Kyiv, June 7, 2010. - The World Bank Office in Ukraine has awarded grants to five civil society organizations as a part of the annual Small Grants Program (Civil Society Fund) competition. This year the Ukraine Small Grants Program is focused on improving governance through enhancing the role of civil society in improving service provision and government accountability in particular. Inside this broader area, the Program is concentrated on supporting civil society activities, addressing the issues of public accountability in health and communal services. Among 111 applications received this year, proposals by the following organizations stood out for innovation in addressing the issues of public accountability in health and communal services:
1. Strengthening the community role in management of housing and communal enterprises, by Bakhmat Environmental and Cultural Center, Artemivsk, Donetsk Oblast
2. Creation of network of civil inspectors in housing and communal services, by MAMA-86 All-Ukrainian Environmental Civic Organization, Kyiv
3. Development of self-organization – the way to authorities’ accountability, by Black Sea Area Center for Political and Social Research, Kherson
4. Information campaign on the accountability of local authorities in the area of housing energy efficiency, by Western Ukrainian Media Center “New Journalism”, Lviv
5. Monitoring of targeted public health programs in Odessa, by Our Children NGO, Odessa
Winners were selected by an independent panel which included experts from the Delegation of European Commission, International Renaissance Foundation, Counterpart Creative Center, and the World Bank. The total amount of grant funding awarded to these five organizations is $25,000.
“Ukraine ranks poorly in the public perceptions of the quality of health and communal services. Poor governance is one of the reasons for the low level of satisfaction and trust with public services. The activities supported by this year’s Small Grants Program are meant to exemplify how civil society can help improve governance and thus help rebuild trust from below,” said Martin Raiser, World Bank Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.
The World Bank Small Grants Program (Civil Society Fund) for non-governmental organizations is a mechanism complementing the Bank programs on enhancing cooperation and communication between different partners and enabling the World Bank to directly cooperate with civil society organizations.
