What are the Ukrainian approaches to building a just peace? What practical experience do national and local public organizations, volunteers and community representatives have to achieve the most important goal? What role do Ukrainian and international donors and intergovernmental organizations play in this?
What problems need to be solved now and how to scale efforts and positive experiences?
These issues were discussed on July 25, 2023 in Kyiv, at the conference "Ukrainian Approaches to a Just and Sustainable Peace", which was organized by the BF Right to Protection in partnership with the Community of Dialogue Practitioners with the support of the United States Institute of Peace.
The purpose of the event was to support and develop the subjectivity of Ukrainian civil society organizations working in the field of peace-building, providing a platform for mutual learning, exchange of experiences and innovative approaches to peace-building, which have been implemented since February 2022.
More than 100 representatives of civil society organizations working on various peacebuilding projects took part in the event. Social cohesion and conflict support in work with war victims, work with citizens displaced to EU countries, a trauma-informed approach through mediation, psychological and dialogue practices were highlighted among the areas of activity. Also - peacebuilding through art and the role of media in this, women and youth leadership in peacebuilding, human-centered justice and work with memorialization.
A lot of attention was paid to work in large and small groups, case analysis of effective projects of various organizations working in Ukraine and abroad with displaced citizens. They emphasized antifragility and flexibility in conflict resolution - readiness for a constant change of context, as well as the importance of working with difficult psychological conditions now, before the end of the war. Such conditions, as well as practices of dialogues and exchange of experiences and opinions, can strengthen the joint work of civil society.
Nataliya Bezhlibna and Tatiana Kyselova spoke on behalf of the Community of Dialogue Practitioners, the working groups were moderated by Inna Tereshchenko, Alyona Horova and Svitlana Petrova.
We are grateful to all participants, speakers and moderators for their openness, support and professionalism in sharing experience and expertise. In the future, we will share more detailed reports from the speeches and working groups of our colleagues.
