Eligibility

To apply for grants from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF), all prospective partners must first undergo and successfully pass the Fund’s eligibility process. The main objective of this process is to equip the UHF with adequate information about the capacities of a partner and that the partner meets all accountability requirements.

Non-governmental organizations and organizations of the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement that are currently implementing humanitarian response activities in Ukraine can apply to become UHF partners. The United Nations agencies with humanitarian operations in Ukraine are automatically incorporated upon request.

As the UHF is part of the in-country humanitarian response system, active participation in and reporting to clusters is one of the requirements for eligibility.

How to become a partner

Minimum Criteria

The UHF makes periodic calls for registration of new partners through an announcement to humanitarian clusters and on UHF webpages. Organizations seeking to become partners of the UHF should ensure that they meet a minimum criterion before applying. Please read the attached UHF Eligibility Process for a full update.
Key aspects include:

  • Operating according to humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and operational independence.
  • Valid registration in Ukraine with ongoing operations in-country and international registration Certificate for INGOs.
  • Active membership and reporting to UN-led humanitarian response coordination clusters in Ukraine.
  • Demonstrable partnership with donors, UN agencies and/or international organizations.
  • Programmatic expenditure/budget of at least $200,000 for INGOs and $100,000 for national NGOs per annum in the last two years.  
  • Having an operational bank account in USD or EUR in the name of the organization.
  • Demonstrable full programme cycle experience in project management.
  • Demonstrating a clear organizational structure and financial systems and capacity to manage and absorb funds.
  • Having a Board of Trustees or a recognized form of governance overseeing the organization’s operations.

Step 1. Registration

Any organizations interested to become a UHF partner and meets the minimum eligibility criteria should submit their documents to prove that they meet all the requirements in their response to a call for registration of new partners. Documents submitted outside the registration campaign periods will not be considered.

Step 2. Due Diligence (DD)

Upon registration on the OCHA Grant Management System (GMS), the UHF will guide the partner to upload the following documents in GMS (gms.unocha.org):

  • Application form
  • Due diligence declarations
  • Registration certificate
  • Bank account information
  • Bank statement
  • Identification documents

The UHF reviews the submitted documents to ensure that the organization meets the minimum requirements. Capacity Assessment is usually initiated after approval of the submitted due diligence documents.

Step 3. Capacity Assessment (CA)

Capacity assessment is the last step in the eligibility process for new partners to be able to access grants from the UHF. At the completion of this stage, each partner is assigned a risk level that determines grants ceilings, disbursement arrangements and monitoring and reporting requirements.

For this stage, the prospective partner is asked to submit a list of documents that include organigramme, governance documents, manuals and policies of the organization, annual reports, work plans, financial statements, and others. The UHF uses these documents to review the institutional, technical, management and financial capacities of the prospective partner.

The capacity assessment is undertaken in two phases: 1. Desk review of the documents provided by the partner; and 2. Interview with the organization’s staff – which could be virtual or a visit to the partner’s office. The UHF staff may also interview key informants such as previous/existing donors and partners of the organization, and cluster coordinators.

UHF Risk Level

The eligibility process is completed by the UHF issuing an outcome of either granting eligibility or ineligibility status. The partners who pass the eligibility process are considered to have adequate systems and policies to manage UHF grants and are assigned a risk level.

If a prospective partner does not meet the accountability requirements of the UHF, the UHF team will advise on areas that require strengthening. Such a partner could re-apply for another assessment during future partner calls after 6 to 12 months (depending on the Fund's communication to the partner).

The UHF assigns Low, Medium or High-risk levels to partners at the conclusion of their successful eligibility process. The risk level is important as it determines the maximum budget that could be approved for a project based on implementation period. It also determines how funds would be disbursed, frequency of reporting, and planning for monitoring visits and spot checks.

The assigned risk level is dynamic and is influenced by the performance of the partner throughout their UHF project cycle. The performance of partners will be used alongside the original capacity assessment score to determine and adjust the risk level.

Consistent satisfactory performance is rewarded through improvement of the risk level, for example from High Risk to Medium Risk; or retention of assigned risk level. Regular poor performance can move the risk rating score from Medium Risk to High Risk or even to Ineligible status. Once rendered ineligible, an organization can re-apply for capacity re-assessment one year after, if they can demonstrate that the elements that caused the poor performance have been addressed.