Foundations Join Forces to Support Civil Society in Ukraine
- The Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (US) have initiated the "Foundations for Ukraine" platform to better coordinate support for Ukraine.
- Representatives of Ukrainian civil society are calling for greater participation in the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) and lament the lack of international support.
- Urgent challenges include psychological support to address trauma and the integration of war veterans.
Berlin, 11 June 2024 – In light of the critical situation in Ukraine as a result of the Russian large-scale war of aggression, the country needs global support more than ever. On the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in Berlin, foundations from North America and Europe have joined forces with the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the CS Mott Foundation, one of the largest US-American foundations, to better coordinate and bundle their support for Ukraine. To this end, they established the Foundations for Ukraine platform. The shaping of the platform was discussed with representatives of a dozen international foundations. The goal is to better coordinate philanthropic initiatives active in Ukraine, share experiences, identify common areas of action, and thus more effectively support civil society in the reconstruction of the country.
“With this platform we want to increase the impact of philanthropic aid in Ukraine,” said Markus Lux, Senior Vice President, Global Issues at the Robert Bosch Stiftung, in Berlin. “At the same time, we hope that other philanthropic organizations from around the world will join in and that we will be able to sustain vital support for Ukraine in this critical phase.”
Wishes for the Ukraine Recovery Conference
The Robert Bosch Foundation invited about eighty representatives from various civil society organizations to Berlin to collect and formulate their wishes for this year’s conference. The civil society actors complained, among other things, that there were no pledges from international donors that extended beyond the end of the year. ‘There is no money for humanitarian aid in 2025,' said the spokesperson for a Ukrainian NGO. Representatives of Ukrainian NGOs and think tanks also called for the establishment of a Civil Society Advisory Board - an advisory body of civil society representatives to the URC. This could give a stronger voice to the concerns of Ukrainian civil society at the political level.
Civil society is already facing major challenges, particularly in relation to the mental health of the people of Ukraine and the social integration of war veterans, and must find new ways to overcome them. Other societies in similar situations could learn from this.