USAID/ENGAGE Supports Eight New Regional CSOs

Last week, our team met with our new partners – CSOs and coalitions from Zaporizhzhya, Sumy Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Eight new grants will be used by our partners for implementation of anti-corruption, advocacy and environmental initiatives. Activists will also focus on working with regional youth, ensuring gender equality and local participation in decision-making by local authorities. Find out bellow more about the projects, organizations, and their main activities.

CSO “Freedom” will increase youth and citizen engagement in civic activism, strengthening democratic governance in the city of Enerhodar (Zaporizhzhia Oblast). By receiving the funds, activists will implement the project “Mosaic” and advance a more effective community consisting of members of local CSOs, youth, and adolescents. After participating in the project and creating a wide array of products, the community will defend the principles of democratic movement in the Enerhodar. The project has two components: environment and inclusion. The project events will be implemented in two tracks, both in line with the latest reforms in the country. Under the first track, the program “Inclusive Enerhodar” will make sure the universal design principles find their way into the infrastructure development road map of Enerhodar. The second track will focus on the implementation of a garbage recycling (sorting) system in the city. The project will run through August 31, 2020.

CSO “Mediavision,” and its “Environmental Impact Assessment: Evaluate and Influence!” project. The purpose of the project is to improve environmental conditions in Zaporizhzhia by engaging citizens in environmental impact assessment procedures and advocacy activities. The project seeks to reach its goals through a set of activities, including monitoring of environmental impact assessment procedures for 2019-2020 and identifying cases that could attract citizens’ interest and raise awareness; fostering public participation in consultation procedures (via face-to-face meetings and consultations); conducting analysis of implementation of the companies’ commitments agreed during environmental impact assessment procedures; and developing  and advocating for a Zaporizhzhia environmental policy agenda. The project will be implemented by July 31, 2020.

CSO “Astra Center of Modern Development”. The project will be implemented in the Kherson Oblast and focus on reducing levels of corruption and increasing the efficiency of the Nova Kakhovka City Administration by engaging citizens into collective advocacy efforts to solve emblematic local policy issues. The project activities will include monitoring and analysis of the local government’s decisions; identification and investigation of cases of possible corruption and mismanagement of public funds; creation and dissemination of interactive content (via YouTube and the organization’s newsletter) to share analyses with locals and  engage them into public oversight and advocacy efforts aimed at solving issues. The activities will run through October 15, 2020.

CSO “Public Sumy Circle” and its project titled “Gender-Sensitive Initiatives: New Opportunities for the Community” . The purpose of the project is to increase the impact of community members on the formation of gender-sensitive community development strategies. The proposed project will raise the level of citizen involvement in promoting, communicating, and implementing gender-sensitive initiatives, strategies, and policies at the local communities of the Sumy Oblast. The project implementers will use gender-sensitive tools (gender analysis and gender budgeting) to develop community programs and strategies, as well as help other local civil society groups master these tools and apply them to influence the policy-making processes, including advocacy campaigning to engage wider communities. It is planned that the project will be finalized by March 31, 2021.

Chuhuiv Human Rights Protection Group will promote citizen engagement and advocate for reforms agenda in four communities of the Kharkiv Oblast. The Chuhuiv Human Rights Protection Group seeks to combine the efforts of all local stakeholders and establish cooperation among ordinary people, activists, and authorities via local coalitions. By receiving this grant, the Chuhuiv Human Rights Protection Group will foster the launch of four local reform coalitions in the Kharkiv Oblast, increase the level of citizen participation in the community decision-making process, as well as local CSOs’ activities, and identify and advocate for the implementation of the most pressing local community reforms. The project will run through October 31, 2020.

CSO “Development Together,” and more specifically, its project “The Network of Youth Hubs of Kharkiv Oblast Is Driving Public Activity”. With these funds, the organization will increase the level of civic activity in five cities of the Kharkiv Oblast (Zmiiv, Balakliia, Krasnohrad, Pervomaiskyi, and Chuhuiv) through involving citizens in community problem-solving, influencing public transportation policy, promoting participative democracy tools among citizens, improving the city, and developing environmental awareness of citizens. The network of hubs will help to strengthen the social activism movement in the Kharkiv Oblast through enhancing the motivation of the local community to participate in community processes. This will be done via effective and efficient work of the Youth Hub Network. It is planned that the project will be finalized by October 31, 2020.

CSO “Railway Without Corruption” and it project “Public monitoring of the Sumy region”. The project aims to improve accountability of local authorities in decision making on local budgets use. Its objectives include engaging citizens in controlling quality of government services and increasing public knowledge on available mechanisms of overseeing public budget. The project also aims to empower citizens and increase the role of women journalists in investigating corruption cases at the local level. The goal of the project will be achieved through the following activities: monitoring of the use of public budget and disseminating information on specific cases of misuse of public funds; conducting public events to engage common citizens in oversight of public spending; providing support and mentoring to local activists willing to investigate cases of local corruption and disseminate information on these cases; organizing several edutainment activities for common citizens (city walking tours, bike excursions etc.) to demonstrate cases of poor management of public funds and discuss ways to improve the situation; conducting advocacy campaign to introduce best practices of public procurement and financial management in local government work. The project will run through November 1, 2020.

CSO “Bureau of Legal Communications” and the project “Engagement of Low-Mobility Groups into Advocacy Actions and Systemic Change of Accessibility in Sumy.” The project will engage representatives of PWD and low-mobility groups in advocacy efforts geared at creating more inclusive local policies in the City of Sumy. Activities of the project include human rights thematic events, consultations, and communication meetings with representatives of vulnerable groups aiming at gathering their ideas about the ways to improve local inclusion policies and city infrastructure; conducting street actions and flash mobs to raise public awareness of the inclusion related problems; developing a free software application for mobile devices that will provide two options to the users: (a) to do the accessibility audit by marking the places in the city that are hardly accessible for PWD and low-mobility groups, and (b) point out the locations with accessible infrastructure; and conducting the advocacy campaign aimed at solving the identified problems.  The project will result in a positive experience of civic participation among PWD, and – in the long-term perspective – creation of barrier-free community standards and tolerant attitudes towards PWD in the City of Sumy. It is planned that the project will be finalized by January 31, 2021.