Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine and is in the north-east of the country with a population of about 1.5 million people. The city was founded in 1654 and grew to be a major center of Ukrainian industry, trade and culture within the Russian Empire and then later as part of the Soviet Union. Today , Kharkov is a large city with many universities and cultural facilities.
The Jewish community of Kharkov is under 1% of the population, a dramatic reduction from pre WWII, when Jews were approximately 20% of the population. As with all religious groups, Jewish life was stifled during the Communist regime but today Jews are once again able to meet for cultural activities.
As with all minorities, the Jewish community struggles to find its place alongside mainstream Russian culture and many of the organizations have become reliant on outside support, which in turn has led to a culture of dependency on the one hand, and competition between community organizations for diminishing financial resources, on the other.
BTF in Kharkov
Program Overview
Timeframe:
2015 – 2018.
Intervention Type:
Faith-based.
Main Programs:
Capacity building, developing partnerships.
Intervention Method:
Increasing interaction between self-run community networks.
Partnership development between residents, city council, national government & the 3rd sector.
Synchronizing activities amongst the many stakeholders for the best use of resources, using BTF’s Lifecycle Asset Mapping tool.