SECRETARIAT GENERAL

DIRECTORATE GENERAL II - DEMOCRACY

CENTRE OF EXPERTISE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM

Strasbourg, 31 January 2011

The Council of Europe Programme

Strengthening the Capacity of Local Authorities in

(funded by the governments of Denmark and Switzerland)

Annual Report

(April-December 2011)

Prepared by the CoE Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform in co-operation with N. Starostenko, Programme Manager, “Strengthening the Capacity of Local Authorities in Ukraine”

1 INTRODUCTION

The Council of Europe Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform has launched the Programme to Strengthen the Capacity of Local Authorities in Ukraine (“CB Programme”) in April 2011. The Programme is funded by voluntary contributions from the governments of Denmark and Switzerland, on the basis of the CoE-Ukraine Action Plan intended to provide assistance to the country to fulfil its obligations to the CoE. The Centre of Expertise also runs another Programme, “Strengthening Local Democracy and Support for Local Government Reforms in Ukraine” (funded by the Swedish Sida), which provides legal assistance in the process of decentralisation reforms to central government. Both programmes complement and reinforce each other to cover both practical and legislative components of the reform.

The present Report provides an overview of the implementation of the CB Programme between April 2011 and January 2012. The inception phase (April-July 2011) is described in more detail in the Inception Report, adopted by the Steering Committee meeting in July 2011.

PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION AND EXPECTED RESULTS

Goal. Provide support to the establishment of a strong and effective local self-government system by implementation of the European innovative approaches to governance at local level, developed by the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform.

Objective. Build the capacity of local authorities in the following areas: public ethics benchmarking, performance management, local finance benchmarking, development of leadership potential of local mayors.

Approach. Leading international and local experts in collaboration with local authorities adapt Council of Europe toolkits to local legal, social, and economic conditions. Subsequently, pilot local authorities implement adapted tools in order to drive up performance.

During the implementation of the individual components in the Programme its effects on poverty elimination, economic growth, gender equality, energy efficiency, climate, and environment are also taken into consideration

Duration. April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2014

Financing. Government of Denmark (DANIDA) and Swiss Confederation. The Programme budget for 36 months amounts to approximately 1.200.000 euro.

Partners. Ministry of Regional Development, Housing and Construction of Ukraine, associations of local authorities, the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine

Participants. 24 cities from 14 oblasts

2

Key components of the programme:

1) a practical follow-up to the (very successful) Public Ethics Benchmarking Programme; 2) a Performance Management Programme, which would help local authorities to develop and make use of performance indicators in order to improve the quality of public services; 3) a Best Practice Programme, which would create a systematic approach to identifying, celebrating and disseminating the best local initiatives and achievements; 4) a Local Finance Benchmarking Programme, which would help both central government and local authorities to understand their strengths and weaknesses and improve regulations and practice; 5) a Leadership Academy Programme, which would help senior local government officials (both elected and appointed) to improve the quality of their institutional leadership, i.e. their local authority's capacity to create a vision for its future and to make it happen though the involvement of the community and strategic management of services.

Moreover, the programme envisages offering help, in the form of expertise, to potential Ukrainian initiatives to implement the European Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level and its European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE).

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2011

1. Launch and Inception phase completed; local staff and experts recruited; participants selected by July

2. Initial adaptation stage of the innovative European LSG models, developed by the Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform. Representatives of participating cities took part in the first rounds of trainings and learnt the concepts, approaches and basic tools of European models. Starting from July 2011, leading international and local experts have been adapting European models of public ethics benchmarking; performance management; local finance benchmarking; leadership skills development to legislative and socio-economic conditions in Ukraine. Draft manuals for Ukrainian local authorities in performance management and local finance benchmarking, based on this work, will be developed in 2012 and presented to central authorities and associations of local authorities for further dissemination among other cities.

3. Capacity building activities began with participation of local authorities from 24 cities and 2 regions (oblasts). One of the key strengths of the programme is that all models could be adapted and used under the current Ukrainian legislation in cities with different status, population number, level of economic development, financial resources. In 2011, capacity building was carried out primarily through training of the local experts and municipal servants. Specifically, the Programme conducted three trainings for sustainable group of 24 participants on “Performance management” during September-November, a training on “Local Finance Benchmarking” for 17 participants in October, two sessions of “Leadership Academy” for 38 local leaders (mayors, deputy mayors) during September-November, the training on public ethics with participation of representatives of 6 cities and 4 oblasts, the international colloquy on public ethics for 60 participants, including the Civil Service Agency, local, international experts and representatives of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, representatives of government, NGOs, and national associations of local and regional authorities.

