A Roundtable - The Ukrainian Local Government Support Foundation
27 May 2010
Discussing the Issues of Local Government Reform in Ukraine
An all-Ukraine roundtable on the topic of “The Prospects of Local Government Reform in Ukraine” was held in Kyiv on 27 May 2010. Andriy Korniyenko, IBSER’s Deputy Director for Performance Program Budgeting (PPB) and Training Programs represented the Institute for Budgetary and Socio-Economic Research, which is implementing the Municipal Finance Strengthening Initiative project with support of USAID, at the event.
The roundtable was co-sponsored by the Ukrainian Local Government Support Foundation and the Council of Europe’s Strengthening the Local Democracy and Promoting Reforms of Local Government in Ukraine program, with support of the International Renaissance Foundations and USAID.
The event was intended to identify and discuss the key, conceptual approaches, priority objectives, and phases of implementing the local government reform in Ukraine.
The key tasks of the roundtable were identified as analyzing the real status of local government, reviewing the institutional, constitutional, and administrative-legal aspects of its reform; working out and approving realistic proposals for central and local State authorities and for local governments regarding the priority measures of local government reform, taking into account the existing conceptual and normative-legal groundwork; mobilizing the intellectual potential of Ukrainian and international experts, scholars, and non-governmental institutions around the idea of implementing the reform of local government in Ukraine.
Discussed at the roundtable were the following key issues:
● Approaches to the strategy of government decentralization: Ukrainian practice and European experience;
● Institutional tools for implementation of local government reform;
● Implementation of conceptual-legal documents regarding the local government reform.
● Strengthening the capacity of local communities and competitiveness of the regions.
● Phases of implementation of the local government reform in Ukraine in 2010-2015 and mechanisms of its support.
● Approaches to the strategy of government decentralization: Ukrainian practice and European experience;
● Institutional tools for implementation of local government reform;
● Implementation of conceptual-legal documents regarding the local government reform.
● Strengthening the capacity of local communities and competitiveness of the regions.
● Phases of implementation of the local government reform in Ukraine in 2010-2015 and mechanisms of its support.
The participants in the discussion included Ukrainian MPs, representatives of the academia, higher educational institutions, non-governmental organizations of Ukraine, local government associations, and international institutions active in the area of local and regional development.
It is expected that the roundtable discussion results will contribute to approving the Recommendations regarding the priority steps of implementing the local government reform in Ukraine, which will then be submitted to central government agencies.
The information has been compiled based on the materials of the Ukrainian Local Government Support Foundation website: http://www.municipal.gov.ua/.
Glyanec