Winners of the 2026 Ukraine call for proposals announced; record number of projects receive funding
The Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) has announced the recipients of funding from the Ukraine call for proposals. In 2026, a record 13 new projects will be launched with €2.3 million in funding from ESTDEV.
According to ESTDEV project manager Marika Kundla, this year's Ukraine call attracted the highest number of applications in history. “A total of 57 applications were submitted, which demonstrates the strong cooperation ties between Estonian organisations and local organisations in Ukraine,” said Kundla, adding that it was especially encouraging to see several follow-up projects among those funded. “This means that pilot projects have now grown into higher-impact initiatives, involving an even wider group of beneficiaries.”
The large number of high-quality projects was also the reason why ESTDEV increased the planned budget of the call by €800,000.
“Projects have become more concrete and strategic, often continuing previous activities or creating clear potential for larger reforms and international cooperation. Therefore, increasing the budget of the call to €2.3 million was both necessary and justified,” said Margus Gering, ESTDEV’s regional head for Europe.
Gering emphasised that the call for proposals strongly aligned with Estonia’s goals of advancing the international presence of its civil society and development organizations. “The results confirmed what we already believed — Estonia has highly capable and ambitious organisations that are not only ready to engage globally but can also play a real role in driving long-term change,” said Gering.
Funded projects
This year’s projects will support Ukraine in one or more of the following areas:
- Promoting good governance and democratic reforms
- Supporting entrepreneurship and economic development
- Supporting the implementation of education reforms and modernisation of education systems
- Increasing the inclusion and participation of women and girls in education and business
- Modernising the health care sector
- Supporting digital development and cyber resilience
Ukraine remains Estonia's most important development cooperation partner, accounting for around 75% of ESTDEV’s project portfolio budget.
Tuleviku Tehnoloogiaharidus (kood/Jõhvi) will expand the //kood technology education programme in Ukraine with kood/Odesa, which will support practical IT education and digital skills development, enabling young people successfully enter the labour market and contribute to society. The project will establish education–industry networks, implements a cloud-based peer-learning programming platform, delivers a full learning cycle, and trains administrators, tutors and //kood career ambassadors to ensure sustainability. Grant amount: €249,580
HK Unicorn Squad will pilot a girls' technology and creativity programme to increase Ukrainian girls' access to high-quality extracurricular education in technology and science, boosting their confidence, interest and readiness to participate in the technology and IT sector in the future. The project will be implemented in the city of Malyn and the Malyn territorial community, as well as in the city of Zhytomyr in cooperation with local education authorities and schools. Grant amount: €241,700
NGO Mondo’s follow-up project aims to support the development of Ukraine's vocational education system by implementing leadership development programmes at six vocational education and training centres, launching training for educational technologists and improving the digital skills of 300 teachers. Grant amount: €210,190
Praktikal Education’s project aims to build a sustainable STEM education ecosystem for girls aged 13–17 in the Zhytomyr Region. Through a competitive open call, seven STEM centres will be selected to strengthen their institutional capacity to provide inclusive and high-quality extracurricular STEM programmes. Grant amount: €205,150
Tallinn University of Technology will support Ukraine’s war-affected population by improving access to evidence-based mental health services through digital solutions. At least 1,800 psychological and psychiatric online consultations will be delivered via the DocuMental platform, especially in frontline and rural areas. Grant amount: €202,621
CybExer Technologies will scale a previous pilot project for developing cyber competencies in Ukraine. Following strong demand for hands-on Security Operations Center (SOC) education in Ukraine, this project expands the "SOC Analytics Fundamentals" course to three new Ukrainian universities. The project also introduces the advanced course "Incident Handling and Threat Intelligence" in three existing partner universities. A total of six universities and 180 students will participate, concluding with an inter-university cyber competition. Grant amount: €199,629
Delfi Meedia will support independent media in frontline regions of Ukraine by fostering cooperation with The Kyiv Independent. The project aims to strengthen the editorial, operational, and financial capacity of Ukraine’s regional and hyperlocal media outlets to improve their ability to deliver reliable and independent journalism in wartime conditions. Activities include training, expert mentoring, a study visit to Estonia and the launch of a pilot content-sharing initiative. Grant amount: €192,637
Tallinn Health University of Applied Sciences will develop an occupational therapy curriculum in cooperation with Belgian and Ukrainian partners. The project aims to strengthen higher education in occupational therapy and support healthcare system reforms in Ukraine. It addresses increased rehabilitation needs, war-related disruptions in education and alignment with EU and international standards. Grant amount: €190,475.5
The e-Governance Academy’s project aims to improve the accessibility and efficiency of digital services provided by local governments in the Zhytomyr Region to vulnerable target groups, including demobilised veterans. Grant amount: €190,000
Tallinn University aims to improve the quality of rural tourism, food and handicraft products in frontline and border regions of Ukraine for export to European markets. The project focuses on enhancing the quality and export-readiness of businesses in these sectors, aligning their products and services with EU standards, and strengthening their capacity to enter the European market. Grant amount: €126,455
Visionest Institute aims to strengthen the export capacity of Ukrainian companies to EU markets and create qualified jobs for young people and women in export sales. It addresses key priorities of Ukraine's export strategy and the shortage of skilled professionals in international sales under wartime conditions. Grant amount: €123,538
Proud Engineers aims to strengthen data protection competencies among health care professionals to ensure lawful, transparent and justified processing of personal and health data. Grant amount: €111,798
The Estonian School of Diplomacy’s project supports the Ukrainian Diplomatic Academy by enhancing the skills and professional knowledge of diplomats and officials involved in EU integration, focusing on EU policies, institutions, cybersecurity, security issues and good governance. Grant amount: €45,561
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