UNDP Senior Programme Manager in Ukraine, Yuliya Shcherbinina, opened the conference with a welcome speech, highlighting major challenges for the civil society in Ukraine. She also spoke about major UNDP initiatives in the area of capacity building for CSOs. Special attention was paid to the role of regional and local partner organizations of UNDP in building dialogue between civil society and the state. Ms. Shcherbinina noted that the growth of professionalism of government officials and experts from the civil society is key to a prolific and equal-footed cooperation between sectors.

 

During the conference, regional partners of the UNDP "Democratization and Human Rights in Ukraine" project presented their approaches to implementation of joint initiatives between the government and CSOs at the regional level. The most highlighted initiatives concerned development and implementation of the programme for public monitoring of authorities in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ("Tamarisk" Centre) and the project of local initiative digital launch-pad in Lviv (Lviv oblast organization, Committee of Voters of Ukraine).

 

Throughout two days of work, experts and activists presented best practices and experiences of interaction between CSOs and government, raising sensitive issues of trust and cooperation between the two pillars. The conference especially emphasized the positive role of international organizations in supporting projects, initiatives, and programmes, aimed at building trust and fruitful cooperation between government and civil society.