East Europe Foundation has determined the winners of the second wave of the competition “Support for CSO Advocacy Campaigns on the Recovery of Territorial Communities and Preparation for Ukraine’s EU Accession,” implemented within the framework of the “Phoenix: The Power of Communities” project with the support of the European Union.

The expert jury panel selected the organisations that will receive funding to implement their projects. These projects aim to strengthen cooperation between civil society and the public sector, ensure transparency and accountability in recovery processes, and raise awareness of them, including in light of Ukraine’s European integration course.

Here’s more detail about the winners and their projects:

The NGO “Association of Private Employers” will advocate for local decisions on the recovery of territorial communities in Kharkiv region. They aim to make participation procedures, entrepreneurship support, veteran integration, and access to opportunities more transparent, non-discriminatory, and closer to good governance principles and EU standards. The organisation will research the barriers veterans and their families face in accessing support programs, and will prepare proposal packages for the Kharkiv city, Pisochyn settlement, and Zlatopil city communities, as well as for the regional level.

The NGO “UMSH Association” will implement European standards of public engagement in the recovery processes of the Kherson city, Pavlivka rural, and Novodnistrovsk city territorial communities. The project includes advocacy training, research on the state of public engagement in target communities, implementation of local advocacy campaigns, and recommendations for partner communities on introducing public engagement standards in recovery and EU accession preparation processes.

The NGO “Women Leaders for Ukraine” will integrate principles of gender-responsive, inclusive, and democratic recovery into the policies and practices of Ukraine’s territorial communities. The project will produce an analytical brief with practical recommendations for local self-government bodies, organise the “Equal Opportunities Leadership” award, and hold a panel discussion on the role of women in community recovery.

The NGO “All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum” will raise Ukrainians’ understanding of the EU accession process and their own role in it. The project will produce an educational video series on how the EU functions and on European integration.

The NGO “Grow Society” will develop a Youth Policy Development Strategy for Odesa region and a portfolio of eight youth projects for its implementation. The organisation will hold district-level strategic sessions and consultations involving youth, CSOs, and relevant stakeholders, advocate for the results, and formally hand them over to the relevant institutions.

The NGO “Odesa Regional Organisation of the All-Ukrainian Civic Organisation ‘Committee of Voters of Ukraine'” is implementing a project to increase budget process transparency in cities that are regional centers. In particular, it will conduct a comprehensive assessment of budget process transparency in 23 regional-center cities and in Kyiv, prepare targeted recommendations for local self-government bodies, compile a National Analytical Report with a “Local Budget Transparency Index” ranking, and run an advocacy campaign to implement the recommendations.

The NGO “Agro Solutions Platform” will develop partnerships between local self-government bodies and agribusiness, contributing to the sustainable recovery of territorial communities in Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv regions. As part of the project, the organisation will survey target groups, hold facilitated public-private dialogue sessions, and prepare practical recommendations for constructive engagement between territorial communities and agribusiness.

The NGO “Ukrainian Institute of International Politics” is implementing a project aimed at strengthening the capacity of rural territorial communities to apply EU approaches and standards in strategic planning. The team will prepare a guide to strategic planning for rural areas based on EU approaches, hold consultations involving ministries, associations, and local self-government bodies, and present recommendations to relevant state institutions.

The NGO “Center for Social Change and Behavioral Economics” will, as part of the project, create a Roadmap for Small and Medium Enterprise Development and Economic Recovery of the Kaniv city territorial community. Also planned are a strategic session involving business and local self-government bodies, a survey of small and medium business representatives, and preparation of a practical document with a portfolio of priority projects.

The NGO “Cherkasy Human Rights Center” is implementing a project to strengthen the capacity of veterans and their family members to participate in developing veteran policy in 10 territorial communities of Cherkasy region. The organisation will hold information and awareness events on the mechanisms for forming and implementing veteran policy, create working groups to improve local veteran policy, and present proposed amendments to policy documents in the target communities.

Congratulations to the competition winners, and we wish them success in implementing their projects. We are confident that these initiatives will contribute to greater openness in recovery processes, strengthen cooperation between the state and civil society, and help citizens better navigate and more actively use the participation tools available to them.