In Nine Months, 122 Well-Functioning

THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE U-LEAD WITH EUROPE PROGRAMME DYNAMICSISSUE #10, MARCH 2019

122 heads of hromadas at the Memorandum signing ceremony Photo: U-LEAD Archives.

TABLE OF CONTENTS IN NINE MONTHS, 122 WELL-FUNCTIONING Start of New Partnership: U-LEAD Conference, C2 ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE CENTRES WILL BE Editorial Note OPENED IN UKRAINIAN HROMADAS U-LEAD in the Spotlight

Feature: At the conference “Start of New Partnership: Mid-Term vices, are accessible for people with disabilities, and have a My hromada Game Results and Memorandums Signing Ceremony”, held on children’s corner. 5 March in Kyiv, 122 hromadas from 24 regions of Ukraine The Interview: Carola Gunnarsson signed Memorandums of Understanding with the U-LEAD “I want to thank everyone who has joined such a large- with Europe implementers – NIRAS Sweden AB and SKL scale project and helps us to confidently reach the goal. Decentralisation Dynamics International – on creating and modernising Administrative Together, we will make provision of high-quality public ser- Service Centres (ASCs). vices accessible and comfortable to the residents of hrom- Success Story: adas”, - summed up Susanna Dellans, project manager of Intermunicipal cooperation in More than 2 million Ukrainians will receive access to quali- the U-LEAD with Europe Programme’s Support to Improved Dunaievtsi hromada ty administrative services with opening of efficient ASCs in Administrative Service Delivery. their hromadas. All 122 hromadas will receive comprehen- Facts and Figures: sive support from the Programme: its experts will help the The Conference was attended by more than 400 represen- hromadas both institutionally and physically. Over 3,000 fu- tatives of hromadas, regional state administrations, special- New partnership with 122 hromadas on ASC establishm ture ASCs’ employees and hromadas’ leaders will undergo ized associations, etc. Besides the Memorandums Signing training specifically developed by the Programme’s Swedish Ceremony and presentations of mid-term results and mech- Voices of U-LEAD with Europe and Ukrainian experts for specialists providing services to anisms of delivering assistance, the conference’s agen- the residents. Six out of the 122 ASCs will be mobile centres. da included discussions of key challenges in establishing well-functioning ASCs in hromadas, such as lack of staff, IMPRINT All ASCs established in Ukraine with the support of U-LEAD liquidation of district ASCs, local budget revenues generated with Europe provide the most popular administrative ser- by administrative services. Responsible for the publication:

U-LEAD with Europe Programme Bastian Veigel, Kameran Khudur

Editors: Olena Molodtsova, Roland Hackenberg

Production and distribution: U-LEAD Monitoring, Visibility and Knowledge Management Team U-LEAD IN THE SPOTLIGHT

KYIV 151 HROMADAS RECEIVED A CHANCE TO SUPPORT IN WELL-FUNCTIONING ASCS ESTABLISHMENT

In November 2018, the team of the U-LEAD with Europe’s Support to Improved Administrative Service Delivery announced the 3rd ANASTASIA YERMOSHENKO Round of hromadas’ selection to assist them in ASC modernisation and establishment. The selection commission, consisting of the PROJECT MANAGER U-LEAD Programme experts, representatives of MinRegion and the Minis- ROLL-OUT PHASE NIRAS SWEDEN AB try of Economic Development, analysed 327 applications from 22 oblasts of Ukraine and selected 151 applications to further analyse hromadas’ capability and develop Terms of Reference for ASC establishment.

