Helping Civil Society Engage with the World Through English

The new project builds on the British Council’s English for Civil Servants project which has trained 2,500 government officials since 2012, and which is now being extended to include representatives of civil society involved in Ukraine’s democratic and social transformation since the Revolution of Dignity. Staff of eight NGOs (Anticorruption Centre, Free People Employment Centre, Reanimation Package […]

The new project builds on the British Council’s English for Civil Servants project which has trained 2,500 government officials since 2012, and which is now being extended to include representatives of civil society involved in Ukraine’s democratic and social transformation since the Revolution of Dignity. Staff of eight NGOs (Anticorruption Centre, Free People Employment Centre, Reanimation Package of Reforms, Vostok SOS Civil Initiative, Gurt Resource Centre, School of Mayors, the All-Ukrainian Network of People living with HIV/AIDS and Transparency International Ukraine) have started learning English on the one-year programme.

“Since Maidan, civil society has become one of the driving forces for reform in Ukraine. We are therefore delighted to unite our efforts with Western NIS Enterprise Fund to raise the English language ability of key NGO representatives which is so essential for their further development and cooperation with Ukraine’s international partners,” commented Simon Williams, Director of the British Council in Ukraine.

The English for Civil Society initiative forms one part of a larger programme of collaboration between the British Council, Western NIS Enterprise Fund and the Embassy of Canada to support Ukrainian NGOs’ engagement with the wider world. In December, this will include a study mission to Canada, in partnership with the Embassy of Canada and EDGE, to explore how the administrative system works there and the role civic society plays in implementing changes at both provincial and national levels.

Jaroslawa Z. Johnson, President and CEO of Western NIS Enterprise Fund, said: “Under the variety of challenges we are seeing in Ukraine, empowering these highly motivated civic society organizations is crucial to our country’s progress. This program should strengthen the communication and leadership skills of civic society leaders in Ukraine who play a key role in the development of their communities, so that advancing such skills will lead to more effective engagement with international partners and other stakeholders that will maximize their impact on social and economic development in Ukraine”.

For more information visit http://www.britishcouncil.org…. and contact Anastasiya Romanyk, Year of English in Ukraine Project Manager:

Email: [email protected]

Tel .: +380 44 490 5600