Democracy in Action: Practical Solutions in Donetsk and Luhansk Regions
Democracy in Action: Practical Solutions in Donetsk and Luhansk Regions—this was the focus of the discussion set by the organizers of the conference, which took place on September 15 in Kyiv. On International Democracy Day, we discussed democracy in action—the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes regarding the future of our own communities and to unite around shared values in various formats and on different platforms.
The conference served as an important platform for open, professional dialogue among representatives of civil society, government agencies, the expert community, and representatives from Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The focus was on issues of institutional recovery and the future of eastern Ukraine.
For the consortium, this event provided an opportunity to present the results of its work within Phase III and to demonstrate how the research, expert discussions, advocacy efforts, and community engagement carried out throughout the project are gradually translating into concrete solutions and new formats for collaboration.
The topic of the conference’s first session was the National Strategy for Promoting the Development of Civil Society for 2021–2026 and its implementation in two regions. During the panel discussion, participants discussed the results of implementing the current Strategy, the current state and prospects of the new state policy on civil society development, as well as the challenges and expectations that exist today specifically for eastern Ukraine. The discussion was joined by Oleksiy Orlovsky, director of the “Democracy and Good Governance” program at the International Renaissance Foundation; Natalia Oksha, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Public Communications at the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine; Oleksiy Kovalenko, Head of the Coordination Council of the “Open Government Partnership” UA Initiative; as well as representatives of the Luhansk and Donetsk Regional State Administrations.
During her speech, Natalia Oksha presented a brief summary of the strategy and next steps regarding the new strategic planning cycle. She highlighted the research areas currently being pursued by the department in the field of developing cooperation between the state and civil society, and emphasized the importance of using such research to understand current trends, needs, and challenges in this area, which will be incorporated into the new document.
Within the scope of the work carried out by the NGO “Luhansk Region Civic Initiative,” a distinct and extremely important outcome of the project was the effort to build an active professional community of representatives from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. This was the focus of the previous two-day expert strategic meeting, “From Dialogue to Action,” which resulted in the development of the concept for the #ProEast expert professional platform. The platform is intended to serve as a venue for coordination, collaboration, joint decision-making, and advocacy at various levels.
#ProEast is a professional expert community of representatives from the East that brings together civil society organizations, executive authorities, military administrations, local self-government bodies, scholars, and residents of temporarily occupied and frontline territories to represent their interests, influence decisions regarding the future of these territories, and ensure conditions for a just return. The main message is very simple: “We exist. We act. We speak on behalf of the East!”
At the same time, #ProEast is not merely an association of organizations or a platform for communication. It is a professional platform that will operate in specific areas, bring experts together in clusters, and create a space for professional discussions and debates. Its mission is to transform the accumulated knowledge, experience, and expertise of representatives from the East into shared positions and concrete solutions.
This conference marked an important milestone in the conclusion of Phase III of the project, but it also signaled the beginning of the next stage. After all, the recovery of the East today is not merely a matter of eventually returning to the territory. It is already a matter of the people who continue to be part of their communities—a matter of preserving their experiences, strengthening their capacities, and creating mechanisms through which their voices will be heard. The East is its people, their experiences, their memories, their expertise, their communities, and their ability to take action. We are here. We are taking action.
The event took place as part of the projects “Engaging Communities in Eastern Ukraine in the Reconstruction of Their Communities: Phase III” and “Strengthening the Capacity of Activists in Eastern Ukraine to Influence the Region’s Reconstruction Processes (Phase III),” which are supported by the International Renaissance Foundation. The projects are being implemented by a consortium of civil society organizations: the NGO “Luhansk Region Civic Initiative” and the NGO “Association ‘Revival and Development’” in cooperation with the All-Ukrainian NGO “Association for the Promotion of Self-Organization of the Population” and the NGO “Center for Political and Legal Reforms.”
Source: Public Space