START OF TALLIN/ESTONIA UKRAINIAN JOURNALISTS VISITED THE FUTURE OF NEW PARTNERSHIP PUBLIC SERVICES EGOV4UKRAINE project showed Ukrainian journalists how it could look like for the citizens of Ukraine, once the “heart” of digital state - the secure An important and challenging task of establishment of up to 574 Ad- data exchange solution “Trembita” is working in full power, connecting ministrative Service Centres (ASCs) all over Ukraine has been put on hundreds of government agencies and thousands of information systems NIRAS Team and we feel very honoured to be entrusted with this re- and registers. For that, a visit to Estonia, one of the most advanced digital societies, was carried out. Seven journalists from Ukrainian media and sponsibility. We are very happy to become a part of the U-LEAD with a representative of the State Agency for e-Governance of Ukraine visited Europe’s Support to Improved Administrative Service Delivery Team several government agencies of Estonia such as the Police and Border and to cooperate with so many highly professional colleagues and Guard Board, the Road Administration, the largest hospital in Estonia and partners. the Government Office to meet officials who are the direct users of secure data exchange. NIRAS Team, which is composed of more than 50 experts, has start- During the next 1.5 years EGOV4UKRAINE project partners will connect the ed the round 1 at the end of January 2019. The round 1 is expected first 60 government agencies with the Trembita system, develop up to 150 administrative (government to government) services based on Trembita, to run for ten months, when 112 well-functioning ASCs will be es- and take part in the development of up to 25 e-services for the citizens of tablished. The aim is to make the ASCs a one-stop shop where a Ukraine. wide range of administrative services – from notary consultations to passport applications – can be delivered. We will provide institution- MYRHOROD al support to ASCs through assistance with institutional structures, COORDINATING PLANNING IN LGDCS staff training, raising awareness, and ensuring inclusion of citizens. The team will also take a lead on the procurement of furniture, office Who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed (RACI) when it comes to U-LEAD with Europe support for implementation of Ukraine’s equipment, and software. decentralisation reform? The question set the tone for the first planning meeting in 2019 with the regional Local Government Development Centres While providing institutional and physical support we will integrate (LGDCs) in Myrhorod, Poltava Oblast. Over two days, U-LEAD managers gender equality, environmental sustainability, conflict sensitivity, and LGDC directors from the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy non-discrimination, inclusion and anti-corruption perspectives. This and Kyiv Oblasts coordinated further activities. The goal: efficient and ef- will be done to better target the focus groups of the U-LEAD Pro- fective programme support in the next stage of the reform. Andrej Horvat, gramme, which are women and men in remote areas, disabled per- Deputy GIZ Programme Director, said in his welcome to the directors: “Use your expertise and creativity when considering what is best for providing sons, minority groups, unemployed young women and men etc. support to the decentralisation and regional development reforms in your We are awaiting the start of the round 2 in the middle of May where oblasts. But remember the LGDCs are both responsible and accountable we are to establish 88 more ASCs in 22 oblasts of Ukraine. We are for their contributions to programme implementation.” very excited to bring our competencies and expertise in institutional development, capacity development, physical support to the decen- KYIV tralisation process. FIRST “STEPS FOR LEADERS” U-LEAD with Europe has started its first workshops in the frame of the At the conference “Start of New Partnership: Mid-Term Results and Thematic Support Packages (explained in the video). On 14-15 March, the Memorandums Signing Ceremony”, held on 5 March in Kyiv, 122 House of Decentralisation hosted the “Steps for Leaders” offered to the hromadas from 24 regions of Ukraine have already signed Mem- heads of 117 Ukrainian hromadas that amalgamated in 2018. Ten AH lead- orandums of Understanding with the U-LEAD implementers on ers from the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi and Kyiv Oblasts learned creating and modernising Administrative Service Centres (ASCs). more about the relevant legislation of Ukraine and modern approaches to It means that in nine months more than two million residents of managing people from trainers Olha Kirieieva (Dnipropetrovsk LGDC) and Inna Skliar, while Dmytro Klymenko (Zhytomyr LGDC), Liliia Atnazheva and hromadas will receive better provision of services through the Aliona Romaniuk provided them with practical tools for citizen engage- well-functioning ASCs. ment and communication strategies.

I would like to emphasize that NIRAS Team is looking forward to KYIV working with all of the U-LEAD Programme partners and assist in es- CUTTING THROUGH #FAKENEWS tablishing well-functioning ASCs that can effectively serve the people The 2019 election year promises to be intense. With so many slogans and in hromadas. promises filling the media channels, it is worth knowing where to look for the truth and how to check information. A 60-minute lesson #nevirpere- This Issue of Dynamics is focused on this New Partnership and I in- vir on media literacy, held in the House of Decentralisation, was dedicated vite you to find out more on what has been done so far and what will to facts and differentiating between judgment, manipulation and opinion, be done soon within the U-LEAD with Europe’s Support to Improved and to wise and emotion-free decision-making. With the help of state- Administrative Service Delivery. of-the-art technology, listeners from over 750 locations in Ukraine joined the discussion, conducted by the international organisation IREX with the support of U-LEAD with Europe as part of the Learn to Discern project with backing from the US and British embassies to Ukraine. MY HROMADA – THE DECENTRALISATION GAME

Every day, the life of the head of an amalgamated hromada comes with all manner of unexpected turns, trials, challenges and opportunities. By working towards Ukraine’s decentralisation reform, these leaders uphold the principles of local self-government. That means they have to face various demands from their communities and often have to balance opposing ideas of what good governance means. Neverthe- less, in 884 amalgamated hromadas, people around Ukraine have committed to leading their communities to success.

But, just what does it feel like to work as the head of an amalgamated hromada? You can now give it a try. Early March saw the launch of My Hromada (http://game.myhromada. info), a browser-based game on decentralisation reform that puts you behind the virtual steering wheel of a community.

Players can choose between two heads of hromada. The goal is then to solve various tasks or questions in role-play- ing mode. Only if gamers – or potential hromada leaders – take and make the right decisions can they lead their hromada to success. That means weighing up which interests to accommodate, just like in real-life politics! mada head. You don’t just lose straight points for bad de- Photo: U-LEAD Archives cisions, your character is rated along different dimensions: The challenges users face touch upon a range of issues budget, law, ratings, etc. hromada heads have to manage. For instance, do you let a businessman influence a decision by the local council in ex- The idea is for players to weigh their options while consid- change for a sizeable and much needed investment in pub- ering the bigger picture of their own popularity, acting in the lic infrastructure? Do you listen to the community blogger’s interests of the greater good, budgeting wisely and keeping criticism of the settlement’s healthcare facilities and open a their legal responsibility in mind. new clinic or do you save the money and invