Decentralization forum in Kramatorsk

Information Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariat
24 November 2017, 12:30

Better administrative services within the ATO zone were high on the agenda of the Forum “Decentralization: State of Play and Prospects” held in Kramatorsk, Donetsk oblast.

The second day of the forum in Kramatorsk organized by the parliamentary Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government in concert with a range of local authorities, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine and the Council of Europe’s Programme “Decentralization and Territorial Consolidation in Ukraine” is on.

The day’s agenda is tightly concentrated on the issue of rendering the administrative services.

O.Kamenchuk, a high-ranking ministerial officer, delivered the audience an overview on the ministry and the central executive authorities’ activities in the realm of improving the procedure for rendering the administrative services in the ATO zone, in particular, and solving the problems of administrative service centres.

Nataliia Shamrai, the Director of the AdminServices Department of the Kyiv city administration and the President of the All-Ukraine Administrative Service Centres Association, made a presentation of the city administrative service system and the association’s activities aimed at solving the problems in the related sphere.

More contributors from the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk oblasts (Lyman town), and from the Expert Deployment for Governance and Economic Growth (EDGE) delivered their reports on the organizational activities’ aspects in the area of the administrative services.

During the ample debate, the forum participants talked over the EU experience, Estonia and Germany, in particular, in the scope of rendering the services in question, including the Internet-based facilities capable of developing the e-services throughout Ukraine.

Worthy of note

The Council of Europe’s Programme “Decentralisation and Territorial Consolidation in Ukraine” in brief

Ukraine has been a member of the Council of Europe since 1995 and undertook commitments to respect the European standards and in particular, in the field of local and regional democracy, the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, ratified in 1997, and of its Additional Protocol on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority, ratified in 2014.

The Programme “Decentralisation and Territorial Consolidation in Ukraine” is implemented in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine (2015-2017). The overall objective of the Programme is the establishment of a sustainable local governance system in Ukraine. To that ultimate aim, many activities are implemented in the framework of two strongly interconnected components related to the territorial reform and the decentralisation process in the country.

Component 1
“Territorial reform and efficient local government”

Specific objectives:

  • Providing legal expertise relevant to the territorial consolidation, as well as practical ways for the implementation of further territorial amalgamation and inter-municipal co-operation;
  • Strengthening capacity of elected representatives and appointed officials within pilot amalgamated communities.

Component 2
“Decentralisation and sustainable local government”

Specific objectives:

  • Improving the legal and institutional framework for decentralisation and sustainable local government;
  • Strengthening the professionalism, efficiency and administrative capacity in central and local government.

EDGE

The Expert Deployment for Governance and Economic Growth (EDGE) Project is helping Ukraine move towards a democratic and prosperous society by advancing citizen-centered democracy and promoting sustainable economic growth. EDGE responds to critical needs of the Ukrainian government, at the national and regional level, in planning, implementing and communicating about governance and economic growth reforms.

EDGE provides support to government partners to increase their capacity to manage reforms by applying international management best practices; is working with the Project Management Office of the National Reforms Council to develop tailored reform plans for Ukraine’s priority reform and mechanisms to monitor the reforms; works side-by-side with national and regional organizations to deliver necessary technical assistance to manage and implement reforms; has partnered with the EBRD to establish the Professionals for Reform Support Mechanism which provides the Government of Ukraine with professional local support to critical reforms; supports the development of reform plans that are transparent and clear to the stakeholders and Ukraine’s public; will help the Ukrainian government to build its capacity to communicate more effectively on reforms to its citizens, regional authorities and foreign partners.