On 14–15 August in Lutsk, the Polaris Programme “Support to Multi-Level Governance in Ukraine” held a training for members of the Board of the All-Ukrainian Association of Local Government Bodies “Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils” (UADRC). The event marked another milestone in the development of democratic, membership-oriented associations of local self-government – one of the key priorities of the programme.
The training also gathered Oleksii Riabikin, Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine; Vitalii Bezghin, Member of Parliament and Head of the Subcommittee on Administrative-Territorial System of the Verkhovna Rada Committee; and Lukas Mandl, Member of the European Parliament and President of the Assembly of European Regions.
The central theme of the discussion was the distribution of powers between levels of government in the context of ongoing decentralisation reform, European integration, and wartime challenges.
“The delineation of powers between levels of local self-government, local councils and executive authorities according to the principle of subsidiarity is one of the key tasks for UADRC. A Working Group and nine sectoral subgroups are operating under the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development. UADRC has delegated representatives to this Working Group, and they are actively participating in its work. The outcome should be a draft law that meets EU requirements. Currently, we are preparing proposals developed during the Polaris training, and soon we will transfer them through UADRC members of the Working Group for further use and integration into the draft law,” said Tetiana Yehorova-Lutsenko, President of UADRC and Head of Kharkiv Oblast Council.
During the event, Serhii Sharshov, Deputy Executive Director of the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities and expert of the “Legislation for Hromadas” Platform, outlined the prospects and challenges of power distribution between levels of government in the context of decentralisation reform, Ukraine’s EU accession process, and socio-economic challenges caused by the war.
The experience of Sweden, Poland, and other European countries in shaping effective systems of power distribution at the local, subregional, and regional levels was presented by Krzysztof Stanowski, international expert of the Polaris Programme.
“A key element in completing Ukraine’s decentralisation reform is clearly defining the competencies, funding sources, and executive structures at each level of local government. European best practices show that tasks should be carried out as close to citizens as possible — at the lowest level capable of executing them effectively,” said Krzysztof Stanowski, international expert of the Polaris Programme.
Participants also worked in groups to model the organisation of quality sectoral services – in particular, in education and healthcare – through the distribution of powers involving rayon councils and their executive bodies.
Polaris continues to support Ukrainian local government associations in their work aimed at sustainable development, democratic governance, and European integration.
