During 11-19th of July, 2006 Mr. Juerg Christen, SDC expert and UNDP independent consultant, provided the backstopping and Programme support to UNDP/MGSDP aimed at improving the efficiency of Programme activities on promoting the participatory governance for sustainable development of the municipalities in Ukraine. This Mission was organised under the support from the Swiss Agency on Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The scope of the Mission included reviewing of the process adopted by MGSDP to implement the project; building quality of human resource involved in the project implementation; and monitoring of the process and the products related with the project and ensuring their mutual reinforcement for quality output; and making overall recommendations to improve the Programme effectiveness. The Backstopping was provided in context of the SDC-funded project “Promoting Conditions of Participatory Governance and Development in Urban Areas”.
The Mission started with the meeting with Ms. Joanna Kazana-Wisniowiecka, UNDP DRR, to discuss on the strategies of MGSDP implementation. Afterwards, Mr. Christen participated in the regular meeting of the National Forum of Partner Municipalities (NFPM) where he shared his observations and impressions on MGSDP with the Mayors and Municipal Project Coordinators of the partner municipalities. During the meeting with Mr. O.Matviyishyn, the deputy head of the directorate of the regional policy of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the current status of the decentralisation process in Ukraine and its future outlook were discussed.
Also, the meeting was held with the national partner of the Programme – the Ukrainian Association of Local and Regional Authorities headed by Mr. V. Nehoda – to discuss on the joint activities and opportunities for further strengthening of the partnership with the Programme. In this context, Mr. Christen welcomed the decision of the partner municipalities to move the Secretariat of NFPM to the Association in order to make it more sustainable and nationally owned. Afterwards, Mr. Christen visited the partner municipality of Kirovske (Donetska oblast), where he interacted with the municipal authorities, community of the local condominium heading towards partnership with the Programme, local banks and Employment Centre on possibilities of launching the economic component at local level, and also Novohrad-Volynksyy (Zhytomyrska oblast), where he had meetings with the municipal authorities, representatives of the rayon state administration, and observed the progress of implementation of local SD projects.
Finally, a coaching session was organised for the Programme implementing team. All the way in the course of the Mission the backstopper provided valuable suggestions and recommendations to all stakeholders involved in the Programme implementation. “MGSDP obviously proved its effectiveness in establishing partnerships at local and national levels for joint strengthening of the local governance and sustainable development in Ukraine. It should further concentrate its activities on its major strengths to establish shiny examples of how communities can take over a lot of responsibilities and of how municipalities can be the good partners of the citizens in fostering the sustainable local development”, said Mr. Christen at the end of the Mission.
The scope of the Mission included reviewing of the process adopted by MGSDP to implement the project; building quality of human resource involved in the project implementation; and monitoring of the process and the products related with the project and ensuring their mutual reinforcement for quality output; and making overall recommendations to improve the Programme effectiveness. The Backstopping was provided in context of the SDC-funded project “Promoting Conditions of Participatory Governance and Development in Urban Areas”.
The Mission started with the meeting with Ms. Joanna Kazana-Wisniowiecka, UNDP DRR, to discuss on the strategies of MGSDP implementation. Afterwards, Mr. Christen participated in the regular meeting of the National Forum of Partner Municipalities (NFPM) where he shared his observations and impressions on MGSDP with the Mayors and Municipal Project Coordinators of the partner municipalities. During the meeting with Mr. O.Matviyishyn, the deputy head of the directorate of the regional policy of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the current status of the decentralisation process in Ukraine and its future outlook were discussed.
Also, the meeting was held with the national partner of the Programme – the Ukrainian Association of Local and Regional Authorities headed by Mr. V. Nehoda – to discuss on the joint activities and opportunities for further strengthening of the partnership with the Programme. In this context, Mr. Christen welcomed the decision of the partner municipalities to move the Secretariat of NFPM to the Association in order to make it more sustainable and nationally owned. Afterwards, Mr. Christen visited the partner municipality of Kirovske (Donetska oblast), where he interacted with the municipal authorities, community of the local condominium heading towards partnership with the Programme, local banks and Employment Centre on possibilities of launching the economic component at local level, and also Novohrad-Volynksyy (Zhytomyrska oblast), where he had meetings with the municipal authorities, representatives of the rayon state administration, and observed the progress of implementation of local SD projects.
Finally, a coaching session was organised for the Programme implementing team. All the way in the course of the Mission the backstopper provided valuable suggestions and recommendations to all stakeholders involved in the Programme implementation. “MGSDP obviously proved its effectiveness in establishing partnerships at local and national levels for joint strengthening of the local governance and sustainable development in Ukraine. It should further concentrate its activities on its major strengths to establish shiny examples of how communities can take over a lot of responsibilities and of how municipalities can be the good partners of the citizens in fostering the sustainable local development”, said Mr. Christen at the end of the Mission.
