2. Current cultural affairs
Ukraine
Last update: November, 2017
On 6 January 2011, the new Law of Ukraine on Culture entered into force. The law defines the following priorities of the national cultural policy:
- development of the culture of the Ukrainian nation, indigenous peoples and national minorities of Ukraine;
- maintenance, restoration and protection of the historical environment;
- aesthetic education of citizens, first of all, children and young people; and enlargement of the cultural infrastructure in rural areas (see also chapter 1.1).
According to the Long-term Development Strategy of Ukrainian Culture (Strategy of Reforms, 2016), strategic lines of reforms are:
- the recognition of the core role of culture in national development and the exclusiveness of national identity based on Ukrainian culture; the strengthening of the role of culture in the social and economic development of Ukraine through interaction and increasing the responsibility of public agencies and civil society; the highest participation of stakeholders in development and realization of state cultural policy;
- improvement and modernization of legal, structural and financing tools for cultural support;
- ensuring accessibility to culture through traditional and new forms of cultural activity; ensuring state support for cultural diversity in Ukraine;
- ensuring state support for the national cultural product and the leading role of artists and culture managers in the creation, distribution and preservation of the national cultural product;
- development of demand and consumers of the modern cultural product and cultural services;
- improvement of cultural and art education;
- development of integral information and the cultural space;
- support for innovations, new knowledge and skills, creative industries matching the challenges of the 21st century.
This information will be published as soon as possible.
This information will be published as soon as possible.
Last update: November, 2017
In 2011, the government of Ukraine has entrusted the Ministry of Culture and Academy of Sciences of Ukraine with creating a unified and generally accessible electronic library (Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, #1094/0/16-11 as of 29 November 2011).
The electronic library "Culture of Ukraine" is shaped by the National Parliament Library of Ukraine to make accessible cultural heritage preserved in libraries, documents and parts of history to a wider audience.
So far, four collections of the electronic library have been formed:
- history of culture, theory of culture, policy of culture;
- arts;
- ethnography (nations of Ukraine, tangible culture, spiritual culture); and
- culture institutions (libraries, museums, archives, educational institutions, foundations, associations, societies, Ukrainian centres abroad).
The electronic library includes now more than 2100 editions and should become a part of the National electronic library.
The development of a digital library will be one of the main tasks of the new established Ukrainian Book Institute, with an envisaged budget of UAH 20 million (see chapter 2.9).
The practice of 3D tours is becoming more and more popular in Ukrainian museums and cultural reserves. For example, one can take a virtual excursion of the National Museum of History of Ukraine (http://virtual.nmiu.com.ua/). There are also 3D tours of the skansens of Ukraine (http://museums.authenticukraine.com.ua/ua/).
Last update: November, 2017
Governmental programmes to support trans-national intercultural dialogue activities are concentrated mainly in three fields:
- special programmes for developing cross-frontier relations, e.g., "days of good neighbourhood" or “European days of good neighbourhood” among border towns or villages which are organised jointly in cooperation with local administrations (http://loda.gov.ua/news?id=29917) or joint European projects of cross-border partnership, for example, the Danube Transnational Programme (http://www.interreg-danube.eu/);
- the development of culture and information centres in foreign countries to present Ukrainian culture, as a main task of the future Ukrainian Institute; and
- support to specific groups: Crimean Tartars, Roma, etc. For example, the regular session of Uzhgorod (Transcarpathian region) city council approved the Programme for celebrating national and local holidays, historical events, significant and memorable dates and other commemorations for 2018–2020. For the first time, the city widely supported the celebrations for International Roma Day in April.
In February 2016, the state enterprise "Crimean House" was opened in Kyiv uniting in its space several organizations engaged in Crimean, especially, Crimean Tartar issues. As MP, Presidential Commissioner on Crimean Tartars issues, Mustafa Jemilev, noted: "Firstly, it would consolidate forces that didn't recognize the occupation of Crimea. Secondly, it would give the opportunity to preserve and develop the Crimean culture which is at risk".
