More than 60 civic and charitable organizations united in the Coalition of Social Service Providers (Coalition SSP) marked the first year of joint work. At a strategic session, participants refined the shared vision, reported on achievements, and agreed on five advocacy priorities and operational plans for the Coalition's departments through January 2027.

The Coalition was founded with a simple but ambitious goal: to make sure every person in difficult life circumstances can access a quality social service that supports them and helps them return to ordinary life. Civic and charitable organizations united to shape a competitive market of accessible, high-quality social services — by sharing experience, drawing on each other's expertise, and driving change at both community and national levels.

We believe this is a strong result for our first year. The core value of our union is the network itself — a space where organizations working with the same target audiences can share best practices, generate new ideas, and develop them together.

Five advocacy directions: what the Coalition will fight for

At the strategic session on 8–9 June, participants identified five priority problems of the social sphere, around which advocacy plans were built with a horizon to 1 January 2027:

  1. Low cost of social services — the most pressing issue per the vote. The Coalition will push for a review of state tariffs that for years have not reflected the real cost of services, and for a mechanism of their regular update.
  2. Lack of up-to-date data on population needs — initiating a single state methodology for assessing social-service needs, with NGOs involved in the process.
  3. Bureaucracy — preparing a package of proposals to simplify service-registration procedures and digitize document workflows, so clients don't drop out due to complexity and social workers don't drown in paperwork.
  4. Outdated classifier and state standards — launching an official process of their update, including new beneficiary categories (IDPs, veterans) and bringing NGOs into the Ministry of Social Policy working group.
  5. Resource deficit and inaccessibility of training for NGO social workers — ensuring equal access for civic-sector specialists to state training programs, recognition of their qualifications, and codification of NGOs as equal-rights service providers.

What departments will do by January 2027

Advocacy goals are backed by a concrete operational plan, distributed across the Coalition's departments.

**Institutional development.** The key task is to draft and sign the Memorandum of Cooperation among members (by 31 December 2026). Also planned: training for the network on how to register as a social-service provider and meet state-standard requirements; board approval of five policies and bylaws; and preparation of 2027 work plans.

**Fundraising.** Priority is securing funding for the development of individual member organizations and the Coalition as a whole. Separate streams include a digest of opportunities for members, support for member fundraising events, and a mental-health and supervision program for teams.

**Communication.** The team will complete mapping of all members, grow the Facebook community, secure media coverage of the Coalition, produce a series of video stories featuring Coalition members, beneficiary success stories, and refreshed merch.

**Analytics department.** Focus areas: monitoring institutional and organizational development of at least three network organizations, mapping service areas of Coalition members, refining questionnaires with 80%+ response collection, and building an institutional-memory archive.

**Advocacy department.** Plans include building the Coalition SSP database with a service inventory as an evidence base for advocacy, representing the Coalition at the ISAR forum, designing a model for social-sphere reform, and preparing a joint position paper signed by members.

Ahead: the second half of joint work

The Coalition closes its first year with a network of over 60 organizations, an agreed strategy, and a clear action plan. The next six months will be a period of moving from a shared vision to concrete outcomes — analytical reports, draft regulatory changes, and public campaigns. All in pursuit of the shared goal: quality, accessible social services in every community.