On February 14-15, our Foundation and UNDP Ukraine held the "Government and Community: a Common Path to Public Safety and Recovery. Experience of the South" forum in Kyiv for local governments, WAs, NGOs, National Police, State Emergency Services, Civil-military Cooperation of Zaporizhzhya, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Kherson regions. This was made possible thanks to the generous financial support of the Danish Government and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
The main focus of the forum is the exchange of experiences between the communities of the target areas in overcoming the challenges related to the war. In particular, it was about strengthening public security through building strong horizontal ties between public organizations, local authorities, emergency services, police, and business and expanding interaction between them.
At the forum, special attention was paid to attracting help from international organizations for a sustainable transition from humanitarian support to planning for further reconstruction with the active involvement of the public.
Among the topics discussed at the panel discussions were:
- Recovery strategy: national, regional, and local aspects.
- Investing in security and recovery: the role of international partners and donor organizations.
- Security in communities: the role of security service providers, authorities and the public. Regional and local levels.
- Community success stories: practical cases of restoration and strengthening of security.
- War-related migration: return for recovery.
- How the public and business can be involved in restoring and building security in communities.
Also were presented:
- A digital ecosystem for the accountable management of recovery DREAM.
- Universal recommendations regarding the action plan for the restoration of de-occupied communities.
- Recovery offices that were created in some regions of Ukraine.
- Experience in a socially responsible business - MHP.
The event gathered more than 100 participants, including representatives of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Office of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, the Embassy of Denmark in Ukraine, and other departments and organizations.
We thank our reliable partners - NED and UNDP in Ukraine, for tirelessly helping the communities of the south!
This is already the second forum of this format. A year ago, participants from the south of Ukraine also gathered in Kyiv and discussed similar topics and shared experiences.