There are different NGOs operating in the cultural sphere in Ukraine that are engaged in trans-national dialogue activities e.g. Arabesque Theatre Studio (Kharkiv), Development Centre "Democracy through Culture" (Kyiv), Centre for Cultural Management (Lviv), Congress of Cultural Activists (Kyiv), etc. Working actively with local authorities, sponsors, international foundations and, sometimes, with central agencies, these NGOs realise many projects based on trans-national collaboration.
Special attention should be paid to activities of the foundation IZOLYATSIA, a non-profit non-governmental platform for contemporary culture founded in 2010 on the site of a former insulation factory in Donetsk. On 9 June 2014, the site was seized by the militia of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic". IZOLYATSIA has relocated to a shipyard in Kyiv and continues to present cultural projects and support socially active artists and creative producers in Kyiv, throughout Ukraine, and worldwide, as well as serving as a resource for international curators, scholars, artists and ambassadors. IZOLYATSIA is a platform for cultural initiatives. It is a multidisciplinary cultural project open to all genres of creative expression. It is a point of intersection for all those passionate about cultural and social change. The archive of artistic projects realized by IZOLYATSIA can be found here: https://izolyatsia.org/en/projects/.
Intercultural dialogue: actors, strategies, programmes
In April 2010, the Ministry of Culture and Development Centre "Democracy through Culture", with assistance of the Council of Europe, prepared and published the Ukrainian version of the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue "Living Together as Equals in Dignity".
In June 2017, the Government of Ukraine adopted the Concept of the State Programme for Collaboration with Foreign Ukrainians for 2017–2020. The realization of the Programme gives the opportunity to affirm the positive image of Ukraine, provide European integration of Ukraine through deepening intercultural dialogue and interaction in the cultural and humanitarian sphere.
The All-Ukrainian Forum of national cultures, "We All Are Your Children, Ukraine", was initiated in 1988. The Forum takes place once every two years within the framework of the artistic project "Ukraine is Open to the World" and is supported by the Board of National Societies of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. The purpose of this project is to promote cultures from different nations and nationalities living in Ukraine. The Forum displays the creative work of professional, folk and amateur artists, collectives and groups.
The following private actors operate successfully in the field of intercultural dialogue: Arabesque Theatre Studio (Kharkiv), Development Centre "Democracy through Culture" (Kyiv), Theatre Pechersk (Kyiv), Theatre "Drabyna" (Lviv), Art Centre "Dzyga" (Lviv), Centre for Cultural Management (Lviv), NGO "Art Travel", IZOLYATSIA Foundation, the Ukrainian Humanitarian Development Foundation, Congress of Culture Activists (Kyiv),Youth organization STAN, Pinchuk Foundation, Youth organization “Youth urban initiative” and other organisations.
For example, in late July 2017, the First international children’s project International Village was held in the Carpathian Mountains with the support of the Scholarship programme "Tomorrow.UA" of the Pinchuk Foundation. The event was initiated and conducted by the Youth organization "Youth urban initiative", co-organizers were Action-West-Ost and Olsztyńskie stowarzyszenie mniejszości niemieckiej in Olsztynie. The objective of the project was to build intercultural dialogue between EU and Ukrainian youth, support replaced children in Ukraine and integrate them into the European youth community, change stereotypes concerning the situation in the country, create a space for language learning and the development of European values.
Examples of Good Practice: Intercultural Center in Lutsk
One of the priority project ideas for local development of the town of Lutsk (Volyn' region) was worked out within the frames of the EU/CoE COMUS project (see chapter 1.4.2).
It involves creating a modern intercultural centre (co-working space with an information Internet-platform) for constructive cultural and intellectual cooperation between the local community and representatives of Polish, Armenian, Czech, and Jewish cultures of the town of Lutsk. Since the Middle Ages, Lutsk was a political centre of the Volyn region and shaped as a multicultural town. Besides, Ukrainians, there Poles, Lithuanians, Armenians, Karaites, Jews, Czechs, and Germans living in the town. Descendants of various ethnic groups visit Lutsk and retell their experiences of the ‘ethnic’ history of Lutsk.
