On August 1-2, a study tour for civil society organizations (CSOs) from Rivne Oblast to their colleagues in Lviv Oblast took place, marking the first event under the USAID HOVERLA Activity. The goal was for active organizations to get to know each other, exchange experiences, develop new ideas, jointly write projects, and unite efforts in common areas of work. As a result, representatives from five organizations from Zdolbuniv, Zhovkva, and Obroshyne signed three memorandums of cooperation during the trip.

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For this tour, the HOVERLA experts selected the ten most active CSOs from Rivne Oblast. These CSOs work at the local level, implementing projects within, by, and for the communities. Zhovkva and Obroshyne were chosen as the study tour destinations, as these communities are acknowledged for their leadership in civil society development in Lviv Oblast.

Inna Martynchuk, an associate professor at Rivne State University, is also a board member of the About You and Ukraine CSO in her hometown in Zdolbuniv. During the meeting in Zhovkva, Inna was particularly interested in the presentation about the local organization Zhovkva Development Agency, especially its approaches to working with youth. Impressed by their approach, Iryna decided to partner with them without hesitation.

 

 

"They have an impressive approach through creating spaces, festivals, film screenings, and so on. This experience can strengthen our organization, and we, in turn, can share our methods of organizing youth, such as through informal meetings. This visit inspired me to pursue even broader cooperation between our organizations — to organize such exchange meetings between the youth of our communities," said Inna Martynchuk.

This study tour was a continuation of the School for Organizational Development Support for active citizens and CSO leaders of communities collaborating with the USAID HOVERLA Activity, conducted during December 2023-June 2024.

 

 

Oresta Zasadna from Obroshyne, who heads the Our Action Space CSO, and Nataliya Bindyuk, the leader of the Women in the Community CSO in Zdolbuniv first met at the School for Organizational Development Support. They considered collaborating, particularly in gender equality development. When they met again during the study tour, they signed a memorandum to commence the activities.

"For me, this is an opportunity for joint strategizing and networking, as well as spreading our values to another region. For example, we have a good project for celebrating Father's Day in support of military fathers, and soon, we will implement a project that promotes the use of the feminine form of nouns, especially for occupations. It would be great to extend such projects to, for instance, Obroshyne. In turn, we would like to adopt their experience in working with children, collaborating with opinion leaders, and building contacts with religious organizations," said Nataliya Bindyuk.

 

 

"We have many women leaders, and it's important for us to empower them. This experience exchange and signing a memorandum is a significant step towards the development of our organization, which is only a few years old," said Oresta Zasadna.

Additionally, during the visit, the newly created Obroshyne Voluntary Fire Brigade CSO signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Obroshyne Village Council.

"Active civil society organizations are beneficial to the local government, as they can strengthen it and fill certain areas of work. In our community, we have a public council with which we develop project concepts and implement them. By talking with people who care about community safety, the idea of our voluntary fire brigade was born. It led to international training, resulting in us receiving powerful equipment from Germany. Now, at the village council level, we plan to promote the involvement of entrepreneurs in supporting the fire brigade, provide benefits for its members, and so on," said Ivan Halych, Obroshyne Mayor.

 

 

 

Participants of the study tour also met with colleagues from large and experienced civil society organizations such as the European Dialogue, the Center for Educational Initiatives, and the Yavoriv Local Economic Development Agency.

The USAID HOVERLA Activity will continue to strengthen the capacity of CSOs in community development and recovery.