On April 11, 2024, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, Ukrainian Veterans Fund (UVF), and ISAR Ednannia started the implementation of veteran grants under the "Varto: Ednannia" project.
The main goal of this grant competition is the reintegration and support of veterans and their families through the services of civic organizations, which will enhance their capacities and the quality of services toward of protection of rights and freedoms, satisfaction of social, economic, cultural, and other interests of veterans and their family members.
“Veterans policy is recognized by the state as one of the top priorities. The scope of tasks requires daily attention and involvement of civil society organizations (charitable and non-government organizations). This cooperation is an effective tool for implementing state policy aimed at reintegrating veterans into civilian life. Civil society institutions assist us in this through the legal support and counseling for veterans and their families in addressing their urgent needs. I am very appreciate to ISAR Ednannia for the grant’s support of such organizations; this collaboration makes a significant contribution to the success of our joint project. We are open and ready for productive work,” said Farhad Farhadov, Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine.
The cooperation between ISAR Ednannia, the Ukrainian Veterans Fund, and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs foreseen co-financing projects of civil institutions that support veterans and their families, with a total amount of up to 2.5 million UAH within the framework of the new "Varto: Ednannia" competition. The UVF and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs select projects from civil institutions and commit to funding their implementation. Meanwhile, ISAR Ednannia, within the framework of the USAID project the “Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity” finances institutional development and covers the administrative costs of the civil organization envisaged during the implementation of the selected project.
"ISAR Ednannia provides financial assistance for veterans' projects since the 1990s, especially from 2014. This involves collaboration with hubs, veteran businesses, and other organizations dealing with veteran issues. Now, in the third year of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, we are talking about over 4 million veterans and their family members. We estimate civil society organizations, which now approximately 130,000 in the country, as competent actors for state and private business which can jointly address veteran issues. Like an NGO, which connects the needs of CSOs with donors, we will be a reliable partner in this initiative," added Volodymyr Sheyhus, Executive Director of ISAR Ednannia.
As part of the "Worth: Unity" project, veterans and their families will get the following assistance:
- Mentorship support and consultancy for veteran entrepreneurship from start to development.
- Social support for veterans, their family members, and families of the deceased.
- Social support for children of veterans and children of the deceased.
- Support in the reintegration of veterans and their families into active social life.
The "Varto: Ednannia" grant competetionis made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) within the Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity implemented by ISAR Ednannia in partnership with the Ukrainian Center of Independent Political Research (UCIPR) and Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM) and the project is funded by the state budget through the Ukrainian Veterans Fund of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine.
