Initiative: Training Center for the Defense of Human Rights

Location: Mykolaiv, Mykolaiv Oblast

Year: 2019-2020

Website: http://hr-advocacy.mk.ua/ (in Russian and Ukrainian)

From time to time, many Ukrainian schools ask the parents of pupils for voluntary financial donations, but sometimes these donations are more obligatory than voluntary. Information on how these funds are being used is not always available. There have also been instances where modifications of buildings could have been done with state funds, but the school preferred to ask for parental contributions so that the expenses didn’t have to be accounted for. This organization’s campaign, therefore, focused on the importance of schools publishing information regarding their financial management.

During the campaign, the organization collected relevant data and analyzed the extent to which such information was published. The organization’s representatives met with the management of the Department of Education, organized trainings for teachers, and focus groups with the participation of parents and teachers. The topic also resonated with the media. As a result of the campaign, the Department of Education ordered schools in Mykolaiv to make information about their finances publicly available, which many schools have now started to do. They usually publish their data on the state internet portal data.gov.ua – an example here (in Ukrainian).