3 4. Work on the improvement of the public services quality delivered by local authorities: adaptation of the performance management mechanisms in 16 cities. The goal is to increase efficiency and transparency of public services delivery through development and use of the performance management indicators in the following areas: city web-site, administrative services, tariff policy based on a dialogue with population. After the initial stage applied to small services, performance management approaches to measurement of the efficiency of public services delivery can be used for other services as well. The results of Ukrainian cities work in performance management will be used for developing toolkits for disseminating best practices across Ukraine.

5. Development of leadership skills of local leaders in the framework of the Leadership Academy, including collaboration with non-governmental organisations, public participation, ethics benchmarking approaches, team building, establishment of experience exchange networks. The participants have already been using the self assessment tools for city council staff, communication tools with the third sector, negotiation approaches. The Leadership Academy course, promoting key local government institutional leadership qualities, will then be adapted and provided by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and other local training providers in Ukraine. In order to train the professors of the NAPA to use the methodology, two professors are working as co-trainers together with international trainers from the UK and Germany and learning to use innovative approaches to education of local leaders.

6. Establishment of partnerships with the Ministry of Regional Development, Housing and Construction of Ukraine, the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine, the Association of Ukrainian Cities. Cooperation with the key stakeholders will allow the programme to fit into the priorities of Ukrainian government and associations of local authorities.

7. Building international networks of partner institutions. Establishment of collaboration with the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) on the Best Practice Programme (BPP) will allow to promote international approach to the contests. The goal of BPP is identification, celebration and dissemination of good practices and innovative initiatives. The Ukrainian delegation participated in the in the European Public Sector Awards (EPSA) 2011 Ceremony in Maastricht and agreed on collaboration with senior management of EIPA.

PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES (APRIL – DECEMBER 2011)

Action plan of the programme with activities split by month is presented in Annex 1.

Table 1. Activities carried out during the Inception Phase in calendar order (April-December) Activities Outputs delivered Inception phase (April-July) 1. Agreements on the funding of Agreement between the CoE and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Programme Denmark was signed on November 3, 2010. Agreement between the CoE and the Swiss Confederation, represented by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, was signed on March 24th, 2011

2. Beginning of the Programme The actual implementation of the Programme started in April 2011, after completion of internal recruitment processes, taking into account the synergies offered by the concomitant signature of an agreement

4 with Switzerland in March. Meetings with partners, donors, agreements on cooperation; beginning of recruitment process – April 3. Invitations to the Invitations to participate in the Programme were sent to all Ukrainian municipalities municipalities through the Association of Ukrainian Cities in April 4. Recruitment of local staff The Programme Manager and Assistant started working in May 5. Selection of municipalities The Selection Committee recommended the municipalities for participation – June 6. Selection of services for the The services were proposed by the local experts in consultation with PM programme municipalities in June. The SC was invited to approve the list. 7. Establishment of the Steering Meetings with the programme partners were held, the Steering Committee and Stakeholders’ Committee members Platform 8. Establishment of the pool of The list of local and international experts was established in June experts (Ukrainian and international) 9. First Steering Committee 8 July, the Club of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine meeting and a launch of the programme Operational phase July-December

10. Performance management July 15. Three services were selected, work plan agreed meeting 11. Meeting on the Best August 12. Discussion with potential partners of the contest was Practice Programme conducted, topics for the programme in 2012 were identified, international experience on benefits of such a programme was presented to key stakeholders 12. Training for project September 6-7. Participants learnt key concepts of performance managers on performance management, worked in teams with trainers on development of sample management indicators for 3 services, learnt how to work with their peers from other departments on development of indicators, how to present the need for indicators to city management. 13. Local Finance September 13. Presentation of the CoE toolkit, international experience Benchmarking meeting in Local Finance Benchmarking 14. An international colloquy September 15. Participants discussed the Council of Europe approach "How to improve public ethic in improving the public ethics standards at the local level, Ukraine’s standards at local and regional experience of implementing public ethic standards and combating levels" corruption at the local level, a programme for improvement 15. First session of Leadership September 19-24th. Roll out of the first stage of the Leadership Academy Academy for 2 groups of participants 16. Strategy for Innovation and May, . Workshop on the Strategy Benchmark with local and Good Governance at Local international experts. Summer: testing of the Benchmark in the Odessa Level Regional Council. October 14, Strasbourg. Presentation of the Benchmark testing results at the Centre of Expertise and the CoE Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.

