Civil society and the war on Ukraine

During the reconstruction phase in Ukraine, both local and global CSOs will play a vital role in driving and overseeing the transparency and efficiency of reconstruction funding.

In line with its commitment to address the impact of the war on Ukraine, the Bank is actively engaging with civil society to transfer knowledge, share good practices and disseminate lessons learned. This comprehensive engagement includes: 

i) Supporting civil society in addressing the impacts of the crisis.

• Promoting knowledge and information sharing. The CSE team will collaborate with civil society representatives to ensure ongoing communication between the Bank and the local civic space. This collaboration aims to provide informed support to CSOs and ensure the Bank is updated with relevant insights, so it can tailor EBRD projects to meet evolving local needs.
• Promoting partnerships with civil society. The CSE team aims to forge new and strengthen existing partnerships with civil society, the public and private sectors, and other development partners, including multilateral development banks (MDBs), the United Nations, philanthropic organisations, foundations and donors.
• Increasing community participation in post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. The Bank aims to create mechanisms for effective community engagement and collective decision-making; increase community understanding of regulations on building, planning and transforming urban areas; enhance the readiness and capacity of local community organisations for public participation; and prioritise the needs of those affected by the war through closer alignment of government policy and assistance programmes. 

ii) Supporting civil society in tackling the economic and social inclusion of refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and war veterans. The EBRD will support initiatives to promote economic opportunities for and the social inclusion of refugees and IDPS by:

• Advancing project initiatives aimed at supporting forcibly displaced people. The CSE team will aim to mobilise resources to support civil society in creating employment and social inclusion projects for refugees, IDPs and war veterans. The initiatives will include access to specialised services (legal, administrative and so on) and promoting direct employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
• Engaging with teams across the Bank. The CSE team will work with teams across the Bank (for example, Banking, Gender and Economic Inclusion, and Environment and Sustainability) to explore opportunities and build synergies for joint initiatives with civil society.

iii) Creating open, transparent and competitive public procurement processes.

• This will include supporting public procurement reforms and a regulatory framework that delivers value for money in the use of public funds; engaging with civil society on public procurement reforms and supporting the use of open data; integrating an open contracting approach to public procurement reform strategy and design; and supporting central and local governments in implementing open contracting data standards.

Read more about the impact of selected projects in our case-study section.