EU, Sweden, and Germany announce €44 million funding for civil society in Ukraine

On 27 March, the European Union, and its member States Sweden and Germany, in a Team Europe approach, announced €44 million in support for civil society organisations (CSOs) in Ukraine, including €6 million for gender leadership and conflict. 

As part of this package, the EU will launch a call for proposals in May worth €14 million for CSOs, including €5 million with a focus on gender leadership and conflict. 

Sweden and Germany are providing €17 million support and the EU is fast-tracking a €13 million support package that includes direct awards to civil society projects among others on gender equality, accountability for war crimes, access to information, strengthening of democratic processes, social cohesion and sustainable development. 

This latest package reinforces the EU’s long-term strategy of strengthening Ukrainian civil society, enhancing resilience against Russian aggression and ensuring that humanitarian and integration efforts reach those most in need.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the EU has allocated more than €150 million to CSOs to support their critical work in humanitarian response, justice, democratic development and governance. In 2022 alone, EU funding was tripled from €20 million to €60 million, enabling civil society in Ukraine to assist in direct response to urgent needs, including emergency food and shelter, evacuation assistance, medical assistance, war crimes documentation, integration of veterans and IDPs, and efforts to combat disinformation.

For example, thanks to European Union support, the NGO ‘And There Will Be People’ was able to organise the delivery of drinking water to settlements in the Nikopol district following the destruction by Russia of the Kakhovka dam in 2023, where 200,000 residents were on the brink of a humanitarian disaster.

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