The Ukraine reconstruction plan was presented at the conference in Lugano

A number of Ukrainian organizations signed the Civil Society Manifesto on the Reconstruction of Ukraine.

“Restoration of infrastructure and peaceful life in Ukraine should take place according to new standards and be a contribution to the stability of new institutions. The burden of war and related suffering should not encourage political elites and part of society to support authoritarian systems of governance and search for populist solutions.

Our modern history convincingly demonstrates that at critical moments our partnerships and our public institutions must be strengthened by the inclusion of civil society, network initiatives, volunteer groups, and private initiatives, whose contribution makes reforms sustainable and prevents backsliding. Therefore, in all our diversity and differences in views, we want to declare common principles and a framework for the future, for the sake of which millions of Ukrainians risk their lives every day,” the document reads.

Among the signatories of the Manifesto: Center for Civil Liberties, Euromaidan SOS, Anti-Corruption Center, Plast, Opora Civil Network, Chesno Movement, International Change Agency, DEJURE Foundation and others.

The criteria for the reconstruction of Ukraine were also announced:

1. Ukraine is a state with a European identity that shares common values ​​and history with other European nations and considers itself a part of the European family.
2. Ukraine is a representative democracy with a competitive political process, legally changed political elites, fair and free elections, freedom of speech and independent media, advanced human rights protection mechanisms, and capable local self-government.
3. Ukraine is an open market economy with equal rules of the game and minimal, legally limited state intervention.
4. Ukraine is a protected space for the development of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar cultures and the present diversity of different cultures and identities.
5. Ukrainians are included in the decision-making process regarding their future at all levels. Any decision-making process is transparent and participatory. Decisions are discussed and made with long-term consequences in mind.
6. No one has a monopoly on decisions that affect everyone. Civil society is an important way for citizens to participate in public life. The state and local self-government are open to interaction with civil society.

Red lines, the crossing of which is “unacceptable under any circumstances, as it entails existential risks for Ukraine and Ukrainians”:

1. Loss of state independence and territorial integrity, deportation of citizens, refusal to protect human rights.
2. Freezing or postponing the conflict, which will allow the Russian Federation to recover and strengthen to continue the war against Ukraine or create obstacles to the development of Ukraine.
3. Destruction or suppression of identity, culture, language, rights and freedoms of citizens.
4. Dismantling of democratic institutions, systems of checks and balances, rejection of the democratic process, or manipulation with these issues.
5. Strengthening of state intervention in the economy.
6. Reduction of transparency of state administration, expansion of practices that give rise to corruption.
7. Rejection of European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Priority tasks for Ukraine’s development:

1. Restoration and strengthening of national security, including through the introduction of the system of collective security.
2. Restoration and protection of human security, including from the totalitarian legacy of Soviet practices in the Ukrainian political system; creating conditions for the return of citizens who were forced to leave their homes or were deported or captured.
3. Protection and development of a democratic management system, political rights and freedoms of citizens.
4. Establishing the rule of law, creating an independent and honest system of justice, an effective and fair system of law enforcement agencies.
5. Comprehensive development of human capital, modernization of the education and science system, healing of historical trauma, and growing respect for human dignity.
6. Protection of property rights and encouragement of private initiative in a variety of its manifestations, creation of conditions for the free development of entrepreneurship.
7. Development of local self-government and subsidiarity in state administration.
8. Restoration of the population and natural environment, modernization of the economy and infrastructure, European integration.