10 investigations into Ukraine’s reconstruction by participants of the Open Data Association’s Mentoring Programme for Regional Journalists

In November 2023, the NGO “Open Data Association” launched the project “Supporting the Anti-Corruption Work of Regional Journalists in the Context of Ukraine’s Post-War Reconstruction”.

The project aimed to promote transparency in the work of central and local authorities and politicians on Ukraine’s recovery by training journalists working at the regional level to monitor and analyse public procurement.

Almost 70 journalists and civic activists from all over Ukraine signed up for the programme. They took part in its two stages:

• Theoretical part: a comprehensive training programme of 6 online sessions on the most relevant topics.
• Practical part: work on their own media projects under the guidance of leading investigative journalists during March. Our participants were mentored by practising journalists such as Oleksandra Hubytska (NGL.Media), Yurii Horbach (Syla Pravdy), Oleksii Yarylchenko (Bihus.Info), Natalia Lazarovych (Bihus.Info), Liubov Velychko (expert at the Institute of Regional Press Development) and Roman Steblivskyi (StateWatch).

The participants experienced first-hand what the work of a real investigative journalist is like. Not everyone who eagerly joined the first training made it to the end. According to the programme requirements, only 15 participants were able to move from the theoretical to the practical part. And only 10 successfully completed it and produced their own materials on reconstruction in their regions.

We are happy to share our finalists’ work so that you can see the results for yourself.

• A study of how housing is being arranged for IDPs in Rivne Oblast, by Tetiana Savchuk.
• How Lyvarna Street in Dnipro is being reconstructed was investigated by Maksym Krasikov.
• Monitoring of road repair procurement in Ternivka (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) was carried out by Tetiana Volkova.
• A study of the transparency of rebuilding destroyed infrastructure in Donetsk Oblast by Vira Ilyina.
• A study of how shelters are being built in educational institutions of the Pereiaslav community, Kyiv Oblast by Valentyna Batrak.
• Monitoring of the use of public funds by city councils in Rivne Oblast was done by Liliia Khalaman.
• Monitoring of public procurement for the reconstruction of Zhytomyr Oblast by Nataliia Izhytska.
• A study of the restoration of the Vysokopillia hospital in Kherson Oblast by Taras Buzak.
• An analysis of public procurement for building shelters in preschools in Terebovlia, Ternopil Oblast was carried out by Ihor Protsyk.
• Monitoring of public procurement for reconstruction in Kryvyi Rih by Iryna Antsyfrova.

Impressions of the programme

We asked our participants to share their impressions of taking part and working with professional mentors. Here are some of their comments:

“Oleksandra is a really great mentor. First, she explained how to properly analyse a street reconstruction procurement — how to choose the items and how to analyse them. Second, how to send information requests properly. And even though the authorities and contractors practically didn’t respond to them, it was still an interesting experience. Third, the work of going out to photograph building materials,” – Maksym Krasikov.

“I can’t single out any one thing, because Yurii helped me fully understand what an investigation is. Step by step, he explained all the nuances and difficulties of this work. So I am very grateful to him for all his help and advice, and also for always being available,” – Liliia Khalaman

“The key and most significant help for me personally was in shaping style and format. They helped with practically everything, but this is what always raised a lot of questions for me. There is still work to do, especially with such long texts, but I have received a direction for improvement. My mentor, with her patience and support, gave a great deal of her time so that my text could appear at all,” – Iryna Antsyfrova.

The mentors, in turn, noted that taking part in the programme helped their professional growth, as they had the opportunity to work with participants of varying levels of professional training. In the view of most mentors, Ukrainian society needs more motivated and professional journalists, especially now.

[note] We thank all the participants, mentors, experts and trainers who contributed to the creation and implementation of the programme. In particular, our partners from YouControl and the NGO “Civic Monitoring of Ukraine”.