Associations of Poles, Armenians, and Czechs are active today in Lutsk. Not so numerous but also present is the community of Germans Lutherans. This is why the creation of the intercultural centre is worthwhile as a project idea directed at transformation of the library space into a Centre of Intercultural Dialogue.
Last update: November, 2017
Each school in Ukraine has special hours dedicated to peace and tolerance when students learn about other cultures. In many educational establishments, including high schools, there are classes on the EU and European values. Intercultural education is mainly administered by the Ministry of Education and Science and respective educational bodies on all levels. The programmes focus mainly on shared European values, tolerance principles, equality and information about world cultures.
Many schools, especially with foreign language education, organise days of specific cultures, festivals, and develop correspondence with respective schools and institutions in other countries. Many international organisations (e.g. the British Council, Goethe Institute) carry out special competitions for literature or journalism or film works about the vision of European history, present or future, among high school or university level students in Ukraine.
Last update: November, 2017
According to the data of the State Committee for television and radio broadcasting, there were 3 221 printed periodicals registered in Ukraine in 2017 (submitting one obligatory copy to the State Committee).
Table 5: Printed media in Ukraine in terms of founders/owners, 2016
| Founders/owners | Total | Including | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newspapers | Periodic editions | |||||
| Number of editions | Number of copies, thou | Number of editions | Number of copies, thou. | Number of editions | Number of copies, thou | |
| Total: | 2 131 | 622 792,0 | 416 | 582 275,0 | 1 715 | 40 517,0 |
| Local self-governments | 34 | 33 680,4 | 27 | 33 670,3 | 7 | 10,1 |
| State authorities | 96 | 27 389,7 | 23 | 25 905,4 | 73 | 1 484,3 |
| Public organizations, enterprises | 66 | 3 826,8 | 3 | 3 623,6 | 63 | 203,2 |
| Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Research institutes | 262 | 166,9 | — | — | 262 | 166,9 |
| Educational establishments | 777 | 889,8 | 1 | 17,0 | 776 | 872,8 |
| Editorial boards of printed media | 71 | 84 423,5 | 42 | 83 128,3 | 29 | 1 295,2 |
| Civil society organizations, professional associations, foundations | 108 | 11 365,6 | 45 | 11 134,5 | 63 | 231,1 |
| Political parties | 12 | 1 717,7 | 12 | 1 717,7 | — | — |
| Trade unions | 9 | 881,1 | 9 | 881,1 | — | — |
| Religious organizations | 17 | 820,4 | 2 | 404,0 | 15 | 416,4 |
| Companies, trade enterprises | 523 | 412 517,2 | 190 | 381 720,9 | 333 | 30 796,3 |
| Private entrepreneurs | 156 | 45 112,9 | 62 | 40 072,2 | 94 | 5 040,7 |
Source: State Committee for television and radio broadcasting of Ukraine, 2017.
There are 120 information agencies in Ukraine, 5 of which are state-owned. The key state-owned information agency Ukrinform, located in Kyiv, issues daily 500 prompt reports in English, German, Russian and Ukrainian, around 200 photos and an audio digest. Ukrinform delivers information to the media, TV channels, radio stations, official establishments and local governments, foreign embassies and Ukrainian diplomatic missions abroad, and the foreign media. The server "UKRINFORM-NEWS" offers on-line free access to the sites: "Nations of the World", "Business Ukraine", "Integral Ukraine", "Ukrinform Audio / Video", "BSANNA" and "Press Center".
Table 6: Dynamics of satellite TV development in Ukraine, 2016
| Year | Ukraine | EU | Other | Russian Federation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 101 | 122 | 3 | 72 | 298 |
| 2016 | 122 | 143 | 7 | 6 | 278 |
Source: National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting, 2017.
There are no special legislative mechanisms or governmental programmes to promote cultural issues through media or encourage the production of cultural programmes, or any specific training programmes for journalists working in the cultural sphere.
In 2016, 49.3% of the population aged 17-64 in Ukraine had access to and used the Internet. The number of Internet users in Ukraine, according to the State Statistics Service (SSSU), is continuously increasing. In September 2009 there were 7.2 million users compared with 3.2 million in 2006. In 2010 their number had reached 11.3 million, and in 2016 13.6 million. Men constitute 51% of users and women 49%. 36% are users aged between 14-29 years and 29% are aged between 25-39 years; this indicates that the main Internet audience in Ukraine is young.
