The Embassy of Finland announces appeal for applications for projects to be funded from the Local Cooperation Fund in 2017

Applications should be sent to the Embassy not later than on February 15th, 2017, at 16:00.

Attention: The applicants are asked to send only the attached pdfapplication form , carefully filled in English language. Please comply with the restriction of characters in the fields of the application form.

Shortlisted candidates for the fund will be selected and requested to provide a full project proposal with supporting documents. The final candidates to be funded are selected among these and approached for an agreement.

Note: application documents shall be submitted in English language only, on both rounds.

Information:

The Finnish Local Cooperation Fund (LCF) is a fund administered by the Embassy of Finland in Kyiv.

The LCF is aimed at supporting local (Ukrainian) non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

In some cases also other types of organizations can be considered eligible, including educational and research institutions, independent media, and cultural organizations.

In every case, the project must be qualified as official development assistance (ODA) and fit within the outlines of the official development policy of Finland:

http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=328294&nodeid=49312&contentlan=2&culture=en-US

The objective of the LCF is to support strong and active civil society organizations, which is an important component of functioning democracy and open society.

Applying:

The Embassy’s Local Cooperation Fund for 2017 is € 100 000, which will be distributed to selected applicants (usually 3-5 of them). The budget for a proposed project must not exceed € 50 000, but it should also not be less than € 10 000.

Note that each year we receive multiple times more applications than we can fund. Competition is high. Therefore we recommend you to carefully read the instructions and prepare your proposal well. We particularly appreciate clear articulation of the project’s purpose and intended impact.

If the project budget exceeds € 20 000, the organization must include an independent audit. It is recommended to include its costs in the project budget.

The Embassy does not provide funding for projects where the Finnish LCF is the sole source of funding.

The project proposed must have the potential for real and measurable impact.

The projects proposed are typically for one year, but must be completed latest by November 2018.

The types of project:

This year, the priority areas for the LCF projects funded in Ukraine are the following:

  1. Human rights and equality, especially of vulnerable groups, women, youth and children.

  2. Democracy and good governance, especially complementing the reform process of Ukraine, rule of law and anti-corruption.

  3. Environmental protection, especially conservation of biodiversity.

If you propose a project unrelated to the mentioned priority areas, you can still submit a proposal but we recommend you to be particularly prudent with presenting the case for your proposal.

The following kinds of projects are not eligible for the LCF of the Embassy of Finland in Kyiv:

  • Projects implemented by Government, ministries or local authorities.

  • Projects of political parties.

  • Projects where the beneficiary is one person, one family, or private business.

  • Projects exclusively or typically of charity.

  • Organizing a single event, for example cultural or charity-related, or a conference.

  • Humanitarian assistance (funding for that has established channels).

  • UN, OSCE, or other international organizations, international NGOs (INGOs), or Finnish NGOs. (These types of organizations apply and receive funding from the headquarters in Helsinki.) The local (Ukrainian) partners and implementing agencies, however, are eligible.

  • Projects that take place in areas currently out of the control of the Ukrainian Government.

  • Personal grants for individual persons.

  • Loan programs.

  • Purchase of vehicles, land, or real estate.

  • Projects where the main purpose is a trip to Finland or another foreign country.

Selection criteria

The Embassy of Finland underlines the importance of preparing a high-quality project application. Even though the applicants are asked to provide only the filled form on the first round, we recommend you prepare your full proposal carefully for the event that you are selected for the shortlist and requested for the full proposal with supporting documentation.

The applicants must demonstrate capacity and professionalism for the kind of work they propose to be funded by the Embassy. The capacity and professionalism should be reflected in the quality and clarity of the proposal. The most important selection criteria are the relevance and quality of the proposal.

When selecting among the applications for funding, the Embassy seeks to keep a balance between the priority fields as well as a geographical balance of activities within Ukraine.

We also seek to maintain a balance between the recipients, so for example if your organization received the LCF in one of the recent years, while you are fully eligible to apply, we may opt for giving the chance for a new partner. One partner can be funded for two subsequent years at maximum. Otherwise, partners with whom we have good experience from past cooperation are very welcome to reapply.

Check the following criteria for better success in application:

  • The applicant needs to be eligible for the LCF.

  • The project needs to qualify for ODA and particularly for the LCF.

  • The project’s main purpose, activities and expected results must be clearly articulated.

  • The project’s objectives should be realistic.

  • There should be adequate indicators to measure the results.

  • Costs need to be clearly assessed, and realistic.

  • The beneficiaries of the project and their needs need to be defined.

  • There should be a realistic risk analysis: what could go wrong?

  • The expected long-term effects of the project should be explicated.

  • The activities of the partner and the project should be sustainable.

  • Gender and other kinds of equality and inclusiveness need to be taken into consideration in the project.

First round:

The applicants should fill the attached application form, and submit it by February 15th, 2017, at 16:00, to the e-mail address: PYM.KIO@formin.fi

Please indicate on the subject line «LCF» and the name of your organization. The form must be filled in English language.

Attention! Application without date and signature will be rejected. After completing the form, please print it and sign. Scan the form and send it by email in pdf-form. No other attachments needed.

Please do not send multiple applications, and do not send the application to any other addresses than the one indicated. Also do not use the Embassy’s Facebook page or any other unofficial channel of communication for the delivery.

Questions (but not applications) can be sent to Natalya Golova: natalya.golova (at) formin.fi

Before you contact the Embassy with your procedural questions, make sure you cannot find the information in these instructions. The Embassy will not give information about the actual selection process before the closure of applications.

Do not attempt to influence the selection process by calls or meeting requests.

The Embassy will contact you only if your organization has been shortlisted, and you will be requested to provide a full proposal. Results of the first round can be expected by 10th of March 2017.

Time schedule of the selection process is a subject to force majeure reasons that may sometimes cause delays.

Second round:

The applicants shortlisted for full proposals should provide them by the end of March 2017 (or later as indicated when contacted) to the same e-mail address: PYM.KIO@formin.fi

Please indicate on the subject line «LCF» and the name of your organization. The proposal and its main supporting documents must be in English language.

The selected applicants will be contacted separately to discuss their proposals before proceeding to an agreement. This is the point where the organization can still suggest alterations of time schedule or other details, reduce the budget originally proposed (but not increase it), and possible other issues.

Those applicants that were not selected for funding this time will be duly informed.

Make sure your contact information is correct and available for the case we attempt to contact you.

Additional information:

The Embassy of Finland reserves the right to accept or reject any project proposal based on their preferences and on changes in the situation within the country.

Project agreement between the Embassy of Finland and the organization must be signed by an authorized representative of the receiving organization. The signing will take place in Kyiv at the Embassy of Finland.

The recipient of the LCF is responsible for fulfilling the activities the grant was meant, and appropriate financial administration. At the end of the project, the organization shall provide the Embassy with full narrative and financial reports of the implementation of the project, in accordance to the plan and the agreement. In one-year projects, no interim report is required.

Project budget and agreement are made in Euro. It is the responsibility of the recipient organization to decide whether they want to receive the funding in Euro (as in the agreement) or in the equivalent sum in UAH according to the Embassy’s exchange rate at the time of the payment. The Embassy will not compensate for currency rate losses.

Payment of the grant is typically provided in two instalments: first at the initiation of the project once the agreement has been signed, and the second and last after adequate final reporting has been received by the Embassy.

The Embassy reserves a right to audit or evaluate any of the projects it has funded at any time. The organization responsible for the project shall provide all necessary documentation available for evaluation / verification.

All projects with a budget of € 20 000 or more are required to conduct an independent audit, and it is recommended to include its costs within the proposed budget.

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