Context sensitivity as an ethical cross-cutting principle of interventions in Ukraine: the position of the Ukrainian Community of Dialogue Practitioners
- May 4
- 2 min read
Any humanitarian, development or peacebuilding intervention inevitably transforms the existing context. The only question is whether it acts as a resource for cohesion or creates new social tensions in environments affected by war and crises, in particular in Ukraine. We continue the conversation about context sensitivity that we have been having on our resources in recent months.
Based on 10+ years of practice working with conflicts in Ukraine, we have formulated our vision in a position paper that proposes looking at context sensitivity not just as a toolkit, but as a cross-cutting ethical "lens."
In Ukrainian realities, this approach is much broader than classical conflict analysis. It encompasses the dynamics of social change, the transformation of the roles of IDPs and communities, as well as the risks that arise from ignoring local specifics.
We have captured key risks and approaches to minimizing them in our position paper. It is designed to align with international EU and UN frameworks, but speaks the language of the Ukrainian field.
In the document we show:
How to integrate context analysis into project design so that it doesn't remain a formality.
Why a “culture of pause” (the stop–reflect–re-design mechanism) is a sign of a team’s professional maturity.
How internal standards and procedures of organizations affect trust in communities.
The Ukrainian Dialogue Community of Practitioners is a professional network operating since 2014. Our expertise is based on 10+ years of facilitation, mediation, and peacebuilding in armed conflict.
We are open to collaboration and ready to support organizations in implementing context-awareness through team training, programming support, and facilitation of strategic discussions.
Contact us: communityofprofessionals.ua@gmail.com
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For State bodies and local governments, please follow the link
For NGOs, please follow this link
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