The material was published in the Detector Media

Artem Konovalov, Expert at Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law

Many of almost a hundred problems stated in the document have been solved or are to be solved soon. However, new challenges and dangers have emerged.

On September 30, 2020, the project “Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity”, which is implemented by the Initiative Center to Support Social Action “Ednannia” in consortium with the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) and Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM), presented a Legal Reforms Roadmap for Civil Society – a document that combined analysis, vision of civil society development and formed the principles of policy on public support for civil society. To formalize the Map as a document representing the interests of the entire public sector, the Activity held 37 thematic discussions and 6 regional discussions, which were attended by 1,164 participants from more than 250 civil society organizations at the national and local levels. We have proposed solutions to almost a hundred problems faced by activists, initiative groups, NGOs and charitable organizations, self-organization bodies, etc. Were these issues resolved in a year? Have new ones emerged during this time, and how will we respond to them?

Legal Reforms Roadmap for Civil Society is almost 160 pages long, and its abbreviated infographic version is 20 pages long. In order to allow the public to follow its implementation, we have created an interactive map tracking board. The tool not only allows you to see the status of the solution “in progress” or “implemented”, but also to track the events that led to the result (problem cards contain links to relevant news).

Advocacy campaigns

Since the release of the Legal Reforms Roadmap, NGOs have embarked on a series of advocacy campaigns, three of which have had significant or decisive success:

1) National Strategy for Promoting Civil Society Development in Ukraine for 2021–2026 was approved, the its regional discussions lasted started from October last year;

2) The parliament approved and the president signed the law “On the Basic Principles of Youth Policy” — it provides for strengthening youth participation in decision-making processes and support for youth organizations, in particular through the Ukrainian Youth Fund, which is currently under discussion;

3) Changes were approved to the government’s procedure for holding competitions for funding NGOs, which made it possible to launch a single platform “VzaemoDiia” for conducting electronic competitions. It already has competitions available to identify projects developed by youth and children’s NGOs, and projects of national and patriotic upbringing, implemented by civil society institutions, financed in 2022.

Other successes include achievements that need further support:

• Approval as a whole is pending for draft law No. 4254 on public consultations, which passed the first reading in March and should consolidate the guarantees of consultations between state, local self-government bodies and the public;
• The Ministry of Justice is to submit amendments to the Law “On Public Associations” to the parliament, designed to simplify the registration procedures for NGOs and to eliminate some discrepancies in the legislation;
• The conceptof introducing a tax designation mechanism for civil society organizations has been developed; it will allow citizens to transfer about 2% of their paid personal income tax to non-profit organizations;
• The parliament postponed the submission of information on the ultimate beneficial owners for legal entities for nine months, but more than 300 NGOs appealedto the parliament to have non-profit organizations exempted from this obligation;
• A law drafted by the Ministry of Social Policy was registered in the Verkhovna Rada and put on the agenda, it provides for the introduction of a permit to engage foreign volunteers and excessive screening of the latter for possible threats to national security, which almost a hundred non-governmental organizations have already spoken out against;

• Three draft laws (3059-1, 3059-2, 3059-3) were removedfrom the parliament, which threatened civil society and advocacy in particular, but at least three more initiatives dangerous for democracy remain on the agenda of the current session of the Verkhovna Rada: 3193-1 (provides for the lustration of people from the public sector), 3326 (extends lustration to people who for the past ten years have held the position of leader or were members of NGOs that received funding from any source outside of Ukraine), 3572 (prohibits funding of authorities from abroad, in particular through assistance programs of the European Union, foreign governments, international organizations and donors).

Legal reforms platform for civil society organizations

To strengthen advocacy campaigns to implement the map, interested non-governmental organizations within the Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity have created a Legal Reforms Platform for NGOs. We believe that advocating for the adoption and implementation of positive legal changes for civil society, provided for by the Legal Reforms Roadmap for Civil Society, will be more effective and successful with the active participation of civil society organizations. Therefore, the Platform is always open to NGOs that want to help. At the same time, those wishing to join the Platform must choose one or more items of the advocacy “menu”:

• Regulatory work (analysis of the impact of draft acts not prepared by the Platform, providing comments, proposals for such draft acts; development of drafts, including alternatives to the acts prepared by the entity other than the Platform);
• General overview (providing cases, practices; compliance monitoring; sector analysis);
• Correspondence (sending letters of support; sending requests for regulatory work);
• “Physical” support of decisions (participation in meetings and meetings of the authorities, advisory structures; participation in direct action; participation in online meetings of stakeholders);
• Public position (media statements; signing of public documents; dissemination on social media);
• Implementation of decisions (working contacts with the parliamentary body and executive bodies of local self-government, local state administrations; participation in regional and local consulting, advisory bodies; assistance in the implementation of new acts; participation in preparation of methodological, advisory materials for NGOs and employees).

The Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity offers participants a platform for professional development, exchange of expertise and a special grant competition “Promoting the Improvement of the Legal Environment for Civil Society in Ukraine”, which will contribute to the implementation of the Map and thus improve the legal environment in which civil society organizations and charitable organizations operate.

What`s next

The results of the first year of implementation of the Legal Reforms Map for Civil Society were discussed at the Legal Reform Forum in September 2021. In particular, the need to supplement the Map with the challenges that have emerged over the past year was voiced. To do this, we are planning to hold an expert discussion. It is also necessary to transfer the Map to the recently adopted National Strategy for Promoting Civil Society Development in Ukraine, which should receive the first three-year implementation plan – its public discussion is to begin in the nearest future.

Implementing solutions proposed by the Legal Reforms Map for Civil Society requires constant attention on the part of the activists, constant interaction on the part of the government sector and constant readiness for the “long game”. It is also necessary to be aware of the dangers that can be demotivating.

Artem Konovalov, Expert at Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law

This material was prepared as part of the Project Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity implemented by the Initiative Center to Support Social Action “Ednannia” in partnership with the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) and Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM) with the sincere support of the American people through United States Agency for International Development.