UK calls for project bids to support people suffering from conflict-related trauma in Ukraine

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.May 25 2022

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the UK is seeking to provide support to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (U-MOD) to help those who have served and are suffering from conflict-related trauma (psychological and physical).

The invasion of Ukraine's sovereign territory by the Russian Federation led to a substantial increase in the number of those serving their country in combat and combat-support roles. This has led to greater pressure on the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) specifically to support an increased number of troops, including those with limited military connections, backgrounds, and experience. The Special Defence Advisory Team is looking for a partner who can lead on the delivery of the following four objectives to:

1. assist with the development of U-MOD's internal policies to ensure it delivers best-practice support for psycho-social trauma and trauma risk management; including recognising the specific needs of vulnerable groups (women and minorities)

2. assist with the development of psycho-social trauma monitoring, lessons-learning, and support reach-back

3. undertake a gaps analysis of psycho-social trauma within the AFU. Engage with UK military trauma support specialist to assist with the development of a package to improve the process in place and fill any gaps in support (through advice, facilitation, or direct delivery of needs, as required)

4. undertake, in consultation with the AFU, a needs analysis of the provision on Ukrainian conflict-related trauma surgery. If required, work with the UK's Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in the adaptation and delivery of their remote trauma surgery training package

Bidding guidance

• projects will be funded initially for 9 months from July 22 to April 2023
• successful implementers must receive project funding in GBP and open a GBP bank account for the project
• project bids should demonstrate 85% spend by 31 December 2022 and 100% spend by 31 March 2023
• potential implementers are allowed to combine efforts and submit their project proposals in a consortium of several organisations (implementers). Those could be both international and local non-commercial organisations or multilateral organisations, working in the Ukrainian context. If this option is chosen, one entity should be the main Partner, which will coordinate the efforts of the joint initiative and will be primarily responsible for the project implementation. Governmental institutions may act as project co-funders or beneficiaries only
• minimum budget limit: £75,000 (seventy five thousand pounds sterling)
• maximum budget limit: £125,000 (one hundred and twenty five thousand pounds sterling)
• bids where possible should not exceed 30 pages
• bids must be in English

Recommendations and requirements to project budgets are listed on tab 1 of CSSF Activity Based Budget template and guidance (ODS, 18.1 KB).

We are unable to fund academic courses or research, English language tuition; the purchase of land, property, IT or other equipment (clarification is provided below) and finance construction works under this Fund.

Assessment

Bids will be assessed against the following criteria:

• alignment with the above mentioned thematic priorities and outcomes
• realistic outcomes which are achievable within the funding period 01 July 2022 to 31 March 2023
• evidence they have the capability to adapt and flex to the unfolding situation in Ukraine and the needs of the AFU
• project design includes clear monitoring and evaluation procedures, as well as risk and financial accountability procedures
• evidence of demonstrable outcomes and progress assurance
• evidence of sustainability - demonstrating that project benefits accrued continue after the funding ends
• alignment of the project budget with requirements and recommendations listed in CSSF activity-based budget template and the project proposal
• alignment with the Paris Agreement, demonstrating that a climate and environmental risk and impact evaluation was done and no environmental harm will be done
• the organisations have robust safeguarding policies and implementation plans in place to ensure the protection of beneficiaries and to safeguard against sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH). Evidence that the organisations will effectively tackle discrimination and ensure equality of opportunity for those with protected characteristics in line with UK equalities legislation, including International Development (Gender Equality Act) and Public Sector Equality Duty
• the project budget demonstrates a sufficient level of details and overall value for money
• we aim to ensure that the total amount of project management team costs, project operation support costs and office support costs would ideally not exceed the 10% ceiling of the overall project costs. In case your organisation has a central agreement with the FCDO to include head office overhead costs into the CSSF project budgets (e.g. international multilateral agencies), those can be added to the project budget in line with the central agreement and are not counted into the 10% ceiling mentioned above

Essential skills and competencies of the implementer

The implementer will have:

• strong operational experience of working in Ukraine or in similar environments in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECAD) region
• strong working knowledge of military medical context, including the provision of psychological support within civil and military systems
• strong working knowledge of the operative framework of the AFU medical support services
• must have access and influence within the relevant government bodies
• the ability to source appropriate expertise to support the mapping, capacity building and advocacy components, both in-country and if necessary, from outside
• project and budget management skills, experience, capabilities and capacity
• experience of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning processes

Funding exceptions

Funding cannot be used to finance the following:

• procurement of medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), vaccines, diagnostic tests/materials and COVID-19 related medicines
• procurement of land or property
• construction works
• purchase or maintenance of IT and capital equipment (if the equipment is essential for achieving the project outputs and impact, please complete a separate Equipment Purchase Supporting Letter (ODT, 7.09 KB) and submit it with the project proposal and budget)
• fundraising efforts of the organisation

The digital spend - digital development costs in excess of £10,000 for "any external-facing service provided through the internet to citizens, businesses, civil society or non-government organisations" - has to be depicted separately in the Digital Spend Proposal form (ODT, 19.7 KB) and be approved by the FCDO.

Process

The deadline to submit project proposals is 11:55pm (GMT) on Wednesday 08 June 2022. Late proposals will not be considered.

When submitting, include "Ukrainian MOD Psycho-Social and Traumatic Medical Support" and the name of the bidder in the subject line of your email.

Proposals must be submitted using the CSSF attached forms only (see below under Additional information and documentation).

Bidders must submit documents in standard Microsoft Office formats (Word, Excel).

Proposals must be submitted to [email protected]

Project proposals selected for further consideration will be notified by 17 June 2022. Due to the high number of bids the British Embassy Kyiv will not provide feedback on each bid - only the successful bidder/s will be contacted.

The selected bidder/s will be asked to complete a Due Diligence Assessment (form will be sent to them).

The British Embassy seeks to finalize grant agreements with successful project implementers by 01 July 2022.

Contacts

CSSF Programme Team - [email protected]

Additional information and documentation

All implementers will be expected to sign a standard FCDO grant agreement with the Embassy. The terms of the contract or agreement are not negotiable.

As all projects are expected to have achieved 85% spend by 31 December 2022, Activity Based Budgets must reflect this requirement.