Eastern Partnership
Towards Civil Society Forum

Recommendations from Civil Society in Ukraine

A first ENPI seminar, organised by the Transcarpathian Advocacy and Development Centre “ADVANCE” from 25-28 March 2009 in Janoshi, Ukraine, formed the beginning of a series of ENPI seminars within the APRODEV network in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine. All seminars have the objective to develop policy recommendations in the context of the Mid-Term Review of the ENPI CSPs and NIPs 2010-2013. The participants welcomed the invitation of the European Commission to contribute an opinion on the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and used the occasion to develop a joint response.

Among the participants were the member organisations of “ACCORD” (Association of Civil Organisations for Development in Western Ukraine) and their partners representing together about 50 NGOs from different Ukrainian regions (cf. participants list in annex). The members of ACCORD are organisations dealing with legal, educational, social and civil sphere development issues in Lviv, Ivano-Frankhivsk, Ternopol and Transcarpathia. The partner organisations of ACCORD, having experience in the field of legal, social, educational and civil sphere issues, came from Ukrainian regions such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Poltava, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Chernyivtsi, Vinnyitsa and Khust.

Details

“CROSS-BORDER COLLABORATION OF CIVIL ORGANIZATIONS IN TERMS
OF THE EUROPEAN NEIGHBORHOOD POLICY” – UKRAINE/TRANSCARPATHIA

APPROACH TO THE EUROPEAN UNION – POSSIBILITES OF THE CIVIL ORGANIZATIONS IN WESTERN UKRAINE

A new development program was launched in Ukraine/Transcarpathia by the Hungarian Interchurch Aid and the ADVANCE Transcarpathian Advocacy and Development Centre with the title of “Cross-border collaboration of civil organizations in terms of the European Neighborhood Policy”.
The program materialized with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary.

Sharing of the best practices

The eight-month long development program aims at contributing to the consolidation of democratization and stability in the Eastern-European region – with special regard to the Western part of Ukraine.
The program ensures the sharing of the best practices among the civil organizations in Hungary and Western Ukraine. It promotes the development and sustainable functioning of the civil network in Ukraine for the sake of the democratization of the region.
A trilingual /English, Ukrainian, Hungarian/ website will be promoting the sharing of information – http://civilinfo.org.ua/hun/.
The trainings, workshops and conferences will make possible the practical handover of the knowledge and experiences of the Interchurch Aid and other organizations connected with the EU.

Photos

More details to be found on the http://civilinfo.org.ua/hun/ website

The representatives of the partner organizations of the ACCORD Association of Civil Organizations for Development in Western Ukraine took part on a three-day long conference in the frame of the program “Cross-border collaboration of civil organizations related to the European Neighborhood Policy” organized by the Hungarian Interchurch Aid and the ADVANCE Transcarpathian Advocacy and Development Centre. This program serves to intensify of collaborations between Hungarian and Ukrainian non-governmental organizations, to acquaint and share the experiences connected with the European Union. The first meeting was held in the conference hall of the hotel Helikon in Janoshi in the 26-28 of November 2008. The participants of the meeting elaborated the topics of the following trainings, the program of the study visit to Budapest, made suggestions for the preparation of the website of the network, for the final conference and for the professional publication which summarizes the results of the project. 

In the implementation of the training the following people have taken part: Nagy Akos, the departmental manager of the Hungarian Interchurch Aid, Gerevich Janos, the director of the ADVANCE, Andriy Visnyak and Lesya Aronec trainers, Erin Dowland and Sheila Slimp, volunteers of the Peace Corps of the United States.

