Our interventions on advocacy for the rights of minority people, particularly Roma communities in Ukraine, are centered on promoting equality, protecting human rights, and strengthening the social and political visibility of marginalized groups that have historically faced systemic discrimination and exclusion. Recognizing the deep-rooted challenges of poverty, limited access to education, health services, and formal employment, our efforts focus on addressing structural barriers through both grassroots mobilization and policy-level engagement. We work closely with Roma community representatives, civil society organizations, and local governance structures to ensure that Roma voices are included in decision-making processes that affect their livelihoods and cultural identity. Our interventions emphasize legal empowerment by raising awareness about national and international human rights standards, providing training and capacity building to Roma leaders, and facilitating access to justice mechanisms when rights are violated. At the same time, we advocate at national and regional platforms for the adoption and implementation of inclusive policies that target Roma housing, education, healthcare, and social protection needs, while combating hate speech, stereotyping, and discriminatory practices in wider society. In the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has disproportionately affected vulnerable populations, our advocacy also highlights the urgent need to protect displaced Roma families, safeguard their rights as internally displaced persons, and ensure humanitarian aid reaches them without bias. By building partnerships with human rights defenders, academic institutions, and international organizations, we amplify Roma concerns within broader debates on democracy, peacebuilding, and minority rights, thereby fostering an environment where Roma people are recognized not as passive beneficiaries but as active citizens with equal dignity, agency, and opportunities.
Our Latest Action
Rural governance of natural resources in Ukraine plays a crucial role in ensuring sustainable development, environmental protection, and efficient resource management at the local level. Under the country’s decentralization reforms, local governance bodies, known as hromadas, have gained increased authority over land use, water resources, forestry, and mineral extraction. These entities manage agricultural lands, oversee community forests and green spaces, and regulate small-scale mineral resource utilization. They are also responsible for maintaining clean water supplies, managing irrigation systems, and preventing pollution. To strengthen local governance capacity, initiatives such as stakeholder mapping, legal training, and capacity-building workshops are being implemented to equip local authorities, civil society organizations, and community members with the knowledge and skills necessary for effective governance and sustainable resource management.
Beyond natural resource governance, local authorities also oversee infrastructure, utilities, health and social services, education, and economic development. They manage local roads, public transportation, and waste management while ensuring access to clean drinking water and renewable energy solutions. Additionally, local governance bodies play a critical role in environmental conservation, promoting pollution control and public participation in decision-making processes. Through participatory governance mechanisms like public consultations and citizen engagement programs, communities are actively involved in shaping local policies and monitoring government performance. These efforts, combined with digital governance tools and financial autonomy reforms, aim to strengthen self-governance, enhance transparency, and improve the resilience of rural communities in Ukraine.
For this project, several critical components would ensure a comprehensive approach to strengthening local governance structures and empowering communities.
Building upon the Multi-Stakeholder Partnership (MSP), a Mountain Alliance for Pastoralists and Minority People (MAP) is a membership civil society federation of primary stakeholders (the shepherds and livestock keepers/ breeders), and supporting CSOs, trade/business groups, local self-governance bodies, academic institutions, policy groups, and international organizations. Facilitated by The Grassroots Institute (TGI) Canada & Ukraine, the MAP has primarily been working in Ukrainian Carpathian. With the participation of constituent members, MAP has been planning field projects in Zakarpattia and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts of Ukrainian mountains. Linkages are evolving in Poland and Slovakia too. Further details of MAP are on: https://grassrootsglobal.net/map/
Europe is home to an amazing variety of insects that pollinate crops and wild plants. This variety is essential for a healthy nature and our wellbeing. However, in recent decades, wild-insect pollinators such as bees, butterflies, hoverflies and moths have dramatically declined in abundance and diversity in Europe. Many species are on the verge of extinction. Without pollinators, our food security will be at risk and many plant species will decline and eventually disappear. This threatens the survival of nature, human wellbeing and the economy.
Field work can be continued here, and it is especially important to popularise the work of bee breeders and queen bee keepers who are concerned about the purity of the Carpathian bee breed and its Transcarpathian varieties. Some Carpathian bee lines have been lost in recent decades, and breeders are fighting for the purity of the breed, but due to industrial beekeeping and agrochemical treatment, it is sometimes a question of survival. The war adds to the problem, as it is likely that Ukraine, which is one of the largest exporters of honey in Europe and the world, will reduce its production in the coming years. And of course, this will affect the pollination problem, because there are fewer bees and beekeepers in Ukraine
Expeditions to the Wild for Pollinators
Dr. Pavlo Leno, member of TGI Ukraine, took numerous youths and students to an expedition into the wild areas of Carpathian Mountains on 2-12 July 2024 where the group was exposed to the apiculture and pollinators. There were 9 students in the group. The beekeepers were from villages Novoselitsya (Ignashko Mychailo) and Simerky (Ivan Ivanovych). In the photo, Rakhiv-based beekeeper and specialist seen in the breeding of Carpathian bee queens, Mr. Roman Boychuk has behind him the beehives, as well as the api-therapy house. He is not only a beekeeper, but also making new generation of bee queens. The students on expedition learnt about bees and beekeeping from the trip and practical demonstrations conducted by expert beekeepers and practitioners.
Agroecological approach is inspired by natural ecosystems. It focusses on the interactions between plants, animals, soil organisms, people and the environment. This means that they optimise the use of natural resources, enhance biological processes in the soil, and improve biomass, nutrient, carbon and water cycles. This allows producers to reduce external inputs and costs, while improving the health and resilience of plants and animals. Different types of farming systems are using agro-ecological approaches across Europe. Some of these focus on diversification, including agroforestry, mixed crop-livestock systems, or crop rotation and diversification to increase productivity and resource efficiency and create new market opportunities. Maintaining diversity of crops (intercropping, storey culture, crop rotations, traditional food crops, tree plants) and integrating livestock, apiculture and poultry & other birds aid to the agrobiodiversity on the farm. Revival of Soil Biology is the key if chemicals are avoided.
Illustrative components of the farming practice package:
Knowledge of wild food plants and fungi used to be an important part of rural culture in Europe. Although on an everyday basis these items constituted only a small part of calorie intake, they provided an important diversification of a diet based on a few staples, provided a source of vita-mins, proteins and carbohydrates, and were crucial for the survival of people during times of famine or spring-time food shortages. Carpathian area has a very high plant diversity represented by riparian, ruderal, meadow, pasture and ancient woodland vegetation within a short walk of the villages. Fruits, berries, roots, vegetables, mushrooms, fern shoots, lichens, algal blooms, gums, latex, flowers, buds, etc. are not only harvested by local people but also processed and preserved by them in home. Rural families employ their age-old traditional wisdom to identify the plants and edible parts, ascertaining the ripening stage, harvesting the plant material, carriage, semi-processing and processing, preservation and storage. As the bioresources in the forests are already depleting due to other biotic pressure, harvesting of plant material by local rural people needs to be sustainable and replenishable so that plant species escape from local extinction or endangering.
In the Carpathian Mountains, soil and water conservation is crucial to maintaining ecosystem health, preventing land degradation, and supporting the livelihoods of local communities. Due to the region’s unique geography, climate, and biodiversity, conservation strategies need to be tailored to address both natural processes and human activities, such as agriculture, forestry, and tourism.
The ggN is committed, having limited capacities, to assisting its member organizations and institutions. This assistance is not financial, but in multiple ways ranging from campaigning for them to facilitating their communications and providing them with the space in its global platform. ggN displayed the appeals by two groups:
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