17. Field visits to cities on October 24-28. Visits to four participating cities to provide

5 performance management consultations to focus groups on the performance management programme methodology and development of indicators 18. Municipal hearings, November 1. Municipal Hearings with participation of the President of including discussion of the Ukraine, discussion of Strategy, presentation of the best practices in Strategy public participation by the Deputy Mayor of Strasbourg

19. Study visit on the Best November 15-17. Study visit to the Netherlands to establish Practice Programme cooperation on the Best Practice programme with the European Institute of Public Administration and learn the best international practices of conducting such a contest 20. Performance management: November 22. Review of indicators, development of a sample form for second training for project a performance management indicator managers 21. Second session of November 28- December 1, Ukrajinka. Second stage of the Leadership Leadership Academy Academy for 2 groups of participants was conducted 22. Presentation of the December 7-8, Kyiv. Presentation of two components of the Strategy for innovation and programme at the CoE-OSCE Regional Seminar on Local Government good governance and of the Reform and Good Governance at Local Level to raise awareness at the Local Finance Benchmarking regional level about the programme

23. Public ethics training December 14, Kyiv. Summary of results of the previous programme. Participants learnt self-assessment tools, achievements of the previous Public Ethics programme 24. Presentation of the December 21, Kyiv. Presentation of the Leadership Academy programme at the Annual meeting of the partner cities of the Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme of the UNDP

Detailed work plan of the programme is presented in Annex 1.

Selection of the programme participants is described in detail in the Inception Report.

Some cities that applied for the Programme and were selected, did not attend the meetings (attendance list in Annex 2): 1. Performance Management Programme: Odessa, Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Khmelnitsky, Berdyansk. Following the official request from the deputy mayor of Berdyansk, the city will continue working on the Programme. 2. Leadership Academy Programme. Fluctuating attendance depends on the commitments of local authorities. A series of last minute cancellations were made by Inkerman, Simferopol, Enerhodar, Melitopol, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, council, Volynska oblast council. To ensure relevant number of participants it was decided to invite representatives of other cities that applied for the LAP and were recommended for participation in the next stage of LAP.

Following the official requests from the other municipalities, it was decided to add the following participants: 1. Myrgorod to the Performance Management Programme.

6 2. Pytivl, Myrnyi, Bryanka, Odessa, Teplodar, , Zhmerynka, Pershotravensk, Zhovti Vody to the Leadership Academy Programme 3. Trostyanets to the Local Finance Benchmarking Programme 4. Following the official request from the State Foundation for Local Self-Government in Ukraine, oblast council, , Chernigiv oblast council and Ukrainka were invited to participate in Public Ethics programme

Ukrainka and Zhmerynka applied for participation in the Performance management component and are recommended by CoE.

Final list of local authorities participating in the Programme includes:

1. Berdyans’k 13. Kryvyi Rih 24. Saky 2. Boryspil 14. Kupyans’k 25. Slavutych 3. Bryanka 15. Lviv 26. Sumy 4. Chernihiv oblast council 16. Melitopol’ 27. Teplodar 5. Chuhuiv 17. Mirnyi 28. Trostyanets 6. Dnipropetrovs’k Settlement,Yevpatoriya City 29. Ukrainka 7. Donetsk oblast council 18. Mykolaiv 30. Vinnytsya 8. Enerhodar 19. Myrgorod 31. Voznesens’k 9. Jovti Vody 20. Odesa oblast 32. Yevpatoriya 10. Council 21. Pavlohrad 33. Yuzhne 11. Khmelnytsky 22. Pershotravens’k 34. Yuzhnoukrains’k 12. Korosten 23. Putivl 35. Zhmerynka 36. Zhytomyr

Establishment of the pool of experts (Ukrainian and international)

Table 2. Experts recommended for participation in the Programme Component of the programme Local expert International expert

Strategy for Innovation and Good Vadym Proshko Ms. Hadjisimirova (Bulgaria), Governance in Ukraine Prof. Baldersheim (Norway) Public Ethics Benchmarking Tetyana Vasylevska Michelle Witton (UK) Viktor Taran Performance Management Programme Vadym Proshko Chris Vast (the Netherlands) Valentyna Poltavets Best Practice Programme Viktor Liakh Aleksandr Heichlinger (Austria, Margaryta Yurchenko located in Spain) Local Finance Benchmarking Iryna Shcherbyna Gabor Peteri (Hungary) Programme Vyacheslav Zubenko Andriy Korniyenko Leadership Academy Gregory Borsch John Jackson (UK) Oleksandr Meshalkin

Detailed description of experts’ scope of work is presented in Annex 3.

7

Table 3. Total number of participants in the training sessions Training participants by component Total Men Women

Public ethics 10 2 8 Local Finance Benchmarking 9 3 6 Performance management 43 18 25 Leadership Academy 54 38 16 Total 2011 participants 116 61 55

The gender representation in the programme is thus quite balanced, even though overall in Ukraine the number of men occupying senior positions in local government is much higher then the number of women.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME

Goal: Implementing European performance management methodologies adapted to Ukrainian circumstances in pilot cities and dissemination of good practice through the creation of networks and the preparation of the practical manual on using the methodology and indicators with examples from pilot cities.