Photos

Report on the first meeting of the ACCORD Association of Civil Organizations for Development in Western Ukraine

The first meeting of the ACCORD Association of Civil Organizations for Development in Western Ukraine was held in the hotel of Helikon in Janoshi on the 26^th -28^th of November.After welcoming the representatives, Nagy Akos the departmental manager of the Hungarian Interchurch Aid informed the participants about the items of the agenda. Moreover, he introduced the members of the network to the joint project of the Hungarian Interchurch Aid and ADVANCE which name is “Cross-border collaboration of civil organizations related to the European Neighborhood Policy”. The main objective of this project is to intensify the collaborations between Hungarian and Ukrainian non-governmental organizations, to acquaint and share experiences connected with the European Union.After that participants were acquainted with the project of the network Aprodev. The name of this project is “Regional partnership of church-related and secular non-governmental organizations in the framework of European Neighborhood Policy (ENP)”. This brief report was followed by the presentation of Lesya Aronec about the Formation and neighborhood Policy of the European Union.This was followed by a training held by Andriy Visnyak. The following suggestions were made:

• Training in January: writing projects (logical frame matrix, background etc.); information about writing projects, donors; elaboration of strategy plan; how and where can an NGO get money from; collaboration between the sectors; information about the ENP; preparation of a social map; project account.
• Traveling seminar to Budapest: sharing experiences with non-governmental organizations; to get acquainted with the functioning of an existing network; to get acquainted with the work of legal experts, courts and local governments, organizing thematic visits to (children house, Roma population, youngsters, invalid people); financing NGOs; fundraising; ways of supporting non-governmental organizations by the government; collaboration of NGOs; looking for partnership.
• Professional publication: information about the members of the network, project results.
• Website: more information about the ENP; guide about the work of the members of the network; project materials, etc.

At the end of the meeting the results were summarized by Nagy Akos, who thanked the participation and effective job of the people present.

The civil network consists of 20 organisations. Members are working in Beregovo, the Beregovo district, Munkácsevo, Uzhgorod, Perecsin, Lvov, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankovsk. Organisations included in the network perform different kinds of activities of public utility.

Legal and social counseling and legal aid work are performed by ’Vested’ Carpathian Human Rights Association and Social Organization, ’Vibir’ Transcarpathian Regional Center of Social-Labor Rehabilitation and Professional Tendencies, ’Etalon’ Youth and Social Center in Ivano-Frankovsk, Center of Social Initiatives in Perecseny, Rights and Democracy Regional Social Charity Foundation in Lemberg, ’Druzsba’ Association for the Protection of Youth Rights and Freedom in Ternopol.  

Support to disabled and promotion of their social integration are realized by  ’Vibir’ Transcarpathian Regional Center of Social-Labor Rehabilitation and Professional Tendencies and the Society for All Charity Foundation in Ungvár. In Beregovo similar tasks are performed by the Beregovo District Association for Physically Disabled in Beregovo and the Spring Charity Foundation in Hungary.   

In the field of youth protection the following organizations are active:  ’Romano Lungo Trajo’ Transcarpathian County Charity Foundaton and ’Shine’ Charity Foundation in Ungvár; ’Etalon’ Youth and Social Center in Ivano-Frankovsk, ’Our Future’  Ternopol County Charity Foundation for the Assistance and Promotion of Professional Development of Youth and ’Druzsba’  Association for the Protection of Youth Rights and Freedom in Ternopol; the Beregovo District Social Organisation of Roma Women for Roma culture and ’Gordius’ Youth and Social Organisation in Beregovo; ’Spring’ Charity Foundation is involved in youth protection of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county.

In the field of education the ’Perspektíva’ (Perspective) Educational Center in Beregovo, the ’Shine’ Charity Foundation in Ungvár, the ’Etalon’ Youth and Social Center in Ivano-Frankovsk and Center for European Integration and Over-the-Boarder Cooperation in Munkachevo are present.  

Regional development, tourism and environmental protection issues are addressed by the Bene Charity Foundation in Beregovo district, Center for European Integration and Over-the-Boarder Cooperation in Munkachevo, the Huszt-Europe-Center for Regional Development in Huszt,  ’Druzsba’ Association for the Protection of Youth Rights and Freedom and   ’Our Future’  Ternopol County Charity Foundation for the Assistance and Promotion of Professional Development of Youth in Ternopol and the Center for Social Initiatives Charity Foundation in Perecseny.