2022 has become the most challenging year in the modern history of Ukraine. The war continues, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to liberate the territories occupied by the aggressor. Ukraine has suffered numerous losses and destruction, but the restoration of the liberated territories is already underway. And immediately after the victory, the most significant post-war Reconstruction Plan in the history of Europe will begin.

The success of reconstruction and modernization depends on the level of trust between all the participants, the readiness of international partners to provide financial support, as well as on the ability of Ukrainian state institutions to ensure transparency, accountability, and effective use of the funds.

The role of civil society in the reconstruction process is decisive since civil activists have successful experience in anti-corruption activities, control over state and local budgets, and the launch and promotion of digital tools and systems known worldwide. At the same time, they do not have a conflict of interest because they are not managing any reconstruction funds and, therefore, can become guarantors of trust in relations between reconstruction participants.

That is why in July 2022, we created the Coalition of Ukrainian and International Organizations — RISE Ukraine. We aim to support Ukraine's reconstruction and modernization and ensure transparency and accountability in these processes.

We announced the launch of the Coalition at the Conference in Lugano. In 5 months, we managed to cooperate with the Ukrainian government, gain the support of international partners, hold several large-scale events and start developing our key project — the Electronic Reconstruction Management System (ERMS).

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At the first general meeting in August 2022, the participants of the RISE Ukraine Coalition identified three key areas of work: building the institutional architecture of reconstruction, implementation of a single digital reconstruction management system; as well as monitoring, prevention of corruption, fixing, and implementation of best practices.

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In August, the RISE Coalition signed a Memorandum with the Ministry of Infrastructure regarding implementing the Digital Reconstruction Management System (DRMS). This was the first and most crucial step, which formally confirmed the willingness of the authorities to cooperate in the direction of transparent and accountable reconstruction by digitizing the process at all its stages.

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In November, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution that started the experimental project on the implementation of the Digital Management System for the reconstruction of the transport infrastructure, which will become part of DRMS. The project is implemented in cooperation with RISE Ukraine Coalition. The launch is planned for 2023.

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The work and aspirations of the Coalition didn’t go unnoticed. The Digital Reconstruction Management System is mentioned in the Ukraine-IMF Memorandum and projects of the World Bank, IFC, European Commission, USAID, and FCDO. Also, participation in the reconstruction and joining of the DRMS is included in the new strategy of the Prozorro system as one of the key tasks. Prozorro should become a mandatory part of the DRMS to ensure transparent and efficient procurement, disclosure and data sharing.

To highlight and clarify our work, we conduct active external communication. In addition to social networks and the website, we prepare weekly newsletters about the reconstruction, create podcasts with guests related to the rebuilding, speak at notable international venues, and hold public events with partners.

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This year, our Coalition representatives took part in the OGP Summit in Rome, a conference in Berlin, an event by the International Renaissance Foundation and GMF on the role of civil society, and many other venues. We also became co-organizers of the Recovery Forum. Zhytomyr region" and the "Digital tools for the recovery of Ukraine" conference.

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At the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Washington, we presented a Discussion paper with RISE Ukraine's proposals regarding the Institutional Architecture of Reconstruction. In 2023, we will continue to improve and update this document.

Also, next year, we plan to finalize the technical concept of the DRMS and present it at a large event with the participation of the government and international partners. We expect that at the beginning of spring, we will be able to start developing the first-level system, the so-called "umbrella". It will allow the combining of all modules and blocks of DRMS.

In 2022, we managed to do a lot for transparent, accountable, and effective reconstruction, but we have to do even more next year. We thank all the members of the Coalition and all our partners. Jointly we are getting closer to a strong, prosperous, European Ukraine.

Let's rebuild Ukraine together!