Approach: adaptation and approbation of European methodologies through series of training courses for representatives of pilot cities to apply the performance management tools, supporting their implementation by participating local authorities, establishment of exchange networks where participants learn from each other.

Objectives: During 2011-2012 representatives of cities will develop and use performance indicators for three public services (the city website, tariff policy based on dialogue with citizens and administrative services) in order to improve them. International and local CoE experts will adapt the Performance management toolkit to Ukrainian legislation and socio-economic conditions. Performance Networks will be created in order to allow exchange among local authorities involved in performance management. Good practice will be disseminated.

Achievements: commitment from 16 cities obtained, established 3 priority services and prepared the model for performance management indicators. International and local experts started adaptation of the CoE Performance management toolkit, conducted 2 rounds of trainings for representatives of cities.

According to the work plan approved by the Steering Committee, three events were organized that progressively built the capacity of local authorities:

1). Initiation of the programme – July 15, 2011 (Kyiv).

Implementation of the component was started with a consultation meeting attended by representatives of 13 cities, including 5 mayors, and representatives of the Ministry of Regional Development. Leading international and local trainers presented the CoE Performance management (PM) toolkit and 6 services for development of performance management indicators (the city website; tariff policy based on dialogue

8 with citizens; administrative services; friendly climate for the small and medium-size business in the community; creation of the modern system of solid waste management; implementation of the energy saving technologies in the buildings of communal property). The international expert presented practical performance management system of the KING institute in the Netherlands that can be used for the development of the tables for data collection.

As a result of discussion and open voting, 3 services were selected: improvement of the city website, tariff policy based on dialogue with citizens and administrative services. Work plan of the component was discussed and agreed. The task of assigning relevant representatives of city councils (“project managers”) who will attend trainings and apply performance management methodology was accepted.

The core idea of the performance management programme is that cities have a strong need not only in strategic documents, but also in practical tools of service provision to citizens. Use of performance indicators will allow cities to make strategic plans of municipal development, measure the efficiency of public services delivery and use the results in order to improve it.

2). Training for project managers - September 6-7, 2011 (Ukrainka).

It was very important to start the programme with the training of local representatives on the overall understanding of the performance management concept and its practical implementation. “Project managers” from 14 cities were trained to develop an action plan for performance management including time schedule, conduct focus groups with different departments in city councils to discuss indicators; exercised the development of performance indicators for 3 services.

After the training, participants were working on development of performance indicators for 3 services in the cities during September-October.

Following the requests from cities, programme managers and experts of the programme participated in a series of team meetings in four municipalities (Yevpatoria, Chuguiv, Kryvyi Rih, Voznesensk) that gathered up to 50 municipal servants, including mayors and deputy mayors in October. The goal of the meetings was to provide consultations on development of indicators for the three above-mentioned services. As a result of the field visits, local authorities came to the conclusion that the performance management approach can lead not only to the performance measurement and improvement of the three selected services, but can be easily applied to other local services and can improve the overall local services delivery.

3) Second training for “project managers” – November 22, 2011 (Kyiv)

The goal of training was to review the indicators, developed by cities, and select the list of indicators for each of the three services that will be acceptable and interesting for all participants. Council of Europe is collaborating with USAID experts who work on administrative services in cities. “Project managers” were trained to devise the vision of efficient public service delivery and link it with performance indicators. Such a practical tool as development of tables for data collection was presented.

As a result of the training, participants received a form of a sample performance indicator (see Annex 4). During December 2011-February 2012 participants will fill in the forms with indicators and data.

9 Institutionalisation of the programme. Dissemination of the performance management methodology and its advocacy at the national level requires resources (time, people, finances) and is ideally managed by a third party. The target audience of the PM programme are mostly small and medium towns. We plan to establish the partnership with the Association of Small Towns of Ukraine, including continuing participation of Association’s executive director (Valentyna Poltavets) as a trainer, involvement of the Association in advocacy and dissemination activities.

Institutionalization of the Programme will also be based on collaboration with the National Academy of Public Administration through the involvement of professors in the trainings as observers and possibly as co-trainers. It will allow to train professors in presenting PM methodology with practical cases from cities.

Next steps for 2012: 1. Conducting the training on data collection for selected indicators (web-site, administrative services, tariff policy based on a dialog with population) (March). 2. Data collection in cities and review by CoE experts (March-April). 3. Interpretation of data an preparation of plans of improvement (April – June). 4. Adaptation of the CoE Performance management toolkit (March-June). 5. Finalization of the adapted version of the toolkit with practical examples from cities (September). 6. Conducting the round table with the purpose to present the results of performance management component (October). 7. Selection of 3 more services for 2013 (November).

