Early in October 2023, the acceleration programme of the Act to Support competition, implemented by East Europe Foundation as part of the “Phoenix: Resilient Ukraine in the Time of War” project with the support of the European Union, was completed. The winning civil society organisations were awarded up to 20,000 euros for the implementation of each civic tech tool. They have finalised projects of chatbots, websites, and platforms that will help communities, IDPs, and other people suffering from the war.

During a few months of the acceleration programme, the teams from 20 civil society organisations worked with mentors and core experts, attended lectures, analysed the market, studied successful solutions, refined their own concepts, and prepared for the presentation of their projects. Center42 Innovation Agency and the Happy Monday career platform became mentors and partners of the acceleration programme.

“After 24 February 2022, civic tech tools became an integral part in the lives of not only Ukrainian civil society organisations, but also in every Ukrainian’s life. For example, thanks to a chat on a smartphone, one can learn about an air raid alarm. In another city, a chatbot can quickly report a problem to the authorities or get advice. This year’s Act to Support competition offered an opportunity for civil society organisations who develop civic tech solutions to gain expertise and financial support for the implementation of useful tools in a wartime,” says Julia Jacoby, Sector Manager for Civil Society with the EU Delegation in Ukraine.

During the final event of the competition’s acceleration programme, the qualified jury awarded the teams that develop the following projects:

● Charitable Organisation “Balbek Bureau”: “RE:Ukraine Villages”
Enhancement of the online designer , which models a layout of a house for reconstruction based on typical rural architecture of a specific region.
● Charitable Organisation “Ukrainian IT Hub Foundation”: “MRIYA”
Enhancement of the platform “MRIYA” to counter Russian propaganda resources, online fraudsters' accounts, etc. ● NGO “Autistic People Friendly”: “I'm speaking” a communicator for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Creating an application that will eliminate communication barriers for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with the surrounding world through digitised PECS cards with the possibility of personalization.
● NGO “All-Ukrainian Association of Donors of Ukraine”: “DonorUA for Teams”
Improving the gamified tool DonorUA for Teams, which helps to create and develop the community of blood donors.
● NGO "GENERATION OF MOTHERS LADA": Chatbot "Mothers, children, emotions. Control your emotions so they don't control you"
Enhancement of the chatbot (https://t.me/lada_maternity_emotions_bot) that will help moms and children gain knowledge about the nature and characteristics of emotional states.

Development of a tool that allows representatives of local authorities to create evacuation plans for various emergency situations, provide community residents access to information, and conduct effective evacuation training at https://cityguard.info

● NGO “Foundation.101”: "Shelter"
Enhancing of the service for finding free housing for IDPs (https://prykhystok.gov.ua) to include the possibility of

receiving monetary compensation for homeowners who have provided shelter.
● NGO "FISCAL POLICY RESEARCH CENTER (FISCAL CENTER)": “Transparent expenses for the recovery of Ukraine” Development of a webportal about the costs needed and spending on the recovery of Ukraine.
● NGO “Conscious Bucha Community”: "Medical Intelligent Assistant (MIA)"
Development of a mobile application that will provide patient support before and after a visit to a medical facility,

providing round-the-clock support (surveys, explanations, recommendations).
● NGO “Yurshtab”: “Lawyer in Your Smartphone”
Enhancement of the chatbot providing free legal assistance on https://t.me/ua_law_help_bot.

“The Act to Support competition aims to help civil society organisations become more technologically advanced
and assist in addressing various challenges during wartime. All winning projects in the competition contribute to quick access to innovative solutions and necessary information, which is significantly more challenging to ascertain without such a communication channel. These tools are designed to provide the necessary assistance quickly, with quality and convenience,” Victor Liakh, President of the Eastern Europe Foundation, commented on the competition’s outcome.

Background information:

The Act to Support competition is held as part of the “Phoenix: Resilient Ukraine in the Time of War” project implemented by East Europe Foundation with the financial support of the European Union.

East Europe Foundation (EEF) Charity is a non-profit Ukrainian organisation active since 2008. Since its inception, EEF has channelled around $40 million into projects for Ukraine’s socioeconomic development and local initiatives designed to develop civil society and good governance.

For more information, please write to [email protected] or call +380 (96) 7147481 to contact Olha Milianovych, Communication Coordinator of East Europe Foundation.

Additionally:

The European Union supports Ukraine in the face of the unprovoked and unjustified full-scale Russian invasion. To date, EUR 2 billion has been allocated to support Ukraine's defence through the European Peace Facility. Support is available through repurposing of ongoing projects worth a total of about EUR 140 million. Over EUR 130 million has recently been disbursed as budget support. This immediate response will be continued through the mobilisation of an additional EUR 330 million.

Over 30 000 tonnes of in-kind assistance has been provided by all EU Member States and other partners through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. EUR 9.1 billion was raised at the 'Stand Up for Ukraine' global pledging event for humanitarian aid, support to refugees, internally displaced persons and recovery. Another EUR 6.1 billion was raised at the International Donor Conference on 5 May 2022 in Warsaw.
The EU also supports Ukraine with emergency Macro-Financial Assistance, amounting to EUR 1.2 billion.