EMBRACE Advisory Platform – Solidarity Package for Ukraine

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United Nations estimate that more than 6 million people have fled the country to seek safety, protection and assistance.

EU Member States bordering Ukraine have been severely impacted by the influx of persons fleeing the invasion and have had to adjust quickly to provide shelter and assistance to refugees.

What is EMBRACE?

The EMBRACE Advisory Platform is a new initiative which complements the Solidarity package developed by the European Investment Bank for EU Member States in response to the conflict in Ukraine. EMBRACE aims to help European Union Member States to better address the needs of Ukrainian refugees and host communities.

Through EMBRACE, EU Member States can receive advisory assistance to rapidly deploy investment projects, financial instruments and platforms to support their communities in the short, medium and long term.

What does EMBRACE offer?

EMBRACE offers advisory services, capacity building and knowledge transfer throughout all stages of the project cycle, in line with the policy goals of the InvestEU programme, JASPERS and fi-compass initiatives.

Each EMBRACE advisory assignment is tailored to the specific needs of the projects to integrate the refugee population and may include:

The services of EMBRACE are provided by EIB experts and external consultants, when relevant. EMBRACE does not provide grant funding or loans, but may facilitate access to EU funding such as Cohesion´s Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Social Fund (ESF), Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU) and other funding sources. The support provided by EMBRACE does not guarantee the approval of funding from these sources.

Getty Images

Who can benefit from EMBRACE?

  • Public sector promoters and public authorities: cities, local authorities, regional administrations, managing authorities responsible for EU funds.
  • Financial institutions: commercial banks, National Promotional Banks & Institutions, funds managers that finance and/or implement relevant financing and investment operations for the benefit of refugee and host communities.

What are the sectors in which EMBRACE can help?

EMBRACE provides support in high impact sectors and where the greatest needs for advisory services have been identified for Ukrainian migrants and host communities. These include:
  • Social and affordable housing
  • Health care infrastructure and services
  • Regional and urban development
  • Education, vocational training and recreational infrastructure and services
  • Integration of gender dimension
  • Digitalisation and innovative infrastructures
  • Clean energy transition
  • Energy security, energy efficiency and integration of renewables
  • Economic development
  • Impact investing, social innovation and SOC

How to contact us

Interested project promoters are invited to contact us by sending an email detailing their project to eib-advisory@eib.org. EIB Group clients can also approach their EIB counterparts to enquire about EMBRACE. JASPERS beneficiaries can also access EMBRACE in the context of their Country Work Program discussions and through the normal means of identification of new assignments.

When contacting us, please tell us more about your organization and your investment project. If possible, please indicate the specific social aspects you aim to address with your project (for example housing, health care, education or economic development).

Public sector promoters and financial intermediaries can receive advisory services at no cost.

Getty Images

Useful resources