PUBLIC ETHICS BENCHMARKING PROGRAMME

Goal: dissemination of the achievements of the pilot CoE project that was successfully implemented by CoE in collaboration with the Club of Ukrainian Mayors during 2007-2008, updating and creation of the consolidated Code of Ethics and Rules of Procedures.

Approach: application of the CoE tools (self-assessments for local authorities, benchmarking, peer reviews, creation of innovative ethical mechanisms).

Objectives: Adaptation and implementation of the European models of public ethics benchmarking. The final outcome of the component will be development of Ethics codes and establishment of Ethics committees.

Achievements: commitment from 6 cities and 4 oblasts. International colloquy on public ethics was organized in collaboration with the National Agency of Civil Service and training for local participants was conducted. According to the work plan the following capacity building activities were carried out: 1). An international colloquy on "How to improve public ethic standards at local and regional levels" in partnership with the National Agency of Civil Service and State Foundation for Local Self-Government of Ukraine – September 15, 2011 (Kyiv). The participants discussed the Council of Europe approach and the experience of European countries in improving the public ethics standards at the local level, Ukraine’s experience of implementing public ethic standards and combating corruption at the local level, best Ukrainian and European practices in public ethics benchmarking and a programme for improvement.

10 2) The practical training for participants - December 14, 2011 (Kyiv).

Experts adapted and presented self assessment forms that allow local authorities to get systematic view on the status of public ethics standards and verify the existence of such standards in their cities (see Annex 5). Participants of the previous programme (Slavutych, Trostianets, Vinnytsya) presented their Codes of Ethics to new participants. The training was conducted by a NAPA professor Mrs. Tatyana Vasylevska, Director of the Centre of Political Studies and Analytics Mr. Viktor Taran and secretary of Slavutych City Council Mrs. Lidia Leonets. This was the preliminary stage which set the basis for development of the Ethics Codes.

Institutionalisation of the programme. Participation of the professor from NAPA who is the leading lecturer in public ethics will allow to promote the best European ethical standards and CoE values among students of the Academy. Collaboration with the Centre of Political Studies and Analytics that widely cooperates with central and local authorities on different public finance issues sets the basis for capacity building of the think tank to advocate for the improvement of public ethics standards in Ukraine.

Next steps for 2012:

1. Self assessment of participants (February) 2. Training on development of the Codes of Ethics (March) 3. Conducting of peer reviews in 4 out of 5 participating authorities (May) 4. Adoption of the Codes of Conduct, creation of the monitoring Ethics committees (October)

LOCAL FINANCE BENCHMARKING PROGRAMME

Goal: adaptation and implementation of the tool for diagnostics and identification of the problem areas of local finance. Approach: selection of areas for benchmarking in consultation with cities, testing the methodology in pilot cities and disseminating the results of the process.

Objectives: adaptation of the CoE toolkit on Local Finance Benchmarking to the Ukrainian legislation and the municipal financial reporting system. Cities participating in the project will receive assistance for designing local interventions, better targeting their actions and selecting instruments for improving local finances and financial management.

Achievements: commitment from 10 cities, selection of areas for benchmarking, preparation of the first draft of adapted Local Finance Benchmarking toolkit. According to the work plan the following activities were conducted: 1). Meeting of local experts team from the Institute of Budgetary and Socio-Economic Research (IBSER) with Mr Peteri, CoE expert on Local Finance Benchmarking – September 12, 2011 (Kyiv) The areas for benchmarking for the programme, methodology and work plan were discussed. 2). Presentation of the CoE toolkit "Benchmarking for Local Finance", the Bulgarian experience in benchmarking – September 13, 2011 (Kyiv)

11 The international and local experts presented the need for this tool for Ukraine, specifically the database development and local finance assessment forms. Since the programme is based on close collaboration between the programme and local authorities, it was important to agree on the benchmarking areas, balancing confidentiality and publicity at the beginning of the programme. After discussion with representatives of cities, the following areas for benchmarking were selected: - financial resources; financial management; budget execution and monitoring; financing of public utility companies; asset management and capital investments. The areas were selected, because local authorities have certain autonomy in decision making and can influence those areas through changes in policy. Experts discussed with cities the development of the database for creation the list of indicators which characterize local government revenue structure and expenditure levels, together with the factors influencing local budgets. On 24 January 2012 local experts will present the first draft of the adapted toolkit to participants for discussion. Institutionalisation of the programme. Implementation of the programme by IBSER - the leading Ukrainian institution in the financial area that is actively collaborating with the Government of Ukraine - will set up a solid basis for promoting LFB tool in the country. A representative of the Association of Ukrainian Cities was invited to participate as an observer in the seminars with the goal to build the capacity of Association to present this methodology to cities.

