ESTDEV Announces the Recipients of 1.26 Million in Funding for Projects in Ukraine

The Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) has announced the recipients of funding from the recent open call for project proposals to benefit Ukraine. 24 applications were submitted during the round, and 10 projects received funding, totalling €1,261,785.

The open call for project proposals sought activities that met the following criteria:

• promoting good governance and the development of democracy, including the fight against corruption and the development of secure ICT solutions
• strengthening independent public media, including electronic media
• promoting small businesses, including preparing entrepreneurs for entering the European single market
• enhancing the education system
• contributing to the reconstruction of infrastructure and corresponding services
• providing psychological support, including to women and children who have suffered in the war

“Ukraine’s open call for applications was a very successful one among Estonian development partners. I am heartened that Estonian companies, universities, and third sector organisations are so keenly interested in helping Ukraine and sharing Estonia’s best practices,” commented Eva-Maria Liimets, Head of Programme for Democracy and the Rule of Law at ESTDEV.

The Winning Projects

The Civitta Eesti AS project seeks to develop entrepreneurial abilities among the ambitious Ukrainian technology sector experts. The project fosters an exchange of knowledge and experience with Estonian and other experts and in so doing leads to economic development.

The Estonian Union of Co-operative Housing Associations will support the reconstruction of residential areas in the Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Zhytomyr Regions that have sustained damage during the ongoing destruction caused by the war in Ukraine. The Co-op will help to arrange projects necessary for financing the reconstruction of apartment buildings and develop a model for managing apartment buildings after reconstruction.

The Krabu Grupp OÜ project seeks to provide added value to the vocational education management information system currently being developed by EU4Skills. This project supports Ukrainian education leaders as they implement reforms and development activities in vocational education.

The Medicine Estonia Cluster aims to provide psychological support to Ukrainian fighters and their relatives, using modern methods for psychological crises. To this end, two Ukrainian healthcare centres will pilot a new method for psychological first aid intended for injured Ukrainian fighters and their families.

NGO Mondo is endeavouring to promote the mental health of those in Ukraine who have suffered from the war. One of the goals of the project is to provide psychological support through Spokiy, an evidence-based digital diagnostic and treatment platform, which was developed in Estonia and follows the guidelines of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). The project’s second goal is to provide Mental Health First Aid training to educational staff in schools across the Zhytomyr and Chernihiv Regions.

The Sensus Septima OÜ aims to contribute to the digital development of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine through the use of decision support software, as well as enhance the implementation of good governance practices and the development of democracy. The group will share Estonian experiences in the fight against corruption and assist in creating a roadmap to effectively fight corruption within the border guard.

The goal of the Tallinn University project is to develop networking amongst community tourism centres, starting with members of the NGO Ukraina Roheline Maaturism, promoting sustainable rural tourism in Ukraine. The project will take into account the EU’s best practices of rural economic diversification.

The University of Tartu’s project seeks to expand the capacity for development cooperation in the Dnipropetrovsk Region, which is one of the foremost frontlines in Ukraine. The University will also work to increase the resilience of the community through the use of e-governance and digital democracy.

The work of Visionest Institute OÜ will continue, training new instructors to create and implement training courses in exportation for entrepreneurs via the Ukrainian Export Academy.

The ambition of the SpeakTX OÜ project is to improve access to speech therapy for children with speech disorders in Ukraine. As part of the project, a digital speech therapy platform with interactive exercises will be made available at the local level, so that speech therapists and parents can use the platform to support children’s language development.

All projects were evaluated by an independent expert committee

Funding for development cooperation projects is awarded to Estonian public and private entities, NGOs and civil society organisations. Targeted countries and desired results are detailed in the agreement between ESTDEV and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“All applications are evaluated by an expert committee of three-five members who represent relevant Estonian embassies, experts and advisers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and representatives of the Estonian civil society,” explained Marika Kundla, Project Manager at ESTDEV.

Information about open calls for applicants is available: https://estdev.ee/toetused/