NGO STAN, the member of WG4 UNP, implemented the project “Diversity Ambassadors in Prykarpattya – antifragile support of vulnerable groups and civic activists in Transcarpathian region of Ukraine” with support EaP CSF COVID-19 mitigation grant during 1 December 2020 – 28 February 2021.
The project mapped communities on Ivano-Frankivsk oblast to the state of grassroots initiatives and organizations working on pluralism and diversity. The mapping took place in two stages: holding a series of meetings with civil society opinion leaders and holding a series of visits to the community-selected communities of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, namely: Kolomyia, Kalush, Verkhovyna, Dolyna, Lysets and Ivano-Frankivsk.
Local representatives of public organizations, representatives of self-government, entrepreneurs of creative industries, active youth, representatives of the media were involved in the meetings for conducting interviews within the framework of the Mapping Activity. Also in the framework of the project of workshops in communities: Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyia, Kalush, Dolyna, Ivano-Frankivsk, Verkhovyna, as well as active youth from Vorokhta OTG. The total number of participants in the workshops was 66, including 42 female participants.
Each workshop contained two thematic parts. The first was dedicated to understanding the values of inclusiveness and tolerance in their communities and how to look for potential in diversity. The second part focuses on project management, finding ideas and developing mini-projects to improve the community. The workshop programs were based on approaches to non-formal education of the Council of Europe (methodology of the program “COMPASS”) and the British Council (methodology of the program “Active Citizens ”), which have been tested in various communities around the world. Such methodologies help to bring together people with different socio-demographic characteristics and help them to work productively to address issues relevant to the community.
The result of the mapping was that there were more than 40 interview meetings, which allowed the NGO STAN to understand the situation in the region in terms of diversity initiatives and the challenges they faced. Also, initiatives and actors received reinforcement and support, information on opportunities, as well as guarantees of cooperation and support of the STAN Resource Center, which is quite relevant in quarantine. In the future, the Grantee plans to explore Prykarpattia in order to create a network of actors in which it will be possible to form a culture of interaction between civil society institutions. For its part, the NGO “Youth Organization STAN” expects to become a kind of resource center for initiatives and a mouthpiece for those who are not heard. To ensure such a plan during the autumn of 2020 – spring of 2021, the physical space of the State Resource Center was created.
The success story is also that the Grant Recipient of STAN received support from the USAID UCBI II program, which improved the impact on communities. In particular, in March, teams from selected communities implemented projects and implemented their own initiatives. Only 5 community projects were implemented during March-April.
These projects covered the issues of Human Rights, Gender Equality or the need for Dialogue for pluralism of opinion in the community. Abstracts of projects:
1. Sewing school for children from families in difficult life circumstances.
2. Support for the creation of a youth center at the Youth Council of Dolyna.
3. Support of the youth center at the Youth Council of Kalush.
4. Support for the establishment of a youth center in Kolomyia.
5. Formation of an artistic environment that speaks of feminism.
The grantee involved volunteer photographers from Europe. Czech documentary photographer Jakub Laichter, as well as Austrian photojournalist and writer Samuel Eder. Researched local initiatives within the project Ambassadors of Diversity in Prykarpattia and provided photo support.
As part of the community communication from Kolomyia, the local leader was strengthened. In a very short time, city activists were mobilized to join the team that applied for the Dream and Act Program for the Youth TUT youth centers (USAID, IREX, BUR). A number of mentoring meetings were held on youth center planning and application writing.
You can read the report (in Ukrainian) at the link: https://stan.org.ua/media/diversity-of-initiatives-of-the-prykarpattia/