April 28 in Kyiv with the organizational support of the Office of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine, CF “HromadaHab”, Representation of the Foundation named after Friedrich Ebert in Ukraine and Moldova, the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities and the Gorshenin Institute hosted the Forum of Communities.
The event was implemented as one of the forms of dialogue between central and local authorities, business and international donors on the way to post-war recovery and development of the regions of Ukraine.
“Now, in the issue of sustainability, reconstruction and development of communities, the coordination of efforts of all branches and levels of government in Ukraine, business, the public, volunteers, as well as international projects and programs comes to the fore,” emphasizes Vyacheslav Negoda, one of the speakers of the Forum and head of the Office of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
According to him, the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities under the President of Ukraine today is the platform to which all interested parties should join, because it is a tool for faster and more effective resolution of common issues: “Congress is not power, but all power is in the Congress. When there is such a platform, it should be used.”
At the Community Forum, the thematic work was divided between four panels.
The final stage of decentralization and the legal basis of post-war reconstruction were discussed within the panel “Initiatives of the central authorities to help Ukrainian communities in resisting aggression”.
A separate discussion was devoted to countering aggression, working with humanitarian challenges and already implemented projects. Here, representatives of the communities that survived the full-scale invasion shared their successful experience in crisis management.
Within the panel “Donor support of Ukrainian communities”, representatives of Ukraine’s support programs, in particular from USAID, Global Communities, the Foundation “Partnership for a strong Ukraine”, “Doctors of the World Greece”, ICC Ukraine, Miyamoto International Ukraine, “Rotary Club Kyiv International”, etc. had be able to voice the requirements and problems that exist in attracting donor funding for reconstruction.
In addition, a panel devoted to the role of business in the restoration of communities and territories was held with the participation of representatives of local authorities and companies involved in the reconstruction of settlements affected by Russian aggression.
Many settlements and local governments, regional authorities today have experience and opportunities to independently attract resources of international projects for restoration and development. However, there are many who need support and accompaniment.
According to the adviser to the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Artem Husak, the activities of the Regional Offices for International Cooperation – one of the initiatives of the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities – will be aimed at helping communities to rebuild and attract foreign aid and investments.
“Such offices should work in every region and become the main window for international partners who seek to support Ukraine at the level of the region and territorial community. The task of such offices will be to exchange relevant information, systematize data, maintain registers, support projects, coordinate international aid,” Artem Husak said.
