On February 19th, 2024, a meeting convened in Uzhgorod, Transcarpathia, fostering dialogue and enhancing the participation of national minorities in regional decision-making.

This gathering, organized in collaboration with the Department for Strategic Communication, Nationalities and Religions of the Transcarpathian Military Administration, brought together representatives from the Roma, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Slovak, German, Jewish, and Hungarian communities alongside various civil society organizations.

Zemfira Kondur, Project Manager of the Council of Europe project "Supporting the Reform of the National Minority Legal Framework and the Resilience of National Minorities and Roma in Ukraine," presented the Local Initiative Groups for National Minorities (LIGs) currently operational in five Ukrainian regions: Vinnytsia, Volyn, Transcarpathia, Odesa, and Chernihiv. The success of these LIGs highlighted the need for consolidated efforts by national minority representatives and local/regional authorities in addressing sensitive issues.

"Given the diverse national communities residing in Transcarpathia, establishing a regional initiative group is crucial," stated Roman Moldavchuk, Director of the aforementioned Department. "We commend the active involvement of civil society organizations in implementing this Council of Europe initiative. Our commitment is to provide all necessary support. The key objective now is to collaboratively identify new approaches to implementing state policy that supports national communities, which can be achieved most effectively with the active participation of their representatives."

The meeting provided a platform for NGO representatives to voice the specific needs of their communities and discuss pressing concerns. Participants actively engaged in discussions regarding the potential expansion of the LIG's work to the regional level, outlining key activities and priorities.

This event was held under the auspices of the Council of Europe project "Supporting the Reform of the National Minority Legal Framework and the Resilience of National Minorities and Roma in Ukraine," financially supported by the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" 2023-2026.