Zhytomyr - Novograd-Volynskiy (Zhytomyr), 27-28 January: Representatives of the UNDP Project "Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme" and Zhytomyr and Novograd-Volynskiy City Councils have discussed perspective areas of cooperation for 2011. During the meeting with the mayors, the Parties signed the amendments to the Partnership Agreements between UNDP and city councils. According to the Agreement, the Parties agreed to provide support to community organisations for the joint solution of social, economic and environmental problems and raise the efficiency of local self-government bodies.
The priorities of UNDP/MGSDP for 2011 include support to consolidation of approach of community participation in local decision making process through elaboration of local development programmes. Also, the Project will support partner municipalities in reforming housing and municipal economy and implementation of projects and initiatives in energy saving, elaboration of programmes and sharing experiences on community participation in local self-governance through referenda and training for newly elected local councilors on strategic and operational planning of local development and community involvement in management of local development. The Project will facilitate establishment of community organisations (Associations of Co-Owners of Multi-Apartment Houses (ACMHs) and their Federations, Service Cooperatives and NGOs and their networks) and will conduct training for community activists.
Zhytomyr municipality became one of three pilot partner municipalities of UNDP/MGSDP in 2004 and in 2011 the local authorities expressed the wish to deepen cooperation for mobilising local communities and solving problems of local development. In 2004, the Project supported the implementation of 6 projects of local communities, aimed at reconstruction of the water supply and heating systems. The total cost of these projects reached UAH 566,6 thousand from which UAH 230 thousand were contributed by the City Council, UAH 230 – by UNDP, UAH 50.7 thousand – by local communities and UAH 9.9 thousand - by third parties. The projects benefited 1300 residents of the municipality.
One of the conditions of partnerships was establishing Municipal Support Unit, which had to work with local communities and provide information support for the creation of community organisations and their participation in the Project. The Department of Municipal Development was established in Zhytomyr, which successfully supports the initiative groups in establishing ACMH, ACMHs Board members and existing ACMHs. The Department operation has significantly activated ACMH establishment in the city and made city residents of multi-apartment houses more aware of the responsibility for their property. Experience of the Department became one of the success stories of the publication "Success Stories. Building Better Life with Joint Efforts. Ukrainian Cities` Experience" (2010), describing the experience of 16 cities-municipalities of the Project.
The participants of the meeting included Volodymyr Deboy, Zhytomyr City Mayor, Mykola Borovets, Zhytomyr Deputy City Mayor, Iryna Skaliy, UNDP/MGSDP Project Manager; Oleksandr Krukivskiy, Municipal Project Coordinator in Zhytomyr, Olena Ursu, UNDP/MGSDP Governance and Sustainable Development Expert and MSU specialists.
The parties have signed the Amendment to the "Partnership Agreement", which aims to strengthen the institutional potential of local development participants at all levels. In the framework of cooperation, UNDP will conduct educational work among school children on solid waste management; provide capacity development activities with local councilors and City Council management on energy-saving. Also, the Project will support elaboration of the programme for reforming housing and municipal economy of the municipality and the establishment and operation of ACMHs through trainings for community activists and local councilors.
Novograd-Volynskiy municipality became a Programme partner in 2005. In context of cooperation, the municipality has completely reformed the housing and municipal economy using the community-based local development approach. The Project has provided support to 17 communities in implementing projects for local sustainable development worth UAH 2.5 million, which brought direct benefit to more than 28 thousand city residents and demonstrated outstanding results of cooperation of local authorities, businesses and international donors with the communities in this region. Technical Assistance of the United Nations Development Programme to Novograd-Volynskiy municipality was supplemented by multilateral donors - the Swiss Confederation and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ukraine.
The participants of the meeting in Novograd-Volynskiy included Volodymyr Zagryviy,Novograd-Volynskiy City Mayor, Iryna Skaliy, UNDP/MGSDP Project Manager; Iryna Gudz, Municipal Project Coordinator in Novograd-Volynskiy, Olena Ursu, UNDP/MGSDP Governance and Sustainable Development Expert and MSU specialists.
The parties have officially signed the amendment to the "Partnership Agreement". In the framework of cooperation, UNDP will support local housing and municipal economy and co-finance local community projects. At the request of local authorities, the Project will also conduct trainings for local councilors on urgent issues of local self-governance and trainings for communities on the management of residential property.
For more details, please, contact Galyna Smirnova, UNDP/MGSDP Monitoring and Communication Officer, by tel: (044) 584-34-75 or e-mail: galyna.smirnovaATundp.org.ua
