Rebuilding Ukraine From the Ground Up: Strengthening Civil Society-Local Government Collaboration for Recovery

A decade after the Revolution of Dignity, and amid the ongoing full-scale invasion by Russia, Ukraine has demonstrated extraordinary resilience and commitment to reform. Its progress on European integration, confirmed by the EU’s 2023 decision to open accession talks, now intersects with an unprecedented national recovery effort.

Reconstruction costs were recently estimated at $524 billion over the next decade, and Ukraine must mobilize international support and domestic capacity if it is to recover. Two of its most important assets for this process are civil society organizations (CSOs) and empowered local governments. Decentralization reform and wartime solidarity have fostered promising partnerships between the two, but cooperation remains uneven. Surveys reveal that many CSOs are not yet meaningfully engaged in local recovery planning, and collaboration gaps persist across municipalities. Strengthening cooperation is vital for ensuring an inclusive, accountable, and sustainable recovery process, especially as local government and civil society face immense pressure from the war and the demands of reconstruction.

How can Ukraine deepen collaboration between the two to support effective and equitable recovery? What best practices have emerged from joint projects between them during the war and what barriers still limit broader cooperation? What role should donors and international partners play in incentivizing and enabling local-level partnerships? How can these partnerships be institutionalized to ensure they endure beyond the immediate crisis? This event will focus on providing answers to these critical questions.

To register, please click on the button above. For more information, contact Zsuzsanna Végh ([email protected]).

The event takes place in the framework of GMF's ReThink.CEE Fellowship program.

The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan policy organization committed to the idea that the United States and Europe are stronger together.