On 5 December, Kyiv hosted the XIII Civil Society Development Forum “(we) STAND”. This year’s event was dedicated to the unsurpassed strength of unity and resilience of Ukrainians, which is clearly manifested in the context of a full-scale war.

More than 4000 active participants took part in the Forum in offline and online formats, including certified civic education teachers (IFES Ukraine), Head of the Department of Law Enforcement and General Legal Disciplines Olena Kozynets and Associate Professor of the same department Alla Nitchenko.

The participants of the Forum joined the panel discussions “Doomed to democracy: how Ukraine, despite the war, does not deviate from the path of democracy and freedom” and “Paths to Unity: how the war tests social cohesion”.

During the panel discussions, the participants discussed how Ukrainian society preserves democracy even in the most difficult conditions, what challenges the media and civil society organisations face and what role journalists play in protecting civil liberties and transparency of democracy, how not to lose the sense of unity without avoiding difficult topics for discussion, how polarised we are and how we are affected by destructive information influences, how rethinking the information and cultural space helps to fight external influences and strengthen sustainable.

The 13th Annual Civil Society Development Forum was held by the “Yednannia” Initiative Centre for Promoting Civic Engagement and Development thanks to the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) within the framework of the Sectoral Support Initiative for Ukrainian Civil Society project, implemented by the “Yednannia” Initiative Centre in consortium with The Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) and Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law; with the support of the European Union; with financial support from the governments of Norway and Sweden; the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UK International Development within the framework of the Promoting Integrity in the Public Sector (Pro-In-tegrity) initiative; UNDP in Ukraine and funding from the governments of Denmark and Japan; Save the Children and Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA); OSCE Support Programme for Ukraine; Support Programme of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for Ukraine; EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI), funded by the EU and co-funded and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark; Alliance of Ukrainian Civil Society Organisations; International Renaissance Foundation; and the C.S. Mott Foundation in partnership with the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

The innovative and interactive course on civic education is implemented by the Chernihiv Polytechnic National University with the partnership support of IFES, USAID Ukraine, Global Affairs Canada and the British Embassy Kyiv.