DiXi Group Representatives Shared Their Experience in Communicating with Foreign Audiences
President of the DiXi Group Think Tank Olena Pavlenko and Program Manager Roman Nitsovych took part in the 5th Forum of Civil Society Organizations Development.
During the event, a series of panel discussions was held, one of which involved experts of the leading Ukrainian think tanks and the Ukrainian Think Tanks Liaison Office.
DiXi representatives took part in the discussion “Association of Civil Society for International Advocacy.” Besides, the discussion involved Liudmyla Melnyk from the Institute of European Politics (Berlin) and Serhii Solodkyi from the Institute of World Politics.
Olena Prystaiko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Think Tanks Liaison Office in Brussels, acted as a moderator.
Inna Pidluska, Deputy Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation, opened the discussion. She told about the program initiative of the Think Tank Foundation in Ukraine, which is supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). This program aims at strengthening the institutional and financial capacity of the Ukrainian think tanks, as well as at improving their knowledge and skills in the area of international advocacy of Ukraine. She turned the floor over to the practitioners, so that they share their experience with the audience.
Olena Pavlenko said that it is important to support the work with journalists, especially abroad, where reliable information about Ukraine with clear analytics and reliable facts is extremely valuable. In addition, when asked about the factors that motivate the Ukrainian think tanks to conduct international advocacy, the DiXi Group President noted that, on the one hand, due to proactive advocacy at the international level think tanks force the country to keep to reforms, and on the other hand, they help to protect the national interests.
In particular, DiXi Group launched an advocacy campaign directed against the possible implementation of Nord Stream II. She underlined that in case of such a serious challenge for the national security, the government should enlist the support and expertise of think tanks.
“For us, it was an opportunity to share our experience in communicating with foreign audiences, and understand how it can be improved. Given the threats to information security, cooperation with the key western partners to enhance reforms in Ukraine becomes particularly important,” said Roman Nitsovych commenting on his participation in the Forum.
In addition, the experts defined the main types of advocacy and the relevant key areas of activities for the think tanks. According to Roman Nitsovych, it is extremely important to present activities of your organization abroad and establish communication with those who make decisions regarding Ukraine.
Based on the materials of the Ukrainian Think Tanks Liaison Office in Brussels
