Making ukrainian civil society matter

As Ukraine’s democratic standards continue to deteriorate, Ukrainian civil society is in need of external support to ensure that it remains vibrant and diverse. International donors may help make the NGO sector sustainable by reaching out to grass-roots initiatives as well as by providing institutional funding to established and growing organizations. Such are the key conclusions of the present report which was prepared jointly by the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw and the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation on the basis of interviews with leaders of non-governmental organizations in five cities of Ukraine. The report offers a number of evidence-based recommendations, which include lowering application barriers, offering staff training and coaching and increasing transparency in beneficiaries' internal management. Such changes are essential for international assistance to be an effective tool for making the Ukrainian civil society a strong and lasting foundation of Ukrainian democratic culture.