EUAM Ukraine Supports the SBI’s Communication Efforts (Video)
September 23, 2026
Public institutions today communicate in a fast-moving and demanding information environment. They need to respond to events quickly, while also explaining their work, communicating reforms and staying connected with the people they serve.
During wartime, this pressure is even greater. But reacting to the latest issue is not enough. Institutions also need to think longer term: what do people need to understand, whom do they need to reach and how can communication support their wider goals?
This is at the heart of EUAM Ukraine’s approach to strategic communications.
The Mission’s Strategic Communications team works with partners across the civilian security sector to strengthen their communication in a comprehensive way. Support can start with research and analysis, continue with the development of a communication strategy and then move to implementation through training, campaigns and other communication activities.
The aim is not to communicate more, but to communicate with purpose based on what an institution needs to achieve and what its audiences need to understand.
From strategy to practice
EUAM Ukraine’s cooperation with the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is one example of this approach.
With EUAM Ukraine’s support, the SBI developed its Communication Strategy under the Communication Strategy Development Programme (CSDP), providing a framework for more systematic communication with the public, media and other audiences. The Strategy helped define communication priorities, audiences and messages and connect communication more closely with the Bureau’s wider institutional goals.
But developing a strategy is only the first step. Its real value comes when it starts shaping communication in practice.
This September, the SBI launched a new nationwide public information campaign, ‘Bribery Has Consequences’, facilitated by EUAM Ukraine.
The campaign addresses a specific communication challenge: the perception that a bribe can be an easy or convenient way to solve a problem. Instead, it draws attention to the consequences of corrupt behaviour and reminds people that responsibility applies both to those who take bribes and those who offer them.
«Our cooperation with the SBI is built around a strategic and evidence-based approach leveraging cutting edge digital tooling. We work with our partners to understand their audiences, use research and data to identify communication needs and then build longer-term communication campaigns around those findings. This allows individual communication activities to support a broader institutional direction that is well aligned with EUAM mandated areas rather than remain as stand-alone initiatives», said Marc Liberati, Strategic Communications Advisor at EUAM Ukraine.
This is already the second public information campaign facilitated by EUAM Ukraine for the SBI. The previous campaign ‘Investigating to Protect Everyone’ focused more broadly on explaining the Bureau’s role and work. Its results and audience research also pointed to areas where further communication was needed, including the need for continued explanatory content.
The new campaign therefore does not stand alone. It is part of a longer process in which communication priorities are identified, activities are implemented and their results help inform what comes next.
Communication as part of institutional development
For law enforcement institutions, strategic communication is about much more than visibility.
Their mandates can be complex, and their work is not always easy to explain. Citizens may not know which institution is responsible for what, how it works or what they should expect from it.
Clear and consistent communication helps close these gaps. It helps institutions explain their role, address misconceptions and make complex issues easier to understand.
It can also strengthen the relationship between institutions and the public. When people understand what an institution does, why it takes certain decisions and how they can engage with it, there is a stronger basis for transparency, accountability and trust.
This is why EUAM Ukraine treats strategic communications as part of wider institutional development. A strategy, a campaign, research or training are not separate exercises. They work best when they support the same objectives and build on one another.
«A communication strategy should not stay on paper. It should guide everyday decisions about what an institution needs to explain, whom it needs to reach and how it knows whether its communication is working. The new SBI campaign is a good example of putting the strategy into practice: it builds on previous work, responds to a specific communication challenge and allows future communication to be shaped by evidence and results» said Oksana Ushakova, Strategic Communications Officer at EUAM Ukraine.
The SBI campaign is one visible example of this work. Behind it is a longer process of understanding audiences, setting communication priorities, developing skills and using evidence to improve future communication.
For EUAM Ukraine, comprehensive strategic communications support means helping partners build the knowledge, tools and capacity to communicate strategically themselves.
