A large-scale regional forum "Strong Communities - Sustainable Development: A Path to Recovery and Resilience" took place in Cherkasy region, UNN reports.
Details
The event brought together representatives of government, business, and local communities. The goal of the event is to launch real initiatives: from supporting small and medium-sized businesses to programs for veterans.
"Most importantly, business, government, and communities must cooperate in close interaction. Why is this needed? We, as a business, need to have stability in our plans, because we constantly invest.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, our enterprises have invested about 1 billion hryvnias in business. And these are the funds that go into creating new jobs. And creating new jobs means our people, stable wages, and infrastructure development," comments Oleksandr Voskoboinik, director of the MHP Central Hub.
The forum was organized by MHP company together with the Charitable Foundation "MHP-Hromadi".
We have developed many projects and many directions. Last year, our charitable foundation reviewed its strategy and identified 4 key directions for itself, including: sustainable community development, support for military veterans and their families, civil society development, and the affirmation of Ukrainian identity and promotion in Ukraine and the world.
During the forum, participants raised issues of economics, education, innovation, as well as the challenges of war and post-war revival. The key focus of the forum was people, their needs, and community development.
We invest in people, we invest in their knowledge, in their development, and thus they lead their communities forward. We develop strategic thinking, so we go into communities and help write their strategies, help them understand their priorities and achieve them over the years.
Among the areas of support implemented by the charitable foundation are educational projects, health initiatives, veteran policy, job creation, and local entrepreneurship development.
"This is about creating quality educational projects in communities, it's about the health of children and youth, it's about veteran policy, it's about access to jobs, about promoting the creation of small but responsible businesses in communities. Because communities don't live only by large corporations," adds Yuriy Melnyk, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Sustainable Development at MHP, Head of the Supervisory Board of the Charitable Foundation "MHP-Hromadi".
With the support of MHP and the foundation, dozens of social projects have already been implemented in Cherkasy region: from the "Time to Act, Ukraine!" initiatives to the "Do Your Own" program, as well as a number of educational and veteran programs.
The organizers emphasize: this is not just a form of cooperation, but a foundation for resilient communities that are able to revive the region even in the most difficult times.
Reference
The Charitable Foundation "MHP-Hromadi" is a national leader in the field of sustainable community development, which has been implementing systemic changes for over 10 years in 700+ settlements in 13 regions of Ukraine. The Foundation works where support is most needed - from frontline territories to the most remote villages, uniting the efforts of business, government, and communities. The Foundation is among the TOP-20 largest charitable organizations in Ukraine according to Forbes. Among its priorities are supporting military personnel, veterans, and their families within the framework of the "MHP Nearby" program, comprehensive community development, assistance to small and medium-sized businesses, and the affirmation of Ukrainian identity.