Great interest in Norwegian Grant Scheme to Support Civil Society in Ukraine
The grant scheme was announced in April to support Ukrainian organizations’ contribution to an inclusive and transparent recovery as well as democratic governance. The support period is from 2024 to 2027 and 70 million Norwegian kroner have been earmarked for this purpose so far in 2024. – We are happy to see the great interest in this funding scheme. Ukrainian civil society plays an important role in supporting the people in the defense and recovery as well as being an important driver for democratic reform processes. The Norwegian Nansen Support Program for Ukraine will contribute to enable Ukraine to decide its own future. In this work civil society is central, says Bård Vegar Solhjell, Executive Director of Norad.
The grant scheme is set up for network organizations and consortia to work with several smaller local organizations, who can reach target groups and geographic areas not reached through existing funding schemes/channels. 27 of the lead applicants are Ukrainian organizations and most consortium applications also include Ukrainian organizations as co-applicants. 14 lead applicants are Norwegian organizations. – This funding scheme will contribute to strengthen local communities and marginalized groups outside the metropolitan areas in Ukraine. We see that applications include many different interventions such as trauma treatment and assistance for veterans, inclusive labor marked efforts, cash support for families with special needs and investigative journalism and minority rights, to mention a few. Norad is now looking forward to reading and reviewing the applications, and will conclude during the fall, says Director of the Department for the Nansen Support Program for Ukraine, Jorun Nossum.
The Nansen Support Program for Ukraine
The Nansen Support Program for Ukraine is a Norwegian civil and military support program of 75 billion Norwegian kroner for the period 2023-2027 to contribute to enable Ukraine to decide its own future. The distribution of funds between the civil and military support is decided annually in line with Ukrainian needs. In 2023 approximately 19,9 billion Norwegian kroner was disbursed from the program, of which 8,9 billion Norwegian kroner in civil and humanitarian support and 11 billion Norwegian kroner in military support.