The development of information technologies, and in particular the Internet, is significantly transforming the way people access, create, produce and disseminate cultural content and ideas, influencing people’s opportunities to access and participate in cultural life. One of the priorities of national cultural and information policies is to introduce the Internet and NITC use in the regions, especially, in rural areas through educational and cultural institutions – schools, libraries and museums.
Last update: November, 2017
According to the Constitution of the Ukraine (Article 10), the official language is Ukrainian. The same Article guarantees the free development, use and protection of Russian and other languages of national minorities. The Law on Culture (2011) establishes that the "State ensures the comprehensive development and functioning of the national language in cultures all over Ukraine, promotes the creation of the domestic (national) culture product in Ukrainian and its popularisation in Ukraine and abroad; free use of other languages is guaranteed in the sphere of culture".
Picture 2: Language use in Ukraine
Source: The Ukrainian Week magazine. 23.06.2017
According to the 2001 census, 67.5% of the population of the Ukraine consider Ukrainian their native language and 29.6% name Russian as their native language. According to social monitoring studies undertaken by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences, the Ukrainian language is used in daily communication by 42% of families, Russian by 36%, and both languages by 21%.
In June 2017, a group of Ukrainian MPs have submitted to consideration of Verkhovna Rada the Draft Law of Ukraine On operation of Ukrainian language as official. As it is stated in the document, Ukrainian language is the state (official) language, however, it doesn’t concern privacy and religious life. It is also envisaged that the National Committee on Linguistic Standards should create a Center of Ukrainian Language which would provide established certificate on language skills after examination. It would obligatory for public servants, especially, top managers. The bill envisages also the establishment of linguistic ombudsman which could be appointed by the government.
Table 2: Printed output (general data), 2014-2017 (11 months)
| Type | Number of titles (2014) | Number of copies, thou (2014) | Number of titles (2015) | Number of copies, thou (2015) | Number of titles (2016) | Number of copies, thou (2016) | Number of titles (2017, 11 months) | Number of copies, thou (2017) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Books and booklets | 22044 | 55312,0 | 19958 | 36409,8 | 21330 | 48978,1 | 16204 | 30871,5 |
| In Ukrainian | 14145 | 30404,7 | 14117 | 23740,0 | 14900 | 34004,0 | 11468 | 22000,4 |
| In Russian | 5629 | 22049,1 | 4002 | 11064,1 | 3964 | 12164,8 | 2945 | 7035,3 |
| Synopsis of thesis | 6512 | 651,9 | 7349 | 735,0 | 6234 | 623,4 | 4440 | 453,3 |
Source: Book Chamber of Ukraine, 2017.
On September 2017, Verkhovna Rada adopted new Law of Ukraine On Education. According to Article 3 of the new law, all citizens of Ukraine are guaranteed equal right to education. It clearly states that this guaranteed right is provided regardless of age, sex, race, state of health, disability, citizenship, nationality, political, religious or other beliefs, place of residence, language of communication, origin, social and property status, prior convictions, and other circumstances. In addition to that, everyone has the right to access public educational, scientific and information resources, including online resources, electronic textbooks and other multimedia teaching resources, in the manner prescribed by the law. Thus, the emphasis is made on inclusive education for all without exception, guaranteed by law. Beyond setting a framework for a large-scale school reform, the law regulates the language of education.
The Article 7 of the law states that instruction in secondary schools across Ukraine is to be conducted exclusively in Ukrainian. The provision changes the current situation, which is governed by the Law on the Principles of State Language Policy of 2012, that allows instruction to be provided in minority languages at schools in the regions where minorities represent more than ten per cent of the population – provided that the teaching of Ukrainian is ensured to the extent required for the socialisation of minority pupils.
