September 8, Yalta (AR Crimea): 13 Mayors of partner municipalities participated in the Coordination Meeting of Project partners to develop recommendations and identify Project`s priorities for the next year. During the meeting, the participants of the study tour to Switzerland discussed the experience gained during the visit and suggested mechanisms for its application in Ukraine.

On September 8, UNDP Project "Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme” organised a Coordination Meeting of Project partners, which was attended by Oksana Remiga, UNDP Senior Programme Manager, Olena Lytvynenko, National Programme Officer of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine, Iryna Skaliy, UNDP/MGSDP Project Manager and 13 mayors of partner municipalities and their representatives. National Project partners were represented at the meeting by Larysa Sheremetyeva, the Director of International Relations of Foreign Trade and International Relations Department of the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Economy of Ukraine and Natalia Kartushynska, Adviser to Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Tykhonov.

During the meeting, the participants shared their experiences gained at a trip to Switzerland for top local decision-makers in Ukraine, which was held on June  28-July 3, 2010 with financial support from the Swiss Confederation. A CD with materials on the visit was presented to the audience (materials can be found in section “Project Documents and Publications”).

Also, a report on the study tour was prepared, which contains feedback from the participants and Action plan for implementing Swiss experience in Ukrainian municipalities in context of the Programme.  The participants of the visit to Switzerland proposed to cities and regions of Ukraine to find their own way to solve the problem of Solid Waste Management as there is no clear state policy on this issue. Swiss experience may be useful for the cities, including separate collection of glass, paper and metal waste, building waste burning factory, setting the rates for recycling waste.

Inter-municipal cooperation should be used more actively to deepen bilateral relations between Ukrainian and Swiss municipalities as well as between municipalities of Eastern and Western Ukraine.

Yuriy Gerzhov, Voznesensk City Mayor stressed the example of Switzerland as a model of democracy with direct and regular participation of the citizens in managing state and local issues through referendums and elections, and noted that this experience is particularly useful for Ukraine. According to Mr. Gerzhov Project priorities for the next year should be the energy efficiency, Solid Waste Management and healthcare of Urban residents.

To develop recommendations for improving Project operation,   Independent Assessment Mission will be held on September 13-25 by Jurg Christen, Executive Director of Swiss Resource Centre and Consultancies for Development SKAT (Switzerland), an international consultant in decentralization. As part of the mission, the expert will visit partner municipalities of Rivne, Lviv and Dolyna and examine Solid Waste Management problems. Recommendations made by the expert will be circulated to all Project partners.