The creation of an enabling environment for civil society development is one of the preconditions and measures of democracy and stability of any country's political system.

During the meeting, President Petro Poroshenko stressed that the Revolution of Dignity generated new tendencies and thus additional opportunities for developing civil society and deepening democracy in Ukraine. "Whether authorities like it or not, when civil society representatives criticize them, we should learn to cooperate to earn trust both inside and outside the country to demonstrate that we work as a team," the President said.

 

The visionary document is based on the revised Strategy for Civil Society Development in Ukraine (2016-2020), adopted in 2012. In order to elaborate a longer-term vision for the development of civil society, Ukrainian civil society organisations (CSOs) in cooperation with the Presidential Administration of Ukraine and international organizations, including UNDP Ukraine, revised and updated the Strategy.

 

An informal working group was established comprising representatives of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, Ukrainian think-tank CSOs, OSCE, and UNDP. Commencing its work in January 2015, the working group has reviewed the existing Strategy vis-à-vis new challenges, tendencies, and perspectives faced by the Ukrainian civil society in the recent two years and developed recommendations on its revision. The recommendations take into account the results of consultations with the interested public in all phases of the Strategy development, including feedback of the participants of regional round table discussions.

 

The enhanced Strategy defines the guidelines to improve the existing legal, financial and institutional framework of support for civil society through addressing four main strategic areas: institutional framework for civil society development, strengthening the role of CSOs for social and economic development, civil society and participatory democracy, and intersectoral cooperation. Special attention has been paid to development of the terms of "civil society" and "civil society organizations" and the measures how to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Strategy.

 

 

The key step following the adoption of the Strategy will be the development of the Action Plan for its implementation, detailing actions to be taken, designated focal points, and a timeline.

 

The Strategy heralds a change in how internal processes and trends can be properly addressed and reflected in the civil society-related strategic framework to ensure the creation of an enabling and hospitable environment for civil society development, which is an embodiment of civic democracy.