Emerging Donors Challenge Program (EDCP) Round 7 | 01

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The Emerging Donors Challenge Program (EDCP) Round 7 is a U.S. Embassy Kyiv grant competition run through the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Assistance Coordinator for Europe and Eurasia (EUR/ACE). The main purpose is to deepen U.S. foreign assistance partnerships with 11 "emerging donor governments" in Central and Eastern Europe and to use those partnerships to support Ukraine by sharing practical lessons from these countries transition periods and their paths toward EU integration. The participating emerging donor governments are Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. In practice, the program is designed to fund joint assistance activities where expertise, advisors, institutions, and real transition experience from these countries are brought into Ukraine to help advance reforms and strengthen resilience.

The opportunity focuses on three priority areas. The first is Energy and Cyber Security. Energy-related proposals are expected to help Ukraine strengthen the legislative and regulatory environment in the energy sector and align with EU and Energy Community obligations. They can also focus on diversification and modernization, such as improving Ukrainians ability to plan, implement, and sustain energy projects, including clean technology and renewable energy initiatives, and making conditions more attractive for Western investment. Cybersecurity proposals can target building critical capabilities across the public and private sectors, raising public awareness of cybersecurity and basic cyber hygiene, improving detection and response systems, or developing training curricula that expand the pipeline of cybersecurity skills.

The second priority area is Access to Western Markets. Projects under this theme should help Ukraine integrate more deeply with Western markets by supporting a fair, transparent business environment and expanding opportunities for U.S. investment, trade, and broader international commercial engagement. Examples of relevant work include helping implement EU or international standards, improving ease of doing business, or strengthening private sector competitiveness so Ukrainian firms can meet requirements for Western markets and increase exports.

The third priority area is Strengthening Resilience through Democratic Consolidation. This set of activities is aimed at building democratic durability and reducing vulnerabilities that can be exploited by corruption or disinformation. Proposals may focus on strengthening independent media and civil society, countering disinformation, improving media literacy, reinforcing democratic institutions, and improving transparency and accountability in government. This can include e-governance or other tools that reduce opportunities for corruption by narrowing the space for opaque decision-making and discretionary abuses.

A defining feature of EDCP is co-financing and collaboration with one or more of the emerging donor governments. The typical activity is a joint project implemented in Ukraine with at least one emerging donor partner, with the U.S. share capped at 50 percent of total costs. The U.S. contribution to any single award cannot exceed USD 100,000. While most projects are expected to be new, the Embassy indicates it may also support other collaboration models, such as co-financing existing U.S. or emerging donor assistance, or strengthening ongoing U.S. programs by enabling participation from emerging donor officials or experts identified by those governments. Regardless of structure, funded projects are expected to include substantial content and engagement from emerging donor country institutions or experts so the program clearly delivers on its core intent: transfer of transition and EU integration experience to Ukraine.

Administrative details emphasize a grant funding instrument and an implementation timeline of 18 months or less. Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations (including think tanks and civil society or nongovernmental organizations), public and private educational institutions and research institutions, public international organizations, and governmental institutions. The funding opportunity is issued by the U.S. Mission to Ukraine, with the original closing date listed as October 3, 2019, and the CFDA number shown as 19.700. Application process questions are directed to the listed State Department contacts at TysonJE@state.gov and HetunYI@state.gov.

• The U.S. Mission to Ukraine in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Emerging Donors Challenge Program (EDCP) Round 7" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.700.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-09-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-10-03. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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