SOCIOECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY AND THE SOLIDARITY ECONOMY FORMATION UNDER THE WAR CONDITIONS IN UKRAINE

Abstract

A full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 changed socioeconomic sustainability (SES) and boosted the solidarity economy (SE) formation in the country under the ongoing war. In the context of this study, the SES issue is associated with the importance and necessity of understanding the real needs of communities and developing programs to ensure their satisfaction and the need to establish social ties within each community and increase mutual support and solidarity. The research evaluates SES and its factors of influence on the civil population during the war. The paper relies on online focus group interviews conducted from May to June 2022 in the Sumy region, Ukraine. 1,292 randomly selected respondents were interviewed, of which 65.6% were women, and 34.4% were men who were not involved in military service. The survey results were processed by specialists of the Center for Social Research of Sumy State University using the "ОСА" program. The strong point is that 60.7% of respondents confirmed increased social activity in response to the war. The war in Ukraine harmed the employment and incomes of the population in the Sumy region, deepened the financial instability of people, and increased the risk of falling into a vulnerable situation. The policy implications of the study require strengthening the solidarity ties inside the society to promote the socio-economic sustainability of people during the war. Based on these results, the recommendations of the study include measures of investing in social protection programs, supporting the development of local economies and new job creation initiatives, encouraging the participation of civil society organizations and community groups in peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts, as well as restoration of the social and economic infrastructure of the region.