Ukraine 2.0
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 by Matthew DeGrootAs many of us know, one of the challenges advocates often face abroad (if not in the U.S. as well!) is a lack of receptiveness among government bureaucrats to the participation of citizens in public administration. In Ukraine, as one example, government has not historically been of the people, by the people, and for the people. Cabinet Ministries whose ostensible purpose is to provide social services have no experience with treating citizens as clients – on the contrary, citizens are often nothing more than problems, flies in the ointment. Government bodies and processes are not designed to be transparent, but obscure and invisible to outsiders, discouraging or preventing interference.
Getting government to take citizens seriously requires a significant change in mindset, as well as a whole host of skills and tools unfamiliar to career officials. Despite the challenges, over the last couple of days in Kyiv I’ve seen some real and exciting opportunities for change.