37 mentee organizations, 27 mentor organizations and 35 mentors took part in the Mentorship Program to strengthen the advocacy capacity of civil society organizations during 2020-2022.

In general, the Mentorship Program is a program during which sustainable CSOs become mentors for the selected newly created civil society organizations – mentees, and help them develop and strengthen advocacy and other capacities.

The program is implemented within the project “Ukrainian Civil Society Sectoral Support Initiative” implemented by a consortium of Initiative Center to Support Social Action “Ednannia”, the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) and the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM).

As Volodymyr Sheihus, Executive Director of Initiative Center to Support Social Action “Ednannia”, noted, the mentoring program strengthens both young organizations and civil society in general.

“In Ukraine, NGOs do not have many opportunities to receive not only money for their own activities, but also support. Therefore, it is important that CSOs could learn new information, learn from best practices and meet colleagues in the sector, because it opens up new opportunities,” he said.

During the Mentorship Program 1.0, 15 mentee organizations developed and began implementing advocacy plans in collaboration with the mentors. The projects covered the topics of barrier-free education, environmental protection, gender policy, the rights of migrant workers and developing citizens’ political culture before the elections.

The problems that our couples worked on during Mentorship Program 2.0 also were versatile – from creating master plans of communities to addressing the issue of social benefits, guarantees and compensation to children affected by hostilities and armed conflicts, from public space infrastructure to addressing the issue of cemetery overload.

Mentorship Program 3.0 was unique in that it officially launched on February 23, the day before the full-scale invasion.

Olesia Kholopik, Director of the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law, speaking about the peculiarities of the structure of the Program 2022, noted: “I’m happy to see how what started out as an idea in 2020 is coming to fruition. How mentee organizations also develop real plans from ideas and later implement them. On February 23, the program started, and then the full-scale war began. But the Mentorship Program continued. It continued thanks to the mentors and mentees, as well as a team that managed to adapt the Program to the needs that arose in wartime conditions.”

“This Mentorship Program has been a challenge for everyone: for participants, organizers, for obvious reasons. It has been implemented more as a response to challenges than as a planned activity. Figures and results of the program are first of all the result of activity and dedication of mentors as well as the activity and reliability of the mentees,” added Olena Matviichuk, Mentorship Program coordinator.

See the general indicators achieved by the Mentorship Program 2020-2022 in a small journal. 

You can see key materials about the Mentorship Program using QR codes.