UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) leads the UK’s diplomatic, development and consular work around the world. It employs around 17,000 staff in our global network of 281 offices worldwide.

In the Skills Alliance for Ukraine, FCDO has been represented with the following commitment:

• The FCDO is funding a £200k study to assess the feasibility of outcomes-based financing instruments applied to support labour force participation of excluded and marginalised groups in Ukraine. This short-term piece of work will be funded through the FCDO’s Pioneers Outcomes Fund and delivered 31 March 2025.

• The FCDO through its Good Governance Fund is providing technical assistance £740k by 31 March 2025 to GoU agencies to foster an inclusive workforce through:

• Policy advice to the Ministry of Economy, including i) evidence-based recommendations and engagement with employers on hiring veterans and people with disabilities; and ii) support to the Strategy for Reducing the Gender Pay Gap implementation;

• Support of the Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office Steering Group to support and develop female entrepreneurship;

• Analytical support to the EEPO for its work on the Ukraine Report for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring (GEM);

• The “Find Your Purpose” war veteran training programme to engage and train 50 veterans in Kyiv and two pilot hromadas;

• The “Grow 2.0” women’s economic empowerment programme. This is a scaled-up training and mentorship programme, which was tested and received positive feedback last financial year. The programme will select 200 participants and take a cross-sectional approach to engage with displaced women, female war veterans, partners of military personnel, and women living in rural areas.