From January 8 to 14, the International Renaissance Foundation held a series of regional meetings with representatives of civil society. Representatives of the Foundation visited Mykolaiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. The 7 meetings were attended by over 450 participants in total.
The meetings included a presentation of new competitions announced by the Foundation with the support of the Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation (NORAD) in partnership with Sweden (Sida) and cooperation with the Eastern Europe Foundation, as well as a session to discuss challenges and opportunities for the development of the regions visited.
Most participants came to the meetings in Odesa, Kharkiv, and Dnipro.
“Civil society is concentrated not only in Kyiv, but is also actively developing in the regions of Ukraine. Thousands of important initiatives are working at the local level, and we want to be open to each of them,” said Oleksiy Orlovsky, Director of the Democracy and Good Governance Program. ”For those working in the regions that have suffered serious destruction due to the war, it is important to have the opportunity to communicate personally with experts, representatives of foundations and colleagues from other organizations, to learn directly about opportunities for cooperation and support.”
The presentations were aimed to familiarize the participants with the new competitions that the Foundation, together with its partners, offers to civil society organizations. The speakers informed about the goals, priorities and conditions of participation in the two competitions, as well as about financial opportunities for implementing various initiatives. Participants asked questions, inquired about the details of the competitions, funding conditions and application requirements.
The participants were active not only in asking questions, but also in their comments, suggestions and ideas on how to improve the situation in the regions and what new opportunities are opening up for civil society organizations.
“Such meetings allow civil society to learn about new opportunities and initiatives and become part of the discussion on the development of their regions. They become a platform for the exchange of ideas, experience and best practices. And for us, as a charitable foundation, it is important to understand what local civil society organizations are doing, to hear and understand their needs,” said Tetyana Kukharenko, manager of the project ‘Empowering Civil Society for Ukraine’s Resilience and Recovery’, within the framework of which the meetings were held.
The attendees of the meetings emphasized the importance of developing cooperation between civil society organizations and government agencies, and stressed the need to support innovative initiatives that can help accelerate recovery from crisis periods.
These meetings provided a platform for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of funding and support for civic initiatives, as well as for clarifying the details of the conditions for participation in competitions. They helped to strengthen ties between organizations, facilitated the exchange of experience and the creation of new partnerships for further cooperation. The meetings were attended by representatives of many relocated civil society organizations from Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia regions.
On January 16, at 16:00, an online presentation of the institutional grants competition, which was presented in the regions, will also take place.
As a reminder, the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) together with the East Europe Foundation (EEF) with the support of the Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation (NORAD) in partnership with Sweden (Sida) have launched a three-year project “Empowering Civil Society for Ukraine’s Resilience and Recovery”. The goal of the Project is to increase the capacity of Ukrainian civil society organizations (CSOs) to set and achieve development goals that will contribute to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, early recovery, and democratic governance reforms in Ukraine.
