“Evidence-based Recovery and Cohesion Lab” — we are launching a new project

Cedos systematically works on projects that promote the development of civil society, participation and interaction of citizens with each other and with the authorities. This helps to strengthen social cohesion and ensure that the interests of all groups are represented in policy-making processes. We pay special attention to supporting civil society organisations that are actively working to strengthen local democracy and engage people in decision-making.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, many local and regional NGOs have been responding to the needs of the population in their communities and providing humanitarian assistance. After 2.5 years of full-scale war, local organisations are faced with the need to seek long-term solutions and engage in discussions on state policies and recovery issues. At the same time, national authorities lack the resources to engage civil society organisations, especially at the local and regional levels, in the policy-making process. 

Organisations working on the ground in their communities best understand the needs of the population, including vulnerable social groups. To ensure social cohesion and inclusive recovery, Ukraine needs to sustain civil society efforts to advocate for social needs and provide the government with feedback from the local and regional levels.

Cedos, with the support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is launching a new project, the “Evidence-based Recovery and Cohesion Lab”. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of civil society and local governments in Ukraine to assess the needs of vulnerable social groups and advocate for their interests in the national policy-making and recovery process.

This project will strengthen civil society organizations by enhancing their research, policy analysis, and advocacy skills. We will help several hromadas to research their current issues, conduct a series of educational seminars, talk about research and analysis in new podcasts, and continue to discuss ways to solve problems in hromadas in articles on Mistosite. In addition, the project has a public programme and networking between local organisations and national authorities.

We are excited about this project and the opportunity to help civil society organisations working at the local level. We are convinced that research is the foundation for effective, evidence-based policies, and the more organisations that are able to do it, the more likely decisions and policies will meet people’s needs. In addition, both local and national governments are facing many challenges related to the war, the need to implement reforms, lack of resources, etc. As a result, the authorities at these two levels do not always recognise each other’s problems and needs. To enable them to work in synergy, it is important to have a dialogue where they can discuss current issues and find solutions together. Providing a platform for such conversations is one of the goals of our project

Yulia Kabanets,
Senior Analyst at Cedos, Project Manager