Three UNDP in Ukraine projects on web accessibility, community security, and citizen engagement hosted events and presented their activities during the forum

Kyiv, 3 December 2021 – The 10th Civil Society Development Forum, titled “Independence Is Us!” organized by the “Ednannia” Initiative Centre to Support Social Action, was held in Kyiv on 30 November.

The Civil Society Development Forum is an annual event for experience exchange among civil society organizations from all over the country. This year's Forum, titled “Independence Is Us!”, discussed and celebrated the contribution of civil society to the democratic development of the state. The event attracted about 1,800 participants from all over the country and was supported by a number of partners and donors, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine.

In her welcoming remarks to forum participants, UNDP Resident Representative to Ukraine Dafina Gercheva stressed the key role of civil society in protecting the country's democratic development.

“Over the past 30 years, many civil society organizations have become powerful platforms for improving the lives of Ukrainians through advocating for change, making government accountable, engaging citizens, and giving a voice to the most vulnerable,” she said. “Civil society plays a critical and indispensable role in steering and accelerating social transformation, therefore, collective and decisive efforts are needed to enable civil society to thrive.”

“Building a strong and vibrant civil society in Ukraine is one of the Denmark's priorities,” Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Ukraine Ole Egberg Mikkelsen said at the forum. “Denmark supports large-scale projects for the development of civil society organizations, including those implemented by UNDP in Ukraine,” he added.

In turn, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sweden to Ukraine Tobias Thyberg pointed out the contribution of NGOs in achieving gender equality in the country. “Civil society organizations are drivers of positive change in Ukraine – you promote development,” Thyberg said. “The achievements that we see, particularly in the field of gender equality, would not be possible without your participation. Sweden remains your powerful partner in this.”

First Lady Olena Zelenska participated in a discussion on building a barrier-free environment and creating equal opportunities in the country and talked about the progress made in these areas. She underlined the role of two UNDP projects – the DIA Support Project and the Human Rights for Ukraine project, which contributed members of the Barrier-Free Environment Council in Ukraine at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine – in building an inclusive environment. Earlier, UNDP supported the development of the National Strategy for Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine, which was adopted by the Ukrainian government in April this year.

Web accessibility was the topic of a forum workshop organised under the DIA Support Project with the support of Sweden. Project experts Roman Borenko (Inclusive IT) and Anna Mysyshyn (Institute of Innovative Governance) demonstrated how people with visual impairments use web resources and shared key recommendations on creating accessible web content. Visitors to the UNDP information point could also test their web sites and check what accessibility issues they might have.

The questions of how civil society organizations can engage citizens and what skills need to be developed for this purpose were discussed at a forum panel discussion called “Out of the box. How do civil society organizations need to engage citizens?” The discussion was organized by the Civil Society for Enhanced Democracy and Human Rights in Ukraine (CSDR) project with the support of Denmark. Civil society activists Yuriy Yuzych (“Plast – NSOU”), Orysia Lutsevych (Chatham House), Daniel Honoré Jensen (Danish Youth Council), Anna Bondarenko (Ukrainian Volunteer Service), Andriy Pavlovych (Fundacja Rozwoju Systemu Edukacji), Olena Masalitina (EdCamp Ukraine) and moderator Larysa Denysenko spoke about the importance of involving citizens in the activities of civil society organizations and shared their experiences of advocacy, building partnerships, and expanding the volunteer base.

The UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme also organized an interactive zone at the forum called “Together we are in Safety (SpilnoTy v Bezpeci): Network of Community Security and Social Cohesion Working Groups (CSWG Network)” with quests, competitions, community mapping tool presentations, promo and knowledge products on community mobilization for community security. Here, leaders and members of Community Security and Social Cohesion Working groups (incl. advocacy ex-combatants’ groups) from six oblasts (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Zhytomyr, and Dnipro) presented their approaches, tools, and achievements.

Furthermore, Tetiana Sihaieva, Leader of Community Security Working Groups Network in Donetsk oblasts facilitated a session of the game “SpilnoTy v Bezpeci,” of which she is the co-creator, which was developed to model a Community Security Working Group. In the game, players in various roles – of policeman, IDP woman, elderly man, young community leaders, or a UNDP representative, etc. – get to experience the dynamics behind the interactions between community security working group members, and together discover ways to achieve safer and more cohesive communities.

Together with partners, representatives of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme also presented experiences of community mobilization in the east of Ukraine at a panel discussion called “Social capital of the community, or what has everybody forgotten about in the decentralization process.” They presented the results of a study of CSO effectiveness in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and the role of CSOs in social capital development, and also shared examples of successful community-building practices for community security that could be up-scaled across the country.

There was also a session of presentations from donor organizations. UNDP’s programme on democratic governance, as well as that on recovery and peacebuilding, presented opportunities for cooperation and grant support available to NGOs.

Media inquiries:

Yuliia Samus, Communications Team Leader, UNDP in Ukraine, Yuliia.Samus@undp.org or +38 097 139 1475