One of the mechanisms for strengthening the organizational capacity of communities and expanding their rights and opportunities is the support of communities’ projects with which the NGO “THE TENTH OF APRIL” collaborates on a regular basis.
Local civil society organizations already enjoy the trust of the hromadas in which they operate, thus they are well-equipped to effectively respond to threats and provide prompt assistance to residents of hromadas, mobilizing the community itself. Additionally, civil society organizations are often present in hard-to-reach areas where humanitarian organizations may not always be present.
Civil society organizations and initiative groups within the network of NGO “THE TENTH OF APRIL” in the Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv regions, with a minimum of three team members, can participate in the project support call.
The mini-grant program for civil society organizations has a dual purpose: firstly, it serves as a starting point for community-level protection activities, and secondly, it promotes the strengthening of community networks and enhances their resilience, particularly in hard-to-reach areas. The secondary goal is to further strengthen community structures, resilience, and effectiveness of civil society organizations with a special focus on protective measures, programs, and support.
Projects supported under the terms of the 2023 competition were aimed at mitigating risks in the protection sphere, including protection from gender-based violence, support for persons with disabilities, facilitating the integration of displaced persons into host communities, supporting vulnerable populations' access to basic services, promoting the involvement of displaced persons in community life, and reducing social tension and isolation.
They were also aimed at networking in order to strengthen the organisational capacity of start-up initiatives. Such projects were implemented through exchange visits, where less experienced CSOs and initiatives could learn from communities that already have strong organisational and expert experience.
In 2023, NGO “THE TENTH OF APRIL” supported 50 partner organisations and initiative groups to implement projects aimed at integrating IDPs and facilitating their situation in the new environment.
The vast majority of projects included a training component aimed at developing the skills and knowledge necessary for successful integration into society, as well as elements of relief and psychological assistance to reduce stress and improve the mental well-being of IDPs and affected persons. A significant number of projects implemented in 2023 were aimed at reducing social isolation for IDP children and the affected population and included communication, educational and sports activities. In particular, this applies to communities where offline education is limited or non-existent. Thanks to the implemented projects, safe, youthful, gender-sensitive spaces for communication and interaction between IDPs and affected persons, women and girls were created in some of the hromadas.