Civil Assembly to press for formation of Ukrainian civil society

Kyiv, March 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Civil Assembly of Ukraine has created the coordinating council on communication and cooperation with public organizations, Co-chairman of the Civil Assembly of Ukraine and President of NGO Ukrainian Strategy Anatoliy Pinchuk said at the press conference hosted by the Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

The decision to set up the council was taken at the fourth forum of the Civil Assembly of Ukraine, which was held in Kyiv on March 22.

"The Forum of the Civil Assembly has been held for the fourth time, and it was to a certain extent a crucial one. For the first time, public organizations have determined a common position on the most important challenges now facing the Ukrainian community, and worked out a common plan of action," Pinchuk said.

The participants of the forum stated that the reform of state institutions is proceeding extremely slowly and in fact is "an imitation of action": a real fight against corruption is being substituted by loud statements and showy actions, and the majority of the so-called reforms, announced with fine slogans, are actually leading to the monopolization of power by a single political party, said the head of the Independent Center for Political Studies, Maksym Latsyba.

The participants of the forum demanded that favorable conditions for the development and work of the civil society institutions be created, and that there be real participation by the public in forming and implementing public policy at all levels, as well as public oversight over the work of state and local government bodies.

"We hope that the fourth forum of the Civil Assembly will be an impetus for a new quality of Ukrainian civil society, which will lead to changes in Ukrainian society in general," Pinchuk said.