No More Corruption
“We Act” to create our own future.
Project “Diyemo” [ДІЄМО] is an anti-corruption task force, empowering local communities throughout Ukraine to take control of their most vital and vulnerable interests. The project’s full name: “Decentralization produces Transparency and Efficiency in Education and Medicine”, cleverly creates the acronym “Diyemo”, which in Ukrainian means “we act”.
In 2014 Ukraine launched anti-corruption policies, producing positive and traceable effects: decentralizing power, distributing taxes, maintaining a transparent budget, uniting communities, and attracting international engagement. Project “Diyemo” focuses on organizing education and medicine – arguably two systems that warrant the most investment, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and mandatory quarantine.
How exactly do “We Act”?
Without building its own bureaucratic construct to fight corruption, “Diyemo” engages with local communities and operates within established governmental structures. “Diyemo” often integrates pre-existing anti-corruption policies with more relevant ones. In other words, it uses governmental structures as they were meant to be used, encouraging citizens to follow suit. Transparency is most important between people and the government – and allowing the people to see their interests reflected in the plans and budget. Of course, the consequential side of anti-corruption policies keeps government officials accountable when there is any conflict of interest. In light of prevalent financial corruption, the program clarifies all procedures regarding declaring property and income, the obligation to pay taxes, and the proper distribution of funds for public interests.
Why it’s necessary to Act
Now more than ever, initiatives for education and medicine are of pressing concern. The need for proper and accessible medical facilities is experiencing unprecedented demand due to the pandemic COVID-19. More nuanced is the educational problem. Throughout the world, mandatory quarantine has kept students at home and called for online learning. However, in local areas of Ukraine, the necessary technological infrastructure was not already in place. Not every student has access to a web-cam device, and the internet is not always a guarantee. Even for those fortunate to have all the amenities, the unexpected implantation of distance learning has left both students and teachers disoriented. Furthermore, insufficient parental responsibility only exacerbates the problem. “Diyemo” has become involved to enable better strategic missions and secure the necessary funding not to let education slip through the cracks.
Vision and Scope
“Diyemo” serves 20 communities throughout Ukraine in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Rivne, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnitsky, and Chernivtsi. While devoted to serving the specific communities, it also operates an HR hotline to assist and document pressing concerns of corruption. “Diyemo” remains very active and is accessible through its Facebook page:
“Decentralization brings transparency and efficiency in education and medicine”.
Here, one can easily contact them and track their progress in helping Ukraine operate unencumbered by corruption, and serve its most valuable interests.
According to “Diyemo” expert, Olena Zavorotchenko: “We begin the process of implementing anti-corruption mechanisms with the smallest effort.”
Anti-Corruption and De-communisation policies were implemented in 2014 and 2015 following the Revolution of Dignity.
One of “Diyemo’s” most recent endeavours: serving the educational system of communities in the Chernivtsi Oblast as they switch to distance learning.
