Why is community stability and sustainability important for victory? In the midst of martial law, how can civil society organizations and local governments form mutually beneficial and effective partnerships? What can the public and local governments do to help the recovery process?
During the panel discussion, these questions became crucial “On the ground, victory. How civil society collaborates with local self-government bodies in Ukraine’s restoration “, held in conjunction with the 11th Civil Society Development Forum.
Nataliya Fedorovych, participant of the Network for the Protection of National Interests “ANTS” and head of the “Community Restoration” project, who took part in the discussion, emphasized the importance of monitoring what the government does at all levels. Furthermore, she believes that Ukrainians should not be afraid to seek power and not see it as someone else’s.
“It is critical that we understand that the government is our responsibility; if it fails to complete the tasks assigned to it, it must be changed. Controlling the work and decisions of the authorities is also an important task. The same level of scrutiny should be applied to public initiatives,” – Nataliya Fedorovych emphasized.
During her speech, she mentioned Ukrainian historian Volodymyr Antonovych, who described the leading key idea around which three peoples: Ukrainians, Poles, and russians have rallied for centuries in his preface to one of his works about the Cossack times in Ukraine.
“He very interestingly observed that, whereas for Russians the leading idea is great power and one person’s rule, which is still relevant today, for Ukrainians the key idea in both political and social life is people’s democracy.” According to the ANTS member, what is happening in our country is activism and people’s democracy.
It is worth noting that the forum had 5 working locations. Around 70 different speakers spoke about the country’s changes, what new opportunities are emerging for it, how civil society has changed and how people’s values are changing, what the country’s future challenges and opportunities are, and how to capitalize on them. The forum is organized by the “Unity” initiative center for promoting public movement activity and development.
