The Pivotal Role of Civil Society in Ukraine – in Wartime and Beyond

To give just a few examples, movements and organizations such as the Volunteer Movement or the Artistic Hundred ‘Haydamaky’ have proved indispensable in helping refugees and others affected by the war as well as in supporting soldiers and civilians alike in the combat zone. NGO Insha Osvita, whose wider mission is cultural education, has turned its efforts to protecting cultural infrastructure in its oblast, or administrative district. Meanwhile, charitable foundation Rokada is drawing on its many years of experience in providing support to asylum seekers in Ukraine to integrate internally displaced persons (IDPs) by establishing local IDP councils throughout the country to better represent their interests.

That Ukrainian civil society has a pivotal role to play in the country’s recovery and rebuilding has long been evident. From managing psychological trauma in large sections of the population to integrating veterans into (post-)wartime society and overcoming social divisions in a country whose regions have felt the impact of the war in very different ways: The challenges at play are too great for the Ukrainian state to shoulder alone.

This not to mention the concurrent need for non-governmental actors in areas such as the environmental transition, not least in the rebuilding process, with the EU accession process only adding to the urgency. With this future landscape in mind and in the knowledge that these things require time to take root, civil society actors began setting up organizations like Restart, which aims to foster local, cross-sectoral planning processes for rebuilding the country, as early as in the first few weeks following the outbreak of the war.

The sheer weight of the burden on the country, including the financial, leaves no doubt that Ukrainian civil society will continue to depend on international support moving forward. However, philanthropic funding is dwindling while international aid is less than stable – the abrupt suspension of USAID funding the latest, and most extreme, example. All this puts the continued existence of many civil society organizations and initiatives at risk.

Against this backdrop, the Foundations for Ukraine (F4U) initiative that we at the Robert Bosch Stiftung have launched with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, has set out to improve coordination between philanthropic activities and showcase Ukraine’s potential for innovation. F4U also hopes to attract new support, in particular from those who have not previously had Ukraine in their sights beyond the provision of emergency aid. Whatever the considerations at play, the needs of the Ukrainian partners must take center stage. Certainly, one of the central pillars, as addressed by the Alliance of Ukrainian Civil Society Organizations network, is the localization of international funds, namely the tenet that support should go directly to organizations on the ground in Ukraine – the exact principle on which we base our funding in Ukraine here at the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

Experience highlights the danger that civil society actors will take a back seat to state and international influences once a peace agreement is reached. As such, it is vital that the Ukrainian state recognizes Ukrainian civil society and respects its expertise. Ukrainian civil society should also play a leading role in international negotiations and rebuilding processes; this includes its visible and active representation at major international conferences such as the Ukraine Recovery Conference and the Munich Security Conference (MSC).