The aim of this project is to mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 and to contribute to longer-term socio-economic resilience of vulnerable groups in Eastern Europe. Under the implementation of People in Need (PIN), and in partnership with the Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC) and AFEW International (AFEW), the project aims to propose a set of interventions in several countries, including Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

PIN recognises the critical role local civil society organisations (CSOs) and independent media play in service delivery, community mobilisation, awareness raising, policy engagement, and advocacy for the protection of human rights and civic freedoms during and after the pandemic. We will support the CSOs and other civic actors to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations by empowering them with services and access to accurate information.

PIN will capitalise on its in-depth field-level knowledge to support CSOs that focus on community-level initiatives, watchdog programmes, and local independent journalism. Our partners NHC and AFEW are specialised in activities to improve human rights protection for responsible persons in closed institutions and key populations at risk for public health concerns like HIV, TB, and viral hepatitis. We will provide grant support to NGOs working with these beneficiaries and assist them in developing strengthened monitoring, reporting, advisory, agenda-setting, and advocacy work.

To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and contribute towards longer term socio-economic resilience of vulnerable groups in Eastern Partnership countries.

- in the Republic of Moldova, the efforts of the “Eastern Partnership – COVID-19 Solidarity Programme” will target vulnerable rural households including elderly, people with disabilities, youth, and independent journalists;
- the project will focus on reducing the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people by following two phases;
- at an initial stage, at least 10 civil society organisations (CSOs) will be selected and awarded grants to provide services in communities from different regions of the country, thus enabling them to respond to the short to medium-term needs of vulnerable groups;
- the local CSOs will be supported to adapt to the COVID operating environment by gaining necessary skills and resources shared through capacity building activities;
- in the second phase, the project team will address the barriers that prevent the vulnerable population from exercising their rights and maintain the fragility of the CSO sector generated by the pandemic. The expected result in this case refers to empowering local CSOs to leverage the experience and knowledge from the first phase to influence longer-term policy developments;
- once the CSOs have improved their skills in advocacy, media issues and policy development and monitoring, they will be able to use more tools and strategies focused on inclusive recovery process for the targeted vulnerable groups, prevention of further waves of COVID and policy monitoring of post-COVID recovery funds.