Ukrainian Women's Fund Launches CAD 50K Grant Program

The Ukrainian Women’s Fund (UWF) has launched the “Women’s Voice and Leadership: New Strength” Grant Program, offering long-term funding to strengthen women’s rights and feminist human rights organizations across Ukraine.

The initiative will support registered women’s organizations working to advance gender equality through advocacy, women’s leadership, economic empowerment, recovery and reconstruction, climate justice, and the protection of vulnerable groups.

The program offers grants of up to CAD 50,000, which can be awarded in hryvnia currency, according to the exchange rate of the National Bank of Ukraine as of the date of application. Selected projects will be a maximum of 18 months long.

Funding will be provided for a wide variety of projects that aim at the protection of women's rights, promotion of gender equality, advocacy, leadership development, economic empowerment and organizational sustainability. The program also emphasizes projects aimed at strengthening women's involvement in the process of recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine, assistance to the military families and women veterans, environmental security and climate justice.

Key Highlights:

• Grants up to CAD 50,000 for projects lasting up to 18 months
• Supports gender equality, women's leadership, recovery, and climate justice initiatives
• Open to registered Ukrainian women's organizations with 3+ years of experience

The project aims to empower women-led organizations with the capacity to enhance their internal systems, advocate for their needs, strengthen leadership and build sustainable solutions in the long term that will be implemented after the grant period, as per the Ukrainian Women's Fund. The program also aims to strengthen the contribution of women's organizations in policy making, community decision-making and inclusive development processes.

The eligibility criteria for participation are: 3-year or more of experience in the field of women rights or gender equality activities, and being officially registered women's public organization in Ukraine. Organizations should have women's rights or gender equality goals in their governing documents and exist outside of government institutions and political parties.

Those organizations that are government affiliated, political party related, and organizations that are not related to women's rights or gender equality will not be eligible to apply.

Applicants should present their project proposal that includes problems to address, activities to be undertaken, beneficiaries, expected outcomes and how it will be sustainable in the long term. The Fund will also evaluate applicants according to their past experience, organizational capacity, partnerships and potential for impact.

The program invites the development of projects by organizations, which aim at addressing the needs of vulnerable women and girls, are innovative, engage communities and offer opportunities for scaling up successful projects. Realistic goals, measurable outcomes, and action plans should be reflected in projects to ensure the project results persist beyond the fund's duration.

The Ukrainian Women's Fund's investments support women-led organizations to enhance the country's civil society, which will bolster inclusive recovery in the face of ongoing social and economic challenges. The project acknowledges the importance of the contribution women's organizations make to the protection of human rights, the ability to assist vulnerable groups, support economic development and allow women to have a voice in Ukraine's future.