Next steps for 2012: 1. Steering Committee will be invited to review and approve the adapted LFB toolkit (February) 2. Database development (March) 3. Piloting the adapted LFB toolkit in municipalities, further improvement of methodology (April) 4. Round table on raising awareness about the importance of LFB tool (September). Audience: representatives of cities, representatives of the Ministry of Regional Development, Association of Ukrainian Cities, Ministry of Finance 5. Preparation of the manual for local authorities on LFB toolkit (November)

BEST PRACTICE

Goal: to identify, celebrate and disseminate good practices and useful initiatives in local self governance.

Objective: to support Ukrainian authorities to conduct two rounds of a Best Practice Programme

Approach: CoE Centre of Expertise in partnership with central authorities, associations of local authorities, educational institutions, leading international and local experts will develop the rules of the contest, identify key topics, establish Selection Committee, select finalists, organise Awards Ceremonies and informational campaign on the dissemination of the best practices.

12 Achievements: preliminary agreement with potential partners on the collaboration, pre-selection of the topics for the BP contest in 2012, development of the brochure on the best practices.

According to the work plan of the programme, the following activities were organized in the framework of the programme:

1). Meeting to discuss the content, topics and procedures of the BP contest – August 12, 2011 (Kyiv) During the meeting with representatives of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, Association of Oblast and Rayon Authorities, “East Europe” Foundation, Ministry of Regional Development, Housing and Construction of Ukraine, an international expert from Moldova, local experts the following topics were offered for the Best Practices contest in 2012: efficient local governance and public services delivery; support of local entrepreneurship; attraction of foreign investments and participation in international technical assistance programs; public participation; improvement of communal services; social programs. The Steering Committee will approve 3 out of 6 services for the contest. Participants also suggested to organise the Best Practices contest for cities of oblast and rayon significance.

CoE recommends the following composition of the BPP Selection Committee (subject to the SC approval):

1. Natalia Starostenko, programme manager 2. Olesea Cruc, programme manager, UNDP, Moldova 3. A representative from DANIDA 4. Ilona Postemska (National programme officer, SDC) 5. Oleh Koval, the National Academy of Public Administration 6. Margaryta Yurchenko, Association of Ukrainian Cities 7. A representative of the Association of oblast councils 8. Viktor Liakh, executive director of the "East Europe" Foundation 9. A representative of the Ministry of the Regional Development, Housing and Construction of Ukraine 10. Iryna Skaliy, project manager, UNDP 11. Oksana Garnets, project manager, DESPRO 12. Vadym Prosko, expert of Council of Europe

The Selection Committee will be established for short listing of finalists, conducting verification visits, presentation of finalists to the Steering Committee.

2). Preparation of the brochure for the Best Practices contest that explains the conditions of the contest and provide description of topics (see Annex 6).

The East Europe Foundation will conduct an awareness-raising campaign; train the selection panel to evaluate the best governance practices; verify the eligibility of the received applications; prepare a practical manual with best practices; present the best practices countrywide.

3). Study visit to the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA)- November 15-19, 2011 (Maastricht, the Netherlands)

The objective of the study visit was to participate in the EPSA 2011 Award Ceremony and discuss collaboration on the Best practice programme with senior management of EIPA. The group, including the Vice President of the National Academy of Public Administration Mr. Andriy Popok, and the Head of

13 Department of the Association of Ukrainian Cities Mrs. Margaryta Yurchenko, learnt about the EIPA Best Practice contest, and agreed on cooperation. Institutionalisation of the programme and synergies with other local development programmes.

Project managers of the projects MGSDP and DESPRO will be invited to the Selection Committee of the Best Practice Programme in order to combine efforts on identification of the best practices in local governance. Implementation of the contest by the East Europe Foundation will allow to develop the expertise in conducting such contest in Ukraine after completion of CoE programme. Establishment of the cooperation between the NAPA, Ministry of Regional Development and international charitable foundation will ensure continuation of the contest.

Next steps for 2012: 1. Launch of the contest and awareness-raising campaign (March-April) 2. Assessment of applications by Selection Panel (June) 3. Identification of finalists and verification visits (July-August) 4. National Award Ceremony (September) 5. Dissemination of results (November)

LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

Goal: capacity building of local authorities to develop a clear vision for the municipal development and to make it come true through strategic management and involvement of the local community.

Objective: to support Ukrainian local officials to understand local government leadership concepts and to use specific tools in order to develop institutional leadership in their authorities.

Approach: trainings are highly interactive and are conducted by international and Ukrainian experts based on team work, cases, role plays etc. Themes of role plays include such important subjects as negotiations, inter-municipal cooperation, collaboration with local businesses and non-governmental organisations, public participation, ethics benchmarking approaches, team building, establishment networks, etc.

