On June 10, on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference #URC24, non-governmental organizations from Ukraine gathered politicians, experts, diplomats, and representatives of civil society organizations in Berlin to discuss how to ensure an inclusive recovery process in Ukraine.
CENSS co-organized this conference together with other civil society organizations. The conference was held with the financial support of the Folke Bernadotte Academy.
Inclusiveness is not a luxury but a necessity for any democratic society. For Ukraine, inclusive recovery is an opportunity to build a country in which every Ukrainian wants to live after the war, and to involve every local community and representatives of all population groups in projects to build a new Ukraine. ‘Nothing for Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine’ – these are some of the many definitions of inclusive recovery that civil society experts, Ukrainian and foreign leaders working in this field, shared at the event ‘Inclusive Recovery and Reconstruction in Ukraine’, which took place on 10 June 2024 in Berlin as a side event of the annual Ukrainian Recovery Conference.
The event was attended by representatives of Ukrainian civil society organisations, Ukrainian and international organisations, foreign governmental organisations, and experts working on inclusive recovery. Among them were representatives of the Bundestag, British Embassy Kyiv, UN Women, Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, GIZ ZFD Ukraine, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Eurasia Foundation, IISS-Europe, Berghof Foundation, Institute of Innovative Governance, Salzburg Global Seminar, Ukrainian World Congress and others.
The experts, which took part: Mark Muller Stuart (United Nations Adviser, Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics), Sergio Jaramillo (National Security Advisor to the President of Colombia), Lesnic Cristina (vice premier minister for reintegration of Moldova), Emmicki Roos (Senior Women, Peace, and Security Expert, Folke Bernadotte Academy), Eldridge Adolfo (Senior Mediation Adviser, Folke Bernadotte Academy).
At the conference, the initiators, representatives of Ukrainian civil society organisations with experience in the field of social cohesion, presented their recommendations for inclusive recovery and reconstruction, developed with the participation of local and foreign experts. The proposed recommendations should complement the work of the Ukrainian government to ensure the recovery, reconstruction and reorientation of Ukraine both nationally and internationally after the full-scale aggressive war by the Russian Federation.
The Inclusive Recovery and Reconstruction project was supported by the Swedish government organisation FBA (Folke Bernadotte Academy). Throughout the IRRC project, the initiators identified four broad areas in which they could make a significant contribution: rule of law, inclusive and digital governance, dialogue and social cohesion, and implementation frameworks and recovery mechanisms.
Initiators: Фонд Східна Європа, Ukrainian Community of Dialogue Practitioners and the Rule of Law network of organisations: Fama – Custom Research Agency, Center for Security Studies CENSS, Всеукраїнська Асоціація Жінок – Суддів and the Centre for Legal Civic Initiatives.