October 19: in the press center of the “Panorama” there was a meeting with civil society activists from Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kirovohrad, Rivne, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk regions with representatives of public organizations of the Mukachevo City. Study tour on the “Modern methods and tools of interaction between civil society organizations and government bodies and local authorities” was held in the framework of the project “Ukrainian Regional Platform for Public Initiatives”, which is implemented by the Foundation “Center of Public Initiatives” (Perechyn).

Weekly study tour included meetings with NGOs and representatives of local authorities in the Transcarpathian region. In Mukachevo, employee of the Human Rights Fund “Progress” was invited at the event, and shared their experiences in the field of human rights.

Most community organizations are interested in issues concerning about the Roma community. In view of the fact that in the most regions of Ukraine the Roma community doesn’t live compactly, the participants were interested in absolutely everything that concerns them: their history, stereotypes they face up to the current state of affairs. Especially interesting was the theme of the work of the Resource Center of Roma Self-Governance, which is a separate unit of the Human Rights Fund “Progress”: “Currently we are working with Roma communities in five Mukachevo districts. Each of them has their specials needs: someone needs help in the issuance of the identification documents, and someone is ready to embark on self-governance. After creating the first Roma Self-Governance body in Svaliava City, there was activation in the other communities of Transcarpathian region. In conclusion the Resource Center of Roma Self-Governance was created, which provides information and legal assistance in establishing similar bodies”, – the executive director of the Fund Natalia Kozyr explained.

We hope that this meeting will not be the only one and will be the beginning of our cooperation with other public organizations of Ukraine.

The press center of the Human Rights Fund “Progress”