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.

“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}