Since the 25th of February, residents of Ukrainian villages, including frontline settlements in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions, could exchange outdated incandescent light bulbs for modern LED bulbs. The “Bringing Light Together” campaign has reached all corners of Ukraine within less than a month.

Launched on the 30th of January, this campaign immediately became popular among Ukrainians. A total of 50 million light bulbs are to be exchanged.

This large-scale upgrading of the ‘light bulb fleet’ is prompted by electricity shortages caused by large-scale Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for several months.

The “Bringing Light Together” campaign is unique. It combines a creative approach to solving the energy shortage problem, European solidarity, a modern implementation mechanism using the Diia app, and the participation of millions of people in solving the country’s energy problems.

The idea came up in November last year. Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, recalls that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed this idea at a meeting with her and the European Commission’s Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and asked for help in purchasing light bulbs.

Soon after, at the “energy Ramstein” meeting, President Zelenskyy’s initiative was supported by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She said that the EU would finance the supply of 30 million LED light bulbs from its budget. This number subsequently increased, and France joining the campaign shortly after its start.

You can exchange old-type light bulbs for energy-saving ones in the Diia app. To do so:

• Log in to the app
• Select the section Services – Light Bulb Exchange
• Enter your contact phone number and the Ukrposhta office where you would like to exchange bulbs
• Choose the type and number of LED light bulbs you want to receive

You can also exchange bulbs at Ukrposhta offices without registration – in this case, the exchange is subject to availability. Ukrposhta offices are the single exchange point in settlements with less than 2,000 inhabitants.

In various ways, the EU supported budget expenditures, restoration of damaged infrastructure, weapons and ammunition for the Armed Forces, social payments, and more.

A series of videos released in February as part of the “Together, We Are Europe” communication campaign shows the EU’s support for the state’s and business’ resilience in wartime, humanitarian and other aid to Ukrainians, and assistance in strengthening the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Since August last year, the campaign has been running to inform Ukrainians about the scope of EU assistance and make them confident in its continued support.

In February, as part of the campaign, Dnipro hosted a mobile exposition of unique artworks created by Ukrainian illustrators about the EU’s assistance to Ukraine and Ukrainians during the war.

Dnipro was supposed to be the last city on the exposition’s map. However, given the high interest of visitors, the exposition extended its tour and arrived to Poltava on the 27th of February. Peremoha Culture and Recreation Park hosts it.

Launched in August in Kyiv, the exposition visited Lviv, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Uzhhorod, Odesa, and Dnipro.

More than 2,500 Ukrainian civil servants have already registered for online trainings on the project’s educational platform. The 16 training courses covering various aspects of the functioning of the European Union and its relations with Ukraine provide an excellent opportunity to strengthen their capacity to work towards European integration.

The Natolin4Capacity Building project is implemented by the College of Europe in Natolin, which traditionally provides great learning opportunities for Ukrainians.

In addition to online courses, since last November, the project has been running two-month training programs for Ukrainian civil servants from central executive authorities working in European integration. Currently, the second group is in Natolin, a total of 50 people planned to be trained. Ukrainian ministries and agencies send their employees to Natolin to improve their skills.

This year, in cooperation with the Higher School of Public Administration, the short-term online training programs on European integration will be launched. They will be open to civil servants with completion certificates upon online training courses.

Another EU-funded project implemented by the East Europe Foundation and aimed at supporting the activities of civil society organizations was presented in February.

The “Phoenix. Strong Ukraine in Time of War” project will help civil society organizations support internally displaced persons. It will hold two calls for grant proposals, with the first one starting on the 16th of February and ending on the 23rd of March. Twenty CSOs will get financing to implement their initiatives. The total budget of the call is UAH 11 million, and grants can vary from UAH 400 to 800 thousand.

Therefore, civil society organizations can propose initiatives focused on various forms of assistance to IDPs for funding.

The EU has consistently expanded this support since the beginning of the war.

According to Martin Schroeder, since February 24, 2022, approximately €30 million have been redirected to the needs of civil society organizations. An additional €80 million was provided for this purpose. Over the past year, 30 new projects have been launched to support the civil society sector and enhance its capacity so the projects could help their communities and neighborhoods.

One of the goals is to reach out to local civil society organizations and initiatives.

In addition to providing grants to civil society organizations for IDP-related activities, the Phoenix project aims to enhance their capacity through training and online education. The project will also provide financial support for implementing digital solutions to improve interaction within communities and between government authorities and citizens.

In the photo (from left to right): Martin Schroeder, Olga Voitovych, President of the East Europe Foundation Viktor Lyakh.

Photo by the Eastern Europe Foundation.

