As part of the Civil Society Week, on September 19, the partnership and interaction forum “Voices of Donetsk Region” was held in Dnipro, which became an important step of the project “Networking of Civil Society Organizations of Donetsk Region”. The project is implemented by the public organization “Tvory Dobropillya” in partnership with the Donetsk Regional State Administration and with the support of the Council of Europe.
The forum brought together more than 50 people - representatives of public organizations, local governments and structural divisions of the regional state administration. The forum was also broadcast online.
The panel discussion, to which representatives of the Department of Family, Youth and Mass Events of National and Patriotic Education, the Department of Culture and Tourism, the Department of Education and Science, the Department for Ensuring Interaction with Local Government Bodies of the Regional State Administration were invited, discussed the role of public organizations in affirming Ukrainian national and civic identity among the population of Donetsk region, the possibility of supporting temporarily displaced persons and the development of joint initiatives with local governments.
The forum participants were united in working groups in two directions: communication and organizational. The main result was the decision to create a working group that will ensure effective exchange of information and feedback between civil society organizations and regional state administration and local self-government bodies.
The event provided an opportunity to establish new partnerships, in particular with the Pokrovska District State Administration, which is ready to provide its Hubs for temporary IDPs and venues for events. This will allow for direct access to the hubs and create synergy between the communities of the Donetsk region, which are currently working in different parts of the country.
The “Voices of Donetsk Region” forum showed that combining the efforts of public organizations and state institutions allows finding effective solutions to support IDPs, develop communities, and preserve the cultural identity of the Donetsk region.