The tenth round of the DCP will also consider environmental journalism proposals to raise public awareness about the facts of environmental crimes and to record environmental war crimes.   

Societal Resilience & Protection: The U.S. Embassy Kyiv’s Office of Assistance Coordinator invites PDGs’ organizations to submit social protection proposals under the tenth round of the DCP program in Ukraine. This could include services provided to women and children, who have been the victims of war crimes, including the victims of the gender bases violence (GBV), and accountability & oversight element of holding individuals responsible for GBV; uninterrupted provision of social services to refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), vulnerable and war-affected populations, including support for critical local and regional government functions and provision of education. The proposals may include training of social service professionals to continue providing social protection services, psycho-social support, psychological and physical rehabilitation of war victims and war veterans.  

Programmatic Restrictions:  

The DCP Program is limited to the abovementioned key thematic areas, and is unable to consider proposals that involve:  

• Physical infrastructure projects, including reconstruction, renovations, repair works. 
• Humanitarian assistance projects, including the provision of emergency food, shelter, or relief commodities to vulnerable populations. 
• Humanitarian demining operations. 

Participants and Audiences: 

A typical assistance activity will likely be a joint project, implemented with one donor partner in Ukraine, for which the U.S. cost share will be no more than 50 percent. No single U.S. contribution may exceed $100,000. Multiple PDG partners may contribute to the same activities, and implementing organizations may include government entities, research institutions, and/or nongovernmental organizations. Most DCP activities will likely entail co-financing new projects. U.S. Embassy Kyiv, however, may consider other means of collaboration, such as co-financing existing U.S. or PDG assistance activities or enhancing ongoing U.S. assistance activities by facilitating the participation of PDG officials or PDG-identified experts. Selected activities should include a significant amount of content from institutions, advisors or other sources of knowledge in the PDG countries in order to meet the DCP objective of fostering the transfer of transition experience to the beneficiary country. There is no limitation on the number of proposals submitted from one organization.       

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION 

Length of performance period: 6 – 18 months 

Number of awards anticipated:  10 – 15 awards (dependent on amounts) 

Award amounts: No PDGs’ cost share limitations. No single U.S. contribution may exceed $100,000.    

Total available funding: $1,600,000 

Type of Funding: FY22 AEECA 

Anticipated Time to Award: 4 – 6 months 

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION 

Please follow all instructions below carefully. Proposals that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible. 

Content of Application 

Please ensure: 

• The proposal clearly addresses the goals and objectives of this funding opportunity 
• All documents are in English 
• All budgets are in U.S. dollars 
• All pages are numbered 
• All documents are formatted to 8 ½ x 11 paper, and 
• All Microsoft Word documents are single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, with a minimum of 1-inch margins. 

Summary Page: Cover sheet stating the applicant’s name and organization, proposal date, program title, program total budget, program period proposed start and end date, and brief purpose of the program. 

• Proposal Summary: Short narrative that outlines the proposed program, including program objectives and anticipated impact. 
• Introduction to the Organization: A description of past and present operations, showing ability to carry out the program, including information on all previous grants from the U.S. Embassy and/or U.S. government agencies and international donors. 
• Problem Statement: Clear, concise, and well-supported statement of the problem to be addressed and why the proposed program is needed. 
• Program Goals and Objectives: The “goals” describe what the program is intended to achieve. The “objectives” refer to the intermediate accomplishments on the way to the goals. These should be achievable and measurable. 
• Program Activities: Describe the program activities and how they will help achieve the objectives.  
• Program Budget: Please indicate how you plan to expense the funds under the program.  
• Program Methods and Design: A description of how the program is expected to work to solve the stated problem and achieve the goal. Include a logic model as appropriate.  
• Proposed Program Schedule and Timeline: The proposed timeline for the program activities. Include the dates, times, and locations of planned activities and events. 
• Key Personnel: Names, titles, roles and experience/qualifications of key personnel involved in the program. What proportion of their time will be used in support of this program?   
• Program Partners: List the names and type of involvement of key partner organizations and sub-awardees. 
• Program Monitoring and Evaluation Plan: This is an important part of successful grants. Throughout the time-frame of the grant, how will the activities be monitored to ensure they are happening in a timely manner, and how will the program be evaluated to make sure it is meeting the goals of the grant? 
• Future Funding or Sustainability: Applicant’s plan for continuing the program beyond the grant period, or the availability of other resources, if applicable.