Strategy for promoting civil society development and Action plan on deoccupation of Crimea and Sevastopol

01 October 2021
Strategy for promoting civil society development and Action plan on deoccupation of Crimea and Sevastopol
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This week MPs work with voters, so the Verkhovna Rada has not made any important decisions. Servant of the People faction decided to hold its field session in Truskavets.

Meanwhile, the President and the Cabinet made several decisions that will have a significant impact on people’s lives for many years. In particular, these decisions addressed the development of non-governmental organizations and the return of Crimea.

National strategy for promoting civil society development

Decision-maker: the President.

Who is affected: members of non-governmental organizations, trade unions, civic and creative associations, charitable and religious organizations, population self-organization entities, government bodies, local governments, and Ukrainian citizens.

Summary of the decree: the decree defines objectives for the development of civil society in Ukraine for 2021—2016:

  • to introduce effective procedures to ensure the participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the development and implementation of state and local policies:
    • to define standards and procedures for conducting public consultations at all stages of the development and implementation of the policies
    • to analyze the work of public councils and continue to enhance their performance
    • to prepare legislation on local referendums and freedom of peaceful assembly
  • to create a favorable environment for the CSOs:
    • to simplify and reduce the period of registration, creation, and dissolution of these organizations
    • to gradually digitalize the contests for core and project funding of these institutions
  • to stimulate the participation of CSOs in the social and economic life of the country
  • to promote intersectoral cooperation.

What is right:

  • the strategy has been developed in cooperation with those affected by it. Representatives of civil society participated in drafting the strategy
  • the strategy addresses important problems in the relations between the state and its citizens. In particular, the problems with access to public information, citizens’ engagement in decision making, and transparency of decision making.

What is wrong:

  • the strategy should have been adopted by the Cabinet, not the President. The Cabinet will be responsible for the development and implementation of the policies and draft bills in question. Government officials are better informed about the situation
  • some of the proposed changes can make the work of government bodies and local governments much harder. For example, public consultations at all stages of the development and implementation of state and local policies will significantly slow down the process of decision-making and policy implementation.

Action plan for deoccupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Sevastopol

Decision-maker: the Cabinet.

Who is affected: Ukrainian citizens, in particular those living on the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Sevastopol, government bodies, and local governments.

Summary of the plan: defines objectives concerning the deoccupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Sevastopol, appoints bodies responsible for implementing the plan, provides its timeline, and describes the expected results. The Cabinet plans to do the following:

  • to keep track of violations and open criminal cases against occupants for the infringement of rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens, protect the interests of Ukrainian legal entities
  • to protect, support, and rehabilitate persons imprisoned as a result of the armed aggression
  • to encourage the international community to introduce sanctions against the aggressor state, impose sanctions against representatives of the occupational administration
  • to provide litigation support for cases against Russia in the international judicial bodies
  • to define the procedure and reasons for the lustration of persons who cooperated with or occupied positions in the occupational administration
  • to introduce mechanisms of extrajudicial procedure to establish the facts of birth and death on the temporarily occupied territories
  • to create a candidate pool of civil servants ready to work in the restored Ukrainian government bodies in Crimea and Sevastopol
  • to simplify access to education in Ukraine for pupils from the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Sevastopol.

What is right:

  • Ukraine finally has a clearly defined state policy on the deoccupation of the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Sevastopol. The action plan will make it easier to reintegrate these territories
  • the plan defines objectives, a timeline, and bodies responsible for the fulfillment of these objectives.

What is wrong: the plan for deoccupation should have been developed much earlier. The armed aggression started seven years ago.