Achievements: Successful completion of two stages of the Leadership Academy Programme (LAP), establishment of cooperation with the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) that will be the key institutional beneficiary of the programme. Commitment from 28 local leaders.

According to the work plan the following activities were organized:

1). Launch of the first session of the CoE Leadership Academy - September 19- 24, 2011 (Yevpatoria)

Two groups of approximately 40 mayors, deputy mayors, and other representatives of local government were trained by the CoE experts from the UK, Germany, and Ukraine in leadership self-assessment, leadership benchmark, etc. at local level. Development of leadership skills of local leaders in the framework of the Leadership Academy is based on training on collaboration with non-governmental organization, public participation, ethics benchmarking approaches, team building, establishment of experience exchange networks.

14

2). The second session the CoE Leadership Academy – November, 28 –December, 3 2011 (Kyiv)

Local authorities from 24 cities and 2 oblast councils took part. Important outcome of LAP trainings will be implementation of practical tools in city management. Participants reported that they already used the self assessment tools for city council staff, communication tools with the third sector, negotiations.

3). Adaptation of the LAP programme to the needs of Ukrainian local authorities

Local trainers completed the first stage of adaptation of the international LAP materials for Ukrainian local authorities.

Table 4. Participants of the Leadership Academy Participants Total Men Women Stage 1 15 11 4 Group 1 Stage 1 13 8 5 Group 2 Stage 2 14 9 5 Group 1 Stage 2 12 10 2 Group 2 Total number of participants 54 38 16

Institutionalisation of the Leadership Academy. The programme aims at adapting and developing a local LAP course based on key CoE tools and creating the basis for sustainability by involving NAPA and other local training providers in Ukraine in 2012-13. Two NAPA professors are working respectively as co- trainer and observer together with international trainers and learn to use innovative approaches to education of local leaders. The coordination meeting with participation of the technical assistance projects that are collaborating with the NAPA was initiated by CoE in order to discuss joint activities. As three ongoing local governance projects financed by the SDC are collaborating with NAPA on development of training courses for local government officials, we suggest to coordinate our efforts at the stage of development of the content of a training course on leadership development.

STRATEGY FOR INNOVATION AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

The 12 principles of the Strategy are important for the good quality local services and development of citizen participation at local and regional level. The Strategy encompasses a majority of topics of importance of the Council of Europe such as anti-corruption, human rights, rule of law, minorities, democracy, elections, etc.

Goal: to support implementation of the Strategy and ELoGE1 (European Label of Governance Excellence) in Ukraine provided that it is adopted at the national level, and that Ukraine receives accreditation from the CoE Stakeholders’ Platform in order to be able to award the ELoGE. So far, this has not been done although the Ukrainian authorities (State Foundation for LSG and the Ministry of Regional Development)

1 More information on the Strategy and 12 principles of good governance can be found in the Inception Report and at http://www.coe.int/t/dgap/localdemocracy/Strategy_Innovation/default_en.asp

15 expressed their interest in implementing this innovative policy, and several conferences and round tables on the Strategy were held in Kyiv and Boryspil (notably, the Strategy was a subject at the Municipal hearings held on 1 November with the participation of the President of Ukraine).

According to preliminary talks with Mr Anatoly Blyznyuk, the Minister of Regional Development of Ukraine, the accreditation for Ukraine may be requested at the next meeting of the Council of Europe Stakeholders’ Platform, early in 2012.

In the meantime, the Odessa regional authorities decided to test the ELoGE benchmark, and the Centre of Expertise agreed to support this initiative and provide some technical assistance through the Programme. The local NGO "CELOGORE", with the assistance of the Centre, adapted and tested the Benchmark - a special methodology which helps municipalities assess their level of maturity for each Principle of the Strategy. The Centre already provides assistance on testing the Benchmark and on implementing the Strategy in such European countries as Norway, Bulgaria, France and Spain. Odessa Regional Council became the first local authority in Ukraine, which tested and presented the results of this evaluation. The Deputy Head of the Council and the CELOGORE experts presented the results at the Centre of Expertise in Strasbourg and at the session of the CoE Congress of Local and Regional Authorities2. The results were also discussed at the Ukrainian municipal hearings co-organised by the CoE and the government of Ukraine, and devoted to the European Strategy of Good Governance (November 1, Kyiv).

The benchmarking included questionnaires for the following categories: 1) the members of the regional council, 2) executive officials, 3) citizens, 4) experts. There was a system of points for evaluation: the average score for each principle summed and divided by the number of principles (12) to achieve the final sum of points. The maximum is 4 points, the minimum is 1 point. With 3 points (75%) the local authority can apply for the European Label of Governance Excellence.

