Ukraine | VNG International went to Kyiv

The International Cooperation Agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, VNG International, organised an in-person kick-off conference to «Support the recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction of local governments and communities in Ukraine» in Kyiv on 17-18 June, under the PLATFORMA Eastern Neighbourhood programme. This project is being implemented by VNG International in partnership with the Association of Ukrainian Cities and with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. 

The two-year project builds on the result of its first phase, wherein 4 hromadas (territorial communities) in the war-affected regions of Ukraine were supported in the drafting of their Local Recovery Plans, including also concrete project ideas for implementation of the plan through a Dutch-Ukrainian partnership and involvement of many Dutch municipal expertise.

In this next phase, the project expands to a larger range of hromadas that will be supported in their local recovery through the fields of (1) safety, security and resilience of communities; (2) Local Economic Development and Project Management; and (3) Decentralisation and democratisation during wartime.

Key principles used are building back better, citizen participation and aligning European norms, values and regulations in the context of European accession.

Various issues related to the three fields of work were discussed during the two-day conference, that was attended by representatives of territorial communities in Ukraine, representatives of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, relevant stakeholders in Ukraine and an international delegation of municipal administrators.

This included mayors and aldermen of the Dutch municipalities of The Hague, Rheden, Oudewater and Rhenen and experts from the Safety Region Utrecht. Katarzyna Łaziuk, deputy-mayor of Minsk Mazowiecki (Poland) who represented PLATFROPMA, shared what cooperation for sustainable local development means for municipalities and regions. She introduced which opportunities will open for Ukrainian communities and regions on their way to the accession into the European Union. 

The conference was the final step in the needs assessment of the territorial communities, and the next steps are the training and coaching of the selected communities in the three fields.