With the support of the European Union, an informed and resilient civil society will be built in the region highly affected by the war in Ukraine
Resilience means the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Assistance and support for the local actors of change, such as civil society organisations (CSOs), grassroots groups, and independent media are crucial for maintaining an effective response to the impacts of the war in Ukraine. People in Need (PIN) with partners are launching a new EU-funded regional project to resist coming challenges in Eastern Partnership countries.
“Resilient Civil Society and Media Respond to the Ukraine War” is the name of the new project implemented by PIN, in consortium with the Prague Civil Society Centre and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee. With support from the Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), these three organisations have come together to join forces to efficiently respond to the needs of the war-affected population in Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and other countries.
Two years-long project focusing on the support of CSOs and independent media actors in the Eastern Partnership countries has been recently launched. The providing consortium directs the attention to the capacity building, skills training, and supplies of financial resources and psychosocial support to initiatives to manage the evolving needs of the conflict-impacted region.
“The consortium members jointly seek to address the immediate needs resulting from the Ukraine war, as well as the longer-term risks associated with disinformation and media space,” said Erika Dvorakova, PIN’s consortium coordinator.
The initial stage of the project was a call for participation in the form of applications for grants. This phase of the project was launched simultaneously in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, and addressed to the submitted applicants. As a final result of the first selection round, 32 organisations in target countries have been opted out. The second round will be held until the end of the year 2022 in all countries. The chosen CSOs had to go through a rigorous selection process, based on standards of interest of bringing new approaches to achieve concrete results and motivation to mobilise and be a role model for systematic change on the local or national level.
“The resilience building of civil society and media is one of the most critical missions. We believe strong civil society actors, human rights defenders and independent media are crucial for achieving a more just, democratic and better world,” said Tinatin Japaridze, PIN’s regional project manager.
PIN aims to increase the capacities of CSOs to be able to deliver extended and more inclusive service provision and public support. In addition, PIN plans to disburse grants to CSOs, independent media outlets and exiled organisations. As a result, at least 86 organisations and media outlets will be supported in the implementing countries. Planned series of training will help independent media actors to reach a wider audience and ensure truthful and high-quality coverage for more people. Newly established relationships between local and national or regional media will help to beat disinformation campaigns and strengthen access to information for non-majority communities. As well as media literacy component will be included in the training to increase the skills of targeted groups. The fellowship, mentoring, coaching, and consultations are closely tailored to the purpose of the project, as well as networking and creating contacts on the local, national and regional levels.
The first 8 CSOs, selected by the PIN Moldova team, are: The Training and Personal Development Centre “Anima”, Institute for Rural Initiatives, NGO “Renașterea-C”, NGO “Afina”, NGO “Dăruim Vise”, NGO AREAP, Association for Human Rights “Lex XXI” and Association of Psychologists “Tighina”. The teams of these organisations will be supported to renew their resources and will be guided to overcome more easily the negative effects of the war, which has affected the whole region.