According to the benchmarking by the “CELOGORE”, conducted with the financial support of the International Renaissance Foundation, and the expert support of the CoE Centre of Expertise, Odessa Regional Council received 2,01 points. The highest scores were achieved on such principles as «Efficiency and Effectiveness», «Openness and Transparency», «Competence and Capacity». The principles, which received the lowest scores were: «Innovation and Openness to Change» and «Sustainability and Long-term Orientation».

The Odessa Regional Council is willing to work on becoming eligible to apply for the European Label of Governance Excellence. It will include the necessary actions in the Odessa region development strategy till 2020, which is being developed together with the Odessa regional administration.

Next steps for 2012: 1) share the Odessa region knowledge and practice with other local authorities, 2) work with the Government to help organise The Strategy at national level, including creation of the National Stakeholders’ Platform 3) help prepare necessary documentation to request the accreditation of the national platform in order to be authorised to award ELoGE to local authorities of Ukraine. 4) identify and provide support to individual regions and municipalities willing to implement the Strategy

2 October 2011 session. The detailed report is available at the Centre of Expertise and CELOGORE

16 There is also a need and a possibility to learn from the experience of Norway, Bulgaria and other CoE member states, which have received accreditation and are working on the implementation of the Strategy.

COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN

Capacity-building tools of the Centre of Expertise, and the key principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government were promoted throughout Programme implementation. The information about the Programme was presented on TV channels, local newspapers, web-sites of institutional partners and cities. Specifically:

The information about the programme trainings on performance management, leadership was posted on the web-sites of 10 cities. Municipal channel of Kryvyi Rih aired the story about the programme, and discussed the necessity of the local government reform and implementation of the advanced tools such as performance management in local governance. Video interview with programme manager was presented at the municipal hearings in Boryspil.

The information about the programme was posted on the international Council of Europe web-site and on the web-sites of the NAPA, Association of Ukrainian Cities. Two local newspapers of the Obukhiv rayon and Chuguiv city published articles about programme events.

The Programme was presented and discussed at the local and international conferences, including the join CoE-OSCE Regional Seminar on Local Government Reform and Good Governance at Local Level (Dec 2011, Kyiv); the Annual meeting of the partner cities of the Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme of the UNDP (Dec 2011, Yaremchi); and the School of Professional Journalists "New Ukraine" (Dec 2011, Kyiv).

An informational brochure about the programme was prepared and published.

Plans for 2012: 1. Launch of the Programme website by March 2012. 2. Produce the promotional video on the Strategy and the 12 European Principles of Good Governance at Local Level 3. Launch BPP campaign 4. Cooperate with the new CoE BPP for the European Coastal Cities 5. Cooperate with local press and other media to highlight programme events

CONCLUSIONS

The Programme inception phase and further activities were successfully implemented in 2011; it also generated great interest among local authorities and already brought some positive results. The implementation is not dependent upon reforms but the latter could create an environment in which the effectiveness of capacity-building activities would be enhanced. The feedback from most participants has been very positive; all suggestions for improvement will be taken into account in 2012.

Lessons learnt so far include:

17 - it is crucial to ensure that partners have a common vision on main characteristics of the components of the programme and its work plan. Regular working contacts with stakeholders on operational level need to be supplemented with regular meetings on a leadership level. Namely, active dialogue with participating cities during the launch of performance management, public ethics and local finance benchmarking programmes allowed setting up a collaborative spirit and make the programme relevant to the needs of local authorities. - it is very important to establish partnership with key stakeholders and involve them from the beginning of the programme.

Remaining challenges and issues: 1. Delay in the implementation of the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance (no developments at the central level so far) 2. Short delay in implementation of the Public Ethics programme caused by delays in the selection of trainers 3. Advocacy of the application of CoE methodologies in Ukraine. Successful advocacy will be possible on the condition of active collaboration with the Ministry of Regional Development, Housing and Construction and Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine. Thus, the programme will need sustainable contact persons in the ministries that will participate in working meetings and trainings. 4. Successful BPP needs active support from the Ministry of Regional Development. Thus, CoE will request the Ministry to establish a team that will work regularly with the programme during 2012-2013. 5. Standardisation of services. CoE is ready to support the initiative of the Presidential Administration to standardise the services of the performance management programme. However, there is a need for a partner in the government.

Overall, the Programme’s objectives for 2011 were achieved. The above issues will need to be addressed by the Steering Committee to ensure smooth implementation in 2012. Synergies with other technical assistance programmes were established and will enhance the implementation and results of the CoE Programme. The planning for 2012 is completed, and several activities are already underway.

Annexes:

1. Work plan 2. Attendance lists by component 3. Programme experts’ scope of work 4. Sample performance management indicator form 5. Self – assessment form for Public Ethics Benchmarking programme 6. Brochure for the Best Practice contest 7. Evaluation Framework

18