Ms. Andrea Najvirtová is a member of the Ambrela platform presidency and CEO of Ambrela’s member: People in Peril (PiP). We were privileged and grateful to have her as a moderator at #ADF2024 first panel discussion on Ukraine’s reconstruction: Where do we stand.

There were four expert panelists:
– Mr. Viacheslav Didkivskyi, Deputy Head of the State Agency for Recovery and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine,
– Mr. Orest Tokač, Policy Coordinator at Ukraine Service, EU Commission,
– Ms. Alena Sabelová, State Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery Plan and Knowledge Economy of the Slovak Republic,
– Mr. Jan Marian, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechia.

What are the key takeaways according to Ms. Najvirtová:

• While Ukraine is still defending itself, facing casualties and experiencing enormous destruction of civilian and energy infrastructure, it is necessary to support its reconstruction and recovery already now, even at a lower scale, so as to offer the Ukrainian people prospects and possibilities to grow and develop;
• Ukraine is approaching its 3rd war winter and with 85% of Ukrainian electricity generation capacities destroyed, it is expected be the harshest winter so far – reconstruction of warproof and decentralised energy infrastructure will be crucial to protect people from darkness and freezing;
• We need to focus also on the human dimension of the reconstruction and recovery in terms of mobilising human capital for reconstruction. Inclusion and social cohesion can’t wait and need to be integral part of reconstruction and recovery efforts – and civil society can be crucial in supporting these efforts;
• The civil society in Ukraine has shown remarkable resilience and response, but also in reforms and in reconstruction efforts – and it will need our continuous support;
• Slovakia is lagging behind in exploring opportunities for partnerships in Ukraine‘s reconstruction – I hope the conference managed to build momentum in this regard.
  

You can re-watch the video from the ADF 2024 PANEL 1: ‚The Reconstruction of Ukraine: Where do we stand‘ together with #ADF2024 Opening remarks on Youtube here.