The municipalities were awarded at the National Round Table on Implementation of European Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at the Local Level in Ukraine (hereinafter- Strategy) for their essential contribution to the implementation of this Strategy at local level in Ukraine. The roundtable was organised on February 4^th by the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction of Ukraine in cooperation with the Council of Europe, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ukraine, Swiss Agency for development and Cooperation and other agencies.

 

UNDP Project “Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme” established partnership with the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction of Ukraine in 2009 and the parties cooperated in implementation of the Strategy.

 

The Strategy was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in March 2008. The Strategy aims at stimulating coordinated action by national and local stakeholders, so that citizens in all European countries benefit from good democratic governance at local level, through the continuously improved quality of local public services, engagement of the population and policies that meet their expectations.

 

In pursuit of this aim, the Strategy has the following three objectives:

·         Citizens are placed at the heart of all democratic institutions and processes;

·         Local authorities constantly improve their governance in accordance with the twelve Principles of Good Democratic Governance;

·         States and/or regional authorities create and maintain the institutional preconditions        for the improvement of governance at local level, building on their existing commitments in accordance with the European Charter of Local Self-Government and other Council of Europe standards.

 

The Strategy is a practical instrument which can be used to generate synergies between local, regional, and national stakeholders by applying common instruments for improving the quality of local governance according to a shared vision defined by the Principles of Good Democratic Governance. These 12 principles are: 1) Fair conduct of elections, representation and participation; 2) Responsiveness; 3) Efficiency and effectiveness; 4) Openness and transparency; 5) Rule of law; 6) ethical conduct; 7) Competence and capacity; 8) Innovation and openness to change; 9) Sustainability and long-term orientation; 10) Sound financial management; 11) Human rights, cultural diversity and social cohesion; 12) Accountability. 

 

The Strategy was prepared according to recommendation of Warsaw Summit of leaders of Council of Europe member states. The Strategy consists of 12 principles, which allow assessing existing governance and determining criteria, standards for implementation of good governance. In order to assess each principle, a separate toolkit was developed. 

 

UNDP/MGSDP partner municipalities became pilot communities in Ukraine. They filled in the questionnaires to assess specific principles’ introduction at local level, analyzed and compared existing situation and drew up action plans to drive improvements. In 2009 the municipalities applied CLEAR tool (acronym for Can do, Like to, Enabled to, Asked to and Responded) to assess citizen participation in decision-making process at the local level.   The second component for assessment was ethical conduct at the local level. The issue of ethical conduct was examined for improving cooperation of local authorities and communities. 

 

UNDP/MGSDP has 28 partner municipalities and settlements of municipal type  in 12 regions of Ukraine. Recently the partner municipalities have received national awards and recognition for applying innovative mechanisms of  local development. 

 

UNDP/MGSDP was initiated in 2004 for promoting democratic governance aimed at improving the livelihoods of people in urban areas across Ukraine under the framework of public-private partnership.

 

The Programme cooperates with community-based organisations, academia and civil society organisations in 23 municipalities and 5 settlements of municipal type across Ukraine and other partners in private and public sectors. Together they apply various sustainable development mechanisms.

 

Since 2004, UNDP/MGSDP supported 232 local community projects with a total cost of UAH 26.3 mn. For more information on the Project's activities, please visit: http://msdp.undp.org.ua