Ukraine's government has explained that Article 7 "clearly ensures the right of national minorities in Ukraine to maintain their collective identity through the medium of their mother tongue at primary and secondary levels of education." Persons belonging to national minorities and indigenous populations of Ukraine are guaranteed the right to study in public educational institutions to acquire pre-school and primary education in the language of the respective national minority, along with the state language. This right is exercised through the establishment of separate classes (groups) with instruction in the language of the respective national minority, in addition to the state language. National minorities are also guaranteed the right to study their language in public general secondary schools or through national cultural societies.
Ukrainian officials have stressed that the law aims to bring the education system closer to European standards and ensure equal opportunities for all. An increasing number of graduates from minority schools fail to pass the Ukrainian language test (60.1% of pupils belonging to the Hungarian and Romanian minorities failed the test in Ukrainian in 2016: see "The Law on Education and Zakarpattia: What do the national minorities think and how the Law will be implemented". (https://goloskarpat.info/society/59de4eaf58ac6/?utm_content=03141). As such, the government claims that the law aims to improve the prospects of minorities in higher education and employment in the public sector. In these fields, proficiency in the state language is a requirement and, thus, the law is supposed to enhance the equality of opportunities for all members of Ukrainian society.
At the present, according to the data of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, about 10% (9.7%) of schools are teaching in Russian, mainly in the eastern part in Ukraine, other more used national minority languages are Romanian (0.5%) and Hungarian (0.4%). According to the data of Statistics Service of Ukraine as for September 2017, there were 16 365 schools in Ukraine by the beginning of 2016/2017 school year, with instruction in Ukrainian in 15 020 schools, in Russian – 581, Romanian – 75, Hungarian – 71, Polish – 5, Moldavian – 3, several languages – 619.
Table 3: Languages used in secondary schools in Ukraine for teaching by the beginning of 2016/2017 school year
| Number of pupils | Total | State schools | Private schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| including those studied in | 3 769 962 | 3 746 549 | 23 413 |
| Ukrainian | 3 376 785 | 3 363 901 | 12 88 |
| Russian | 355 955 | 346 328 | 9 627 |
| Romanian | 16 139 | 16 139 | - |
| Hungarian | 16 020 | 15 497 | 523 |
| Crimean-Tartar | - | - | - |
| Polish | 1 785 | 1 785 | - |
| English | 379 | - | 379 |
| Slovak | 145 | 145 | - |
| Bulgarian | 61 | 61 | - |
| Moldavian | 2 693 | 2 693 | - |
Source: State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2017.
National TV and radio stations provide special programmes in the languages of national minorities: Russian, Crimean Tatar, German, Greek, Bulgarian, Armenian, Hungarian, and Romanian (see chapter 4.1.8).
Table 4: Printed media in Ukraine in national languages in 2016
| Printed media | Total | Among them | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newspapers | Periodic editions, except newspapers | |||||
| Number of editions | Number of copies, thou | Number of editions | Number of copies, thou | Number of editions | Number of copies, thou | |
| Total: | 3 221 | 911 423,8 | 1506 | 870 906,8 | 1 715 | 40 517,0 |
| English | 46 | 569,9 | 2 | 478,4 | 44 | 91,5 |
| Armenian | 1 | 3,0 | 1 | 3,0 | — | — |
| Polish | 3 | 20,0 | 3 | 20,0 | — | — |
| Russian | 654 | 441 430,6 | 417 | 416 575,5 | 237 | 24 855,1 |
| Romanian | 2 | 154,9 | 2 | 154,9 | — | — |
| Hungarian | 4 | 2 886,8 | 4 | 2 886,8 | — | — |
| Ukrainian | 1474 | 410 567,3 | 885 | 399 237,7 | 589 | 11 329,6 |
| Ukrainian and Russian | 532 | 54 278,6 | 177 | 50 395,8 | 355 | 3 882,8 |
| Bilingual | 106 | 167,3 | 6 | 97,4 | 100 | 69,9 |
| Multilingual | 399 | 1345,4 | 9 | 1 057,3 | 390 | 288,1 |
Source: State Committee for television and radio broadcasting of Ukraine, 2017.