Ihor, a 17-year-old boy, lived in the village of Soniachne near Kherson. With the occupation of this village in March 2022, he was lost for contact. Anastasia, a 17-year-old girl who lived in Izium, Kharkiv region, was also lost for contact in early April…

These two stories have much in common – relatives have found Ihor and Anastasia, and the Missing Children Search Service helped in both cases. The European Union financially supports the organization through the EU4CSOs Emergency Actions project, implemented by the Charitable Organization “Network of 100 Percent Life Rivne”.

This was the case in the stories described above.

Ihor’s grandmother called the hotline to search for her grandson. Immediately after streaming the video about the boy, Hotline 116 000 received calls from witnesses who had seen him. The first caller was a man who had done repairs in Ihor’s and his grandmother’s house a week before the war. Later, Ihor’s fellow villager managed to reach the Missing Children Search Service and told that the boy was fine. Still, he could not contact his relatives due to the lack of Ukrainian mobile communication. The service shot and distributed another video about the boy, and the most recent video update came from the occupied village of Soniachne: Ihor was fine. He was in his house in the village.

Anastasia was searched for by her friend, who had left Ukraine. After the video, the hotline received many calls from people who had seen the girl, and one day she managed to get in touch with her friend. Anastasia said she was alive, but she and her parents were in the occupied territory, where there was almost no mobile communication, so she could not reach out to her friends for so long. After that, she sent a video to the Missing Children Search Service so everybody could see that the girl was fine.

The organization emphasizes that informing about missing children as widely as possible is one of the most effective ways to find them. Over the 17 years of its work, the organization has managed to find and secure more than 2,200 missing children and provided more than 6,000 psychological and legal consultations to parents and relatives.

In the photo: the call center is working.

Photo of the Children’s Search Service.

On the 15th of February, the second phase of the initiative “Bridges of Trust: Empowering Communities in Ukraine and the EU through Municipal Partnerships” was launched. The project is being jointly implemented by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, the Association of Ukrainian Cities, and the U-LEAD with Europe program.

The project will help to establish 30 new partnerships involving municipalities from the EU and Ukraine. With the support of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, local government associations from ten EU member states will select three potential partner municipalities each. For their part, the Association of Ukrainian Cities and the U-LEAD with Europe program will shortlist Ukrainian municipalities.

Currently, the selection of potential participants for further cooperation is already underway. The process is country-specific. In particular, potential partners should have approximately the same population or area, comparable economic capacity, and specialists with relevant experience and knowledge of English or another language common for both partners.

The project started in March 2021. The first phase brought together 20 communities and municipalities from the EU and Ukraine. For example, the Korosten community, Zhytomyr region, has partnered with the city of Ukmerge, Lithuania.

Korosten and Ukmerge had been negotiating a partnership before the war and signed the agreement almost immediately after the full-scale Russian invasion.

In February, the first webinars for female entrepreneurs took place as part of the “Expert Consultations. United Economic Front of Two Regions” project launched by UNDP and the Dnipro and Chernihiv Chambers of Commerce and Industry with financial support from the European Union.

A series of 12 webinars will run until early May. They are devided into three thematic groups. The first two webinars were devoted to finding grants for a good reason.

Lack of financing is a current obstacle to business recovery and development. Many businesses had to move to safer regions and needed money to rent premises, purchase equipment, and pay salaries.

So, the first webinars were devoted to grant opportunities and the knowledge that will help to use these opportunities. Another problem today is the sales of products.

The war has caused a significant decrease in domestic consumption, so businesses must look for new customers, in particular, enter the international market. They need to know how to start exporting, where to find new business partners, how to properly conduct an online presentation of their products, and what tools are available for export activities. Therefore, the second part of the webinars for female entrepreneurs held as part of the “United Economic Front of the Two Regions” project will focus on these issues.

But why is the program designed specifically for women? The third part of the program answers this question.

The final part of the webinars will be titled “Development of Leadership, Management, Communications, and Service”.

Applicants should register for each webinar separately. Approximately 700 female entrepreneurs will get new knowledge.

In today’s digital age, we often provide someone with our personal data with a keystroke, for example, when we get online administrative or other services from government institutions. It is undoubtedly a very convenient option, but is it safe for our privacy?

This largely depends on the authorities. They must comply with national and international legislation governing the processing and protection of personal data. On the other hand, citizens need to know their rights. The recommendations on personal data protection for public authorities, developed by the EU4DigitalUA project, are intended to help better understand personal data issues.

They are collected in the 46-page guide “Protection of Personal Data in the Activities of Public Authorities”. The document has three sections, the first devoted to theoretical principles (terminology, legislation) and the other two dealing with practical issues related to processing and protecting confidential information.

The document lists the rights of citizens regarding protecting their personal data in ten points. For example, people can receive information about the conditions for granting access to their personal data, including information about third parties to whom data is transferred. They also have the right to know the sources of data collection, the purpose of data processing, and the location of the data owner or processor.

The EU4DigitalUA project developed the guide “Protection of Personal Data in the Activities of Public Authorities” in cooperation with representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office.