The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is calling for applications from charities and other non-profit groups in Ukraine to help carry out anti-corruption programs in 13 communities as part of a test project for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The project, funded by the government of Japan, is aimed at "increasing investment attractiveness, ensuring transparent governance and increasing citizens' trust in local self-government bodies," said the UNDP, which is overseeing the program.
Applicants can receive up to $50,000 in funds via the UNDP to development and deliver training programs in the local communities, research and analyze anti-corruption efforts and raise public awareness, according to the UNDP's call for applications.
The pilot anti-corruption, called the "Transformative Recovery for People's Security in Ukraine," began last year with the selection of 13 communities in Ukraine for measures aimed at "increasing the transparency and accountability of local self-government," the UNDP said.
"The restoration and reconstruction of Ukraine begins at the local level and directly depends on the anti-corruption efforts of local communities," the agency said. "Strengthening anti-corruption capacity is a necessary condition for communities to be able to effectively address systemic challenges that can impede progress and development."
The program is part of a broader initiative by the government of Japan to help in the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. The country has pledged a total of $7.27 billion in financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion, according to the Ukraine Support Tracker of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Japan has recently agreed to help Ukraine streamline laws to help ease reconstruction efforts, allocated €1.25 billion to support Japanese companies that invest in the reconstruction of Ukraine, and re-opened the Kyiv office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the agency that handles development funds for the Japanese government.
Japan has pledged a total $6.9 billion in financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion, according to the Ukraine Support Tracker of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
The anti-corruption program is being carried out in Lutsk in the Volyn region, Khmelnytskyi, Kalush in Ivano-Frankivsk, Bogodukhiv and Valky in the Kharkiv region, Vyzhnytsia in the Chernivtsi region, Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region, Kuyalnyk in the Odesa region, Novovolynsk in the Volyn region, Okhtyrka and Khmeliv in Sum, Pryluky in the Chernihiv region and Chernechchyna in Dnipropetrovsk.