Last update: November, 2017
Equal rights for women and men are guaranteed by the Constitution, through Article 24 and through other laws, e.g. the Law on Employment (where special attention is paid to single mothers and mothers with children under 6 years), the Law on Vacations, Fundamentals of the Legislation on Health Care and others.
The analysis of cultural occupations in Ukraine shows that the gender balance is 48% women and 52% men. At the same time, within central cultural activities there are more women (251 600) than men (193 300). In equipment/supporting materials cultural activities men dominate: 104 800 men against 23 700 women due to the number of software developers. The analysis cannot demonstrate the living conditions of workers, male or female, depending on their activities.
In the central cultural activities there are some occupations with a much higher proportion of women: – Librarians and related information professionals, library clerks – 30:1; – Sociologists, anthropologists and related professionals – 13:1; – Translators, interpreters and other linguists – 6:1.
The percentage of women in the Parliament of Ukraine (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine) is 12.00% (50 out of 416 seats) as of 1 November 2016.
This information will be published as soon as possible.
Last update: November, 2017
Ukraine is a multinational state, with an established tradition of peaceful multi-ethnic coexistence. According to the 2016 data of the ministerial Department for Nationalities and Religions, representatives of more than 100 nationalities are residing in Ukraine.
According to the State Statistics, the population of Ukraine in November 2017 was 42.1 million persons. Cultural minorities constitute about 9 million or 21.3% of the population. The main minority groups in Ukraine are: Russians, Belarussians, Moldavians, Crimean Tartars, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Romanians, Poles, Jews, Armenians, Tartars, Roma and others.
The number of registered immigrants by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2016 was approximately 250 000. They arrive, in general, from such countries as the Russian Federation, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Syria.
The existing legislation defines all Ukrainian citizens ("Ukrainian people") as belonging to two major categories: either the ethnic Ukrainian majority ("Ukrainian nation") or one of the "national minorities", without distinguishing indigenous nations (for example, Crimean Tatars), autochthonous groups or "classical" national minorities (Russians, Jews, Romanians, Hungarians, Roma, Greeks etc.), and Diaspora groups, or ethnic minorities that have arrived in the Ukraine following recent migration processes. However, the draft Law on Concept of the Public Ethno-National Policy of Ukraine (approved in September 2013 by the Government) contains definitions of "indigenous people", "national minority", "national identity" and others, which may be assumed as the basis of future diversity policy. Unfortunately, this draft law is still not adopted in 2017 by the parliament. In November 2015, the Parliament Hearings “Role, significance and influence of civil society for the formulation of ethno-national policy of the unity of Ukraine” adopted the resolution urging acceleration of consideration of the amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On national minorities in Ukraine” (new wording), #1111 of 28 November 2014, and indicating that “without a respective conceptual basis for directions, priorities, tasks and objectives the modern state ethno-national policy would be inefficient”.
There are several sub-ethnic groups in Ukraine, which, historically, are closely linked with the Ukrainian nation. Due to specific geographical and regional conditions, however, and, mainly, due to influences of various states and empires under whose jurisdiction they had developed over considerable periods of time, they now have different traditions, customs, dialects, etc. These include Hutsuls, Boyky, Lemky - from the Carpathian region, Polischuky - from the Polissia region, and Carpathian Ruthenians. The latter, on behalf of their leaders and some representatives of the Ruthenians diaspora in the USA, Canada, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, try to obtain recognition of Ruthenians as a separate nation or, at least, a national (autochthonous) minority.
Shortly after independence in August 1991, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukraine condemned the offences of the Soviet regime towards national minorities and declared the recognition of international norms of law in this sphere in a document entitled Appeal to Ukrainian Citizens of All Nationalities.
In November 1991, the Parliament of the Ukraine adopted the Declaration of Rights of Nationalities in the Ukraine, which provided rights to minorities to pursue their respective language and culture. In the same year, national minorities also took part in a referendum on the independence of the Ukrainian state.
The Constitution of the Ukraine declares in Article 11 that "the state provides support for the development of ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious originality of all indigenous nations and national minorities of the Ukraine".
