Following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian civil society mobilized like never before. In the area of humanitarian crisis response alone, the number of Ukrainian NGOs more than tripled from 150 to more than 450. Influencers with strong international ties pivoted to advocating for the provision of weapons. Researchers who are adept at tracing corporate footprints dedicated their talents to exposing international businesses that remain in Russia or have ties to actors supporting the Russian war effort. Legislative advocates pivoted to drafting the laws needed to meet the preconditions for starting the EU accession process. This has been a whole-of-society response.This paper presents for the first time a new survey of Ukrainian CSOs focused on recovery and reconstruction. Respondents are listed on pages 6 and 7. Half specialize in advocacy and analysis, doing the research and promotion needed to launch projects such as platforms to index destroyed properties and new approaches to calculating compensation, as well as other tools. The other half either monitor for risks such as corruption or provide social services—for example, organizing volunteers to remove debris in the wake of Russian attacks. Only 11% of the NGO respondents in our survey operate in more than one of these functional areas, which illustrates their professional adherence to their respective areas of specialization. While this helps protect against duplicative efforts and conflicts of interests, it also underscores the need for coalitions to collaborate across silos. Half of all NGOs working on recovery and reconstruction participate in a coalition.
