For the first time since the beginning of the full-scale war, the civil society of the Chernihiv region gathered to discuss the coordination of recovery processes with the participation of the authorities and community representatives with the aim of creating a single coordination platform. As part of the event, the participants discussed increasing transparency in the recovery of the region and the need for a quality selection of projects for the recovery of life in communities affected by the aggression of the Russian Federation.
A developed civil society is an indicator of a healthy democratic country. It is important that its citizens have their voice and they are heard, said the Head of the UST coalition Olena Koltyk. In her opinion, this meeting is an opportunity to find points of contact and discuss joint actions of coordination in order to better communicate and involve the civil society in recovery processes. After all, there are many needs, and it is important to understand the logic of their provision, taking into account the specifics of the region.
The event was attended by representatives of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, the territorial communities most affected by Russian military aggression (Kyselivska, Ivanivska, and Kiinska), the regional Reconstruction Service, and the civil society representatives. During the discussion, Serhiy Kurenya, Head of the Architecture Department of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, named the implementation of the “eRecovery” program as one of the key areas of cooperation:
“An urgent need that could be covered by the public sector is help with submitting applications for the “eRecovery” program (especially the category of elderly people) and drafting documents for property rights, and legal consultations. As of September 7, we have about 2,000 applications from residents of the region, almost half of which are being processed by commissions.”
According to Pavel Pushchenko, an expert on the Swedish-Ukrainian PROSTO project, local councils in Chernihiv Oblast have only begun the process of creating special commissions for reconstruction planning, when almost a year and a half have passed since the de-occupation.
“We have an example of comprehensive reconstruction of the village. Yagidne, where the community asked people how they see this reconstruction. This is a great example of public discussions, as it should be. But this is a pilot – there is support from the state and powerful funds. What should a community that has suffered but has neither money nor a plan to rebuild do? This is an important question. Communities must have a political understanding that citizen involvement is a necessity, not a formality.”
As one of the possible solutions, he calls for consultations and training of community leaders in the tools of involvement of civil society.
Simon Muschik, representative of the Stabilization Platform – a project that implements and supports programs in Ukraine with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and foreign policy instruments of the European Union, addressed the participants of the event:
“At the local level, cooperation between military-civilian administrations, local government, and civil society is extremely important: joint approaches to assessing needs help build communities, which is necessary for the sustainable strengthening of state structures, especially de-occupied ones. The experience gained in the Chernihiv region can become a valuable example for the reconstruction of other regions.”
The participants of the event identified the main directions for the further work of the platform:
- Consultations for the public on the preparation and execution of documents for receiving compensation for destroyed or damaged housing.
- An information campaign for citizens about real recovery processes in the country.
- Training of the leadership of territorial communities on public involvement.
- Institutional support of public organizations of Chernihiv region.
“The UST team organized this meeting to start a public dialogue regarding the involvement of the civil society in the processes and planning of reconstruction, because everyone has a common goal, but everyone’s vision may be different,” said Andrii Kuzhel, Head of the Chernihiv UST Regional Office
“The UST coalition, with the participation of national experts, developed the SMART prioritization methodology. It was created in order to change approaches to reconstruction processes: not to agree to all offers of funding, instead to prioritize our needs – to show donors what help is critically needed now,” said Olena Koltyk, encouraging communities to use the methodology tool in their work.
The event was attended by:
- Yuriy Sukhomlyn, Deputy Head of the Department of Economic Development of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration
- Serhii Kurenya, acting Head of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration
- Andriy Halyuga, Head of the Volunteer Association “Bo Mozemo!”
- Alina Kolomiets, Spokeswoman of the Service for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure in Chernihiv Region
- Pavlo Pushchenko, Expert of the PROSTO project, author of the manual “Informing the Population in Crisis Conditions and Involving Them in the Process of Planning and Reconstruction of Communities”
- Viktor Nikitenko, Deputy Head of the Kyinska TC (Territorial Community)
- Volodymyr Shelupets, Head of Kyselivska TC
- Petrenko Svitlana, Head of the Department of the National Medical Center of the Ivanivska TC
The event “Involvement of Civil Society in the Recovery of Chernihiv Region” took place on September 7, 2023 in Chernihiv and was organized by the Chernihiv office of the Ukraine Support Team (UST) coalition. The project in the Chernihiv region is implemented by the NGO “BRDO” with the support of “Stabilization Platform” on the order of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany.
Фото: Влад Спешилов
The report “Rebuilding Life: A Comprehensive Need Assessment of War-Torn Regions” summarizes the work result of the UST (Ukraine Support Team) – a coalition of public organizations, analytical centers, and national and regional teams that united to develop an effective recovery approach through strengthening communities, establishing interaction with donors, attracting aid to the population to ensure all the necessary conditions for Ukrainian citizens to return home.
The project team consists of national experts and regional teams in two chosen pilot regions – Chernihiv and Mykolaiv.
We focused on three areas of public life: education, health, and energy security. Based on the experience of piloting the project, we decided to use a comprehensive approach to analyze regions and include communities’ strategic development in the overview.
Read or download the report “Restoring Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of the Needs of War-Torn Regions”.
Below you can also find the Catalog of Projects in Chernihiv, Kherson and Mykolaiv Regions.
“No one knows what “build back better” is. And we managed to implement it. School No 20 in Chernihiv is such an example, when it is possible to restore it and bring it back to life, class by class, piece by piece. And in my deep conviction, this is an example for others, for business, how you can slowly recover without having millions of dollars”, – Anna Novosad.
On June 6, 2023. Anna Novosad, an expert in education of the UST coalition and the founder of the SavED charitable foundation, presented the restored computer science class at Chernihiv School No. 20. This educational institution is one of 25 in Chernihiv that were destroyed during the blockade of the city in February-March 2022. Two more were completely destroyed. On March 6 of past year, 5 Russian shells hit the territory of school No. 20, one of them hit the sports hall, the computer science class was also destroyed.
Now the computer science class is functioning again. According to Anna Novosad, restoration began in December 2022. IT company SQUAD provided it with equipment, namely 20 modern computers, and furniture. For repairs, money was raised from other donors.
“It may seem like it’s just one class, but in fact it gives hope. This shows that joint efforts can be done and that it is not so expensive,” said Anna Novosad.
The communities of Mykolaiv region received 3 specialized vehicles for technical inspection of buildings and for the needs of social services. The vehicles s were provided by the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine and the Government of Canada, the head of the Mykolayiv UST office, Dmytro Tarasenko, were coordinating the assistance.
“The obtained equipment will allow more effective assistance to the population and will speed up the recovery of the affected communities of the region,” notes the head of Mykolaiv Region Military Administration Vitaly Kim.
Special vehicles were transferred:
- A car for a mobile group for technical inspection of buildings and structures, which enables an expert assessment of the scale of damaged or destroyed objects, was handed over to the Directorate for Capital Construction and Reconstruction of the Mykolaiv Regional Council;
- The Mykolayiv Regional Center of Social Services received the “Social Services to Communities” car, which will help the expert team provide social and psychological assistance in the territories affected by the war;
- The “Mobile Social Services” vehicle, which has special equipment for providing social services to the less mobile population and residents of remote areas, was handed over to the needs of the Ascension Center for the provision of social services.
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