Project overview

This Research England Policy Support (PSF) project will create opportunities for impact on various governmental, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental stakeholders to engage the Ukrainian diaspora and global community in the country’s reconstruction after Russia’s 2022 invasion. Ukraine's diaspora is large, estimated at more than 20 million globally, with 6 million refugees currently in Europe. However, stakeholders face a major challenge: they have limited or no knowledge of each other, and of the perspectives that drive their behaviours. Even on the occasions when diaspora members have established contacts with policy makers, there is unfulfilled potential for the diaspora to be engaged as an agent of democracy and human rights.

Project goals

The major goal is to make policy impact by bringing together and creating a community of practice among: 1) policy makers who design policies on diaspora involvement - both in Ukraine and in host countries - and more generally policies and institutions that regulate relations between Ukraine and its diaspora, 2) representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora, recent refugees and other members of the global Ukrainian community, and 3) representatives of Ukrainian civil society. The project focuses on Ukraine as well as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and EU institutions.

Project collaborations

This project is a continuation of existing successful collaboration between Prof. Maria Koinova at Warwick University and ODIHR since October 2022 Link opens in a new windowfor the conduct of several workshops for the preparation and publication of an ODIHR report, a LSE/EUROPP blogLink opens in a new window post and other works in progress to take the policy discussion further. Besides individual conversations, the current PSF project includes a training component of up 30 representatives of Ukrainian institutions and civil society, Ukrainian diaspora in the six above-mentioned countries, and policy-makers in Europe. The training will be hosted by OSCE-ODIHR on 26-28 June, 2024 in Warsaw. Since April 2024 ICMPD has joined as partner for the training component of this project as well.

Training

The training will focus on key topics associated with the project: economic and social entrepreneurship, transitional justice, EU integration, and include discussions about upcoming solutions for the visa arrangements for Ukrainians in the UK and after the EU's Temporary Protection Directive expires in 2025. The training seeks to connect various stakeholders and create impact from Prof. Koinova’s research findings associated with an ERC Project “Diasporas and Contested Sovereignty”Link opens in a new window and ongoing work on the Ukrainian diaspora, refugees and IDPs, and the established expertise of the two policy partners. ODIHR brings expertise in training of policy professionals and civil society activists on issues of human, migration, and minority rights. ICMPD brings expertise in engaging migrants and diasporas in policy-related processes.Link opens in a new window

Publications

• Keudel, Oleksandra, Maria Koinova, Kateryna Pavlova and Nataliya Pryhornytska. 2024. "Why and How Involve the Global Ukrainian Community for the Recovery of Ukraine," Berlin: Open Platform e.V. and CRISP e.V.

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