Rights of national minorities are also represented in:
- Fundamentals of the Legislation on Culture (1992);
- Law on Publishing (1997);
- Law on Television and Radio Broadcasting (1993);
- Law on State Support to Mass Media and Social Protection of Journalists (1997);
- Law on Local Self-Governance in Ukraine (1997);
- Law on Citizens Appeal (1996 / 2005); and
- Law on Associations of Citizens (1992 / 2006).
In 2010, 1 458 associations or organisations of national minorities operated in the Ukraine (compared to 1 158 in 2007). They take part in umbrella organisations such as the Council of National Societies of Ukraine, the Association of National Cultural Unions of Ukraine, and the Congress of National Minorities of Ukraine. 45 of these organisations have national status.
The Congress of National Minorities of Ukraine (CNMU, founded in 2002)is an All-Ukrainian non-commercial union of organizations of national minorities of Ukraine created with the aim to unite efforts of ethnic communities in the defence of rights, integration of communities into the civil society of Ukraine, tolerance education and combating xenophobia. Since 2002, CNMU works on projects for Ukrainian youth aiming at international and interreligious tolerance education.
The Annual Children's Summer School "Sources of Tolerance" was created in 2002. The project is aimed at international and interconfessional tolerance education, combating xenophobia, forming of an active civic stand for children who are the representatives of different ethnic communities, and disseminating knowledge on national diversity in Ukraine and other countries. 200 children (from 7-17 years old) and 40 tutors from 19 ethnic communities of Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia and Armenia (Assyrians, Belarusians, Koreans, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Armenians, Ossetians, Georgians, Greeks, Gagauzians, Jews, Crimean Tatars, Moldavians, Germans, Poles, Russians, Romanians, Tatars, and a considerable group of Ukrainians) took an active part. A group of refugee children from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Angola and the Chechen Republic also participated in the Summer School. Summer School works by a unique methodology of absorption. This methodology assumes daily lessons during which all participants try to live as the representatives of a certain culture. In addition to 14 National Days in the Summer School, there were also Human Rights Day, Festival of Languages and Citizenship Day. Tutors are representatives of ethnic communities of Ukraine including specialists who have specific preparation during CNMU seminars. In 2010, 6 tutors from Georgia and Armenia underwent a study course in the School. The Summer School was organized by the CNMU with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the Renaissance Foundation, the Danish Refugee Council and other charity organizations, sponsors and private individuals.
The region of Transcarpathia is home to 60 000 persons of Roma ethnicity, who constitute about 75% of all Roma living in the Ukraine. Many Ukrainians associate this area with "tsyhany" - gypsies. Cities of Uzhgorod and Muhachevo have the largest number of Roma living in urban areas in Transcarpathia. They have been settled here for hundreds of years (see chapter 2.5.1).
By 2013, the religious network in Ukraine consisted of 55 religions.
The breakdown by religions shows the predominance of Christianity (including Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches) in Ukraine, which embraces 94% of all religions. The Ukrainian Orthodox church consists of 12 895 organisations constituting 34.8% of religious institutions in Ukraine.
Muslim organisations constitute 3.3% of the whole number of religious centres, more than one third of non-Christian institutions. 309 Judaist organisations constitute 17.1% of the national minorities' religious network or 0.8% of religious organisations. Among others, are the Lutheran church (42 centres), Armenian church (28 communities), as well as separate ethno-confessional communities of Czechs, Swedes, Karaites, Koreans, and Goths.
The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations established in 1996, today plays a pivotal role in the inter-confessional dialogues uniting above 95% of the religious network. It consists of representatives of Christian, Judaic and Islamic churches and organisations.
The Ministry of Culture resumed in 2014 the work on the draft Law on the Concept of State-Confessional Relations in Ukraine taking into account the new reality and new challenges.
Recent Example:
EuroCamp
EuroCamp is an international project uniting teenagers from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. 12-16 year old boys and girls can pass summer or winter days in Carpathian Mountains discovering the world of a European community. Young people in the EuroCamp actively communicate between themselves and with leaders of the camp, learn to work in teams, think critically, explore creative solutions and perform. Learning these social competences would develop personal skills of social resposibility, tolerance, wide democracy, laying foundations for the 21st century generation.
The EuroCamp is a unique opportunity for youngsters from Ukraine (in particular, internally replaced persons), Moldova and Georgia to find new friends along with motivation and inspiration for their own development and projects.
Source: Website of the Congress of National Minorities of Ukraine - http://kngu.org/uk/node/11
Last update: November, 2017
There are special programmes directed at the development of participation and social cohesion in each region, in the form of arts festivals, meetings and reviews. In most cases, funding for these events is derived from regional or local budgets. As a rule, key actors are civil society organisations and state-owned institutions.
Some good examples are internet centres in small towns and villages, opened with the support of international projects, which are accessible to all groups and are mainly free of charge.
Table 7: Degree of interpersonal trust, 2011
| Total | Sex | Age | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Up to 29 | 30-49 | 50 and more | ||
| Most people can be trusted Need to be very careful | 23.1 70.3 | 23.3 70.2 | 23.0 70.3 | 25.1 69.2 | 22.2 71.4 | 22.8 70.0 |
| No answer Don't know | 1.6 4.9 | 1.5 4.9 | 1.7 5.0 | 1.2 4.6 | 1.6 4.8 | 1.9 5.2 |
| N | 1500 | (675) | (825) | (340) | (489) | (672) |
Source: World Values Survey 6 (2011), Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
According to the UNESCO Culture for Development Indicators (Ukraine’s Analytical Brief, 2017), in 2011, the WVS said that 23.1% of Ukrainians agreed that most people can be trusted. This indicator provides insight into Ukraine's social capital. A result of 23.1% indicates a relatively competitive level of trust and solidarity, taking into account that the average for all countries that have implemented the CDIS is 19.3%. However, this level is not satisfactory for a country aspiring to build a modern democratic society.
Variations in the results can be seen across age groups. While 25.1% of people aged under 29 agree that most people can be trusted, 22.2% of those aged 30-49 and 22.8% of those aged 50 and over agree, which indicates an increasing trend of openness among the youth.
In December 2016, the President signed the Edict #534/2016 On priority measures for strengthening national unity and consolidation of Ukrainian society, supporting civil initiative in this sphere. The document indebts the government, among other measures aimed at the consolidation of Ukrainian society, “to take steps to develop interregional cooperation in economic, social, educational, touristic, information and other projects, including cultural and art projects, particularly, to promote the all-Ukrainian project of cultural integration "Ukrainian Donbass".
This information will be published as soon as possible.
Last update: November, 2017
In 2016, the Parliament adopted and the President signed the Law of Ukraine On amendments to some laws of Ukraine concerning the improvement of state management in book publishing, which envisages the establishment of the Ukrainian Book Institute with objectives to support book publishing, promote reading, stimulate translation activities, and promote Ukrainian literature all over the world.
The
Director of the Institute, Tetiana Teren, winner of the contest for
this position organized by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, announced
that the Book Institute will look for partners in culture and other
spheres to fulfill the main objectives of this establishment: to support
and promote book publishing and reading in Ukraine, promote Ukrainian
literature and develop international collaboration and translation
activities, supply new editions to Ukrainian libraries and to develop a
digital library. The Book Institute approved its structure consisting of
an International division, Publishing and distributing division,
Division for promotion and event organisation, Expertise division and
Division for collaboration with libraries and digitalization.
In November 2016, Dnipropetrovska oblast (region) of Ukraine became the first to prepare its cultural profile (a survey of regional cultural policy) using the Compendium methodology. The regional profile was presented at the conference on cultural policy issues in December 2016, in the regional centre, the city of Dnipro, with participation by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the Development Centre “Democracy through Culture”, the Department for Culture, National Minorities and Religions of Dnipropetrovska oblast State Administration, Dnipropetrovsk Regional Institute for State Administration, the National Academy of State Administration at the Presidency of Ukraine, rayon culture departments, public and non-governmental cultural organisations, and independent experts. As it was stressed by representatives of regional power, such an analytical review would place a solid foundation for the future cultural development strategies on the regional and local level, providing, at the same time, necessary data and signals to the national level (see Annex 1 – Dnipropetrovsk region cultural review).