Ukraine

Eurasia Foundation opened its representative office in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1993.

Since then, Eurasia Foundation has invested more than $44 million in grants, loans and technical assistance in Ukraine. The Foundation has successfully supported a wide range of activities, benefiting institutions and individuals at the local level with programmatic focus on supporting civil society, private enterprise development and public administration and policy reform. It also established the Economic Education & Research Consortium (EERC) which now adminsters the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), a world class graduate program with joint degree with University of Houston.

As part of its drive to establish partner foundations throughout the region, Eurasia Foundation set up East Europe Foundation of Ukraine (EEF-Ukraine) as an independent organization in 2007. EEF-Ukraine builds on its founder's experience by further developing the most effective programs and sharing its founder’s commitment to innovation and seeking to support successful community-driven development initiatives.

Programs

EEF-Ukraine’s most active programs include:

  • Local Economic and Social Development Program, which strengthens public-private partnerships at the local level to improve the capacity of communities to stimulate economic development, improve communal infrastructure, by adapting energy-saving and alternative energy technology, develop small and medium enterprises, and support vocational training and employment for vulnerable populations.
  • Effective Governance, which protects citizen rights and improves local and regional governance by helping the national government to design public policies, implement national reforms and increase the participation of regional civil society organizations in the policy making process.
  • Corporate Social Responsibility and Responsible Philanthropy Program, which unites local governments, large corporations, local businesses, and NGOs to affect positive change by partnering in initiatives that seek sustainable solutions for Ukraine and promote transparent and responsible philanthropy.
  • Municipal Partnerships for Better Energy Use Project, which raises public awareness of energy-saving approaches among various stakeholders, installs energy-saving equipment at hospitals, kindergartens, schools and museums and facilitates local government and community cooperation.

Impact

  • Through the Opportunities for Underprivileged Youth Project, EEF of Ukraine has served more than 1,000 young people living with disabilities in Luhansk and Lviv, providing them with educational and organizational services, guidance on vocational training and finding employment. Since the launch of the project in 2009,132 such individuals have been assisted with finding work.
  • Equal Access for People with Disabilities Project, started in 2009, has equipped sites in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast with accommodations such as ramps, call buttons, a library for the blind with more than 1,050 audio books, and special signs for people with disabilities.
  • Since 2006, EEF of Ukraine and Eurasia Foundation have invested nearly $400,000 in 21 local initiatives in 11 regions of Ukraine that support partnerships between municipal governments and community groups to improve energy efficiency, install innovative technologies and share best practices.
  • In Dnipropetrovsk and Chernivtsi oblasts, EEF of Ukraine trained 1,000 local government representatives on new information technologies. “Smart Village” software was piloted in 226 village councils of Chernivtsi oblast and will significantly improve record-keeping and document preparation on various social and administrative issues. In 22 districts of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, 334 municipalities are now connected to a general information network that uses email and the internet to streamline their working processes. 22 district-level websites now offer citizens access to information about the government’s work, resolutions and services provided at the local level.