2024 was a year of challenges, hard work and important achievements for the team of the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research.
In the midst of a full-scale war, when Ukraine is facing new realities and challenges, we continued to work to strengthen democracy in Ukraine. From drafting laws to hundreds of consultations through the hotline, every step we took was aimed at supporting civil society and active citizens.
The results of the UCIPR team show that together we are able to create changes even in the most difficult times. What have we achieved?
Legislative activities
We have made a significant contribution to the development of 26 draft laws and analysis of 32 draft legal acts aimed at transparency of NGOs and their development. Among them, the UCIPR experts of the Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity helped to draft laws No. 6401 "On Transparency of Local Self-Government Bodies" and No. 7283 "On Democracy in Communities".
The Law of Ukraine No. 4254 "On Public Consultations" was also adopted. For us, the history of creating this document began in 2015, when we wrote the first version of the text.
Research and monitoring
As part of the National Resilience and Cohesion Platform project, we conducted six fundamental studies:
- "Principles of Resilience and Main Challenges for Communities in Time of War";
- Democratic Institutions for Communities with Limited Self-Governance Capabilities;
- four issues of the regional monitoring "Resilience and Cohesion of Ukrainian Society during the War".
The Ukrainian report of the Civil Society Sustainability Index for 2023 was also presented. The project is a continuation of the Civil Society Organizations Sustainability Index.
Support for civil society
More than 170 consultations were provided to representatives of NGOs, activists, and volunteers through the NGO Legal Aid Hotline, which operates within the framework of the Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity. We were most often contacted on the following issues:
- Registration of civic and charitable organizations;
- Receiving humanitarian aid;
- Taxation of non-profit organizations.
Public events
UCIPR team organized more than 20 events in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Chernivtsi and Mykolaiv. Participants discussed the following issues: humanitarian aid, reporting and taxation aspects for non-profit organizations, development of public participation tools, as well as sustainability challenges and sources of cohesion at different levels.
Participation in international and national initiatives
Valeriya Skvortsova, UCIPR Executive Director, and Yulia Tyshchenko, Head of the Democratic Transition Support Program, took part in the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2024) in Berlin. The conference discussed social recovery and human capital for the future of Ukraine.
The UCIPR team also contributed to the elaboration of the Roadmap for the Functioning of Democratic Institutions and the Action Plan for 2025-2026 for the implementation of the National Strategy for Promoting the Development of Civil Society.
Cooperation with governmental authorities and international partners
This year, we worked fruitfully with the Office of the President, the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Justice, the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, the Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblast military administrations, and international missions in Ukraine.