ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON THE
ACTIVITY OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN UKRAINE

Simferopol, Ukraine — January 18, 2012:

On January 18 in Simferopol, Ukraine a roundtable was held on the topic of “Civil Society in Ukraine: Actions to ensure the development of democracy and European integration in Ukraine at the State and regional level”. The roundtable discussion took place at the Center for Intercultural Education and Tolerance, which is based in the Crimean Ethnographic Museum in Simferopol.

The event was supported by the International Renaissance Foundation in preparation for the Citizens' Assembly Forum of Ukraine (CAF) to be held in Kiev in late February. The topic of the forum's discussion in February will be: "The crisis of democracy in Ukraine and the position of civil society".

The roundtable was attended by over 30 representatives of NGOs from Simferopol, Sevastopol, Yalta, Bakhchisarai, and Kirov. During the meeting, participants discussed the challenges facing democratic development in Ukraine and the specific challenges for the region of Crimea. The participants also discussed the role of civil society in providing assistance to Ukraine's integration with Europe and helping to ensure free, fair and productive parliamentary elections in Ukraine in 2012.

As a result of the roundtable, participants developed proposals to increase the participation quota for the CAF to 12 people from Crimea and Sevastopol (as Sevastopol is a separate administrative unit). The 12 delegates were also chosen during the roundtable to take part in the CAF.

SUMMARY: The Citizens' Assembly Forum of Ukraine (CAF) is an initiative that brings together leading public organizations of Ukraine. The aim of the CAF is to create national and regional platforms for discussion and to bring together representatives of nonprofit organizations to work on strategic issues facing Ukrainian society: http://gau.org.ua.