On 2–3 May 2026, the second session of the citizens’ assembly took place in Kyiv’s Obolon district on the topic: “How can we support veterans and their families?”
Participants of the assembly, organised with comprehensive support from the Council of Europe project “Strengthening multilevel governance and local democracy to support Ukraine's recovery”, moved from exploring the topic with the support of veterans and experts to identifying key problems and developing initial ideas for solutions.
During the first session (18–19 April 2026), participants familiarised themselves with the key aspects of the topic, heard about challenges and needs from veterans and experts, identified priority issues, and set the direction for further work.
Over the second weekend, participants deepened their understanding of the system of support for veterans and their families and moved towards developing initial solutions. This was supported by expert inputs covering different aspects of how the support system functions in Kyiv.
In particular, participants explored how the system of veteran support is organised at the local level, which institutions are involved, and how responsibilities are distributed among them. Special attention was given to the issue of accessibility: through interactive work, participants analysed existing challenges through the lens of physical, informational, digital, economic, social, and procedural barriers.
Participants also gained further insights into rehabilitation services, support for families of military personnel, as well as approaches to communication and shaping public attitudes towards veterans.
This enabled participants to better define the problems, establish criteria for addressing them, and develop initial solution ideas across seven selected thematic areas.
Representatives of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine also attended the second session — Nataliia Oksha, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Public Engagement, and Tetiana Andriichuk, her Deputy. They familiarised themselves with the practical aspects of organising and implementing citizens’ assemblies and explored the potential of this deliberative democracy tool for policymaking at different levels of governance.
The third and final session of the citizens’ assembly will take place on 16–17 May 2026, during which participants will develop final recommendations for local authorities on supporting veterans and their families.
The Council of Europe project “Strengthening multilevel governance and local democracy to support Ukraine’s recovery” provides comprehensive expert and methodological support for the organisation and implementation of citizens’ assemblies in the Rivne community, the Obolon District of Kyiv, and the Lviv Agglomeration in 2026. In October 2025, the respective Memorandums of Understanding were signed in Strasbourg.
The preparation and implementation of the citizens’ assembly take place within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” for 2023-2026 and the project “Strengthening multilevel governance and local democracy to support Ukraine’s recovery”, implemented by the Council of Europe Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
