91Èȱ¬

• Our office: London-based team
• Our areas of focus: Media development
• Our partners: The UK, , , , , .

About our work

We have worked for almost a decade in Ukraine, supporting and training independent media to produce impartial and trusted information in a deeply polarised environment. In partnership with other organisations, we have co-produced an award-winning series, created a media academy and supported the country’s once-state broadcaster’s growth into a modern, public service model.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, we have played a key role in ensuring Suspilne - Ukraine’s public broadcaster - and other independent media stay on the airwaves, ensuring that Ukrainians can access impartial and accurate information.

Our work with Suspilne (formerly UA:PBC) began in 2014 with the award winning co-production Piat Baksiv (Five Bucks), a youth-focused web drama which later became a feature film.

But Suspilne – with no online presence, its TV and radio news operating completely separately, limited government funding and few revenue options – needed to modernise. Over the last decade, with the support of 91Èȱ¬ Media Action and other partners, and funding from the EU and FCDO, Suspilne has turned into a modern broadcaster with a full online presence; a modern, multi-platform and multi-media newsroom and newsgathering approach modelled on that of the 91Èȱ¬, new studios and innovative content approaches. Its audience numbers have skyrocketed during the war in part because of its innovative focus on popular digital platforms including Telegram.

Our projects have included Independent Media in Eastern Partnerships Countries, supporting over 20 public interest media outlets across Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia and Moldova with editorial and technical skills and mentoring.

Our ‘Yes I Am a Woman’ gender-focused training project, with National Democratic Institute and funded Global Affairs Canada, explored nontraditional roles of women in wartime amid fears of a return to traditional gender roles. Our largest ever research study in Ukraine looked into how the conflict in Ukraine is affecting women, to help inform content and ensure media are representing women across a wide range of roles. And ‘V¾±²õ¾±²ú±ô±ð’, a film project conducted with the National Democratic Institute with funding from Sida, examines the roles of LGBTQI+ and gender diverse communities in wartime, tackling deeply held stigma and stereotypes.

Ukraine is also part of our Humanitarian Communication Support project, through which we have supported Suspilne’s regional operations in the east of the country, in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia oblasts, with mentoring, Lifeline training, personal protective equipment, hostile environment training and security consultations, and strengthened connections with humanitarian agencies. In this area nearest the frontline, the broadcasters are ensuring vulnerable audiences can access trusted information.

We are also beginning work on a new three-year project funded by the FCDO focused on countering misinformation in the region, and another project focused on demining and mine awareness, as the people of Ukraine learn to cope with the deadly environmental impacts of a gruelling conflict.

Watch to find out what it has been like for Suspilne to broadcast through the conflict.

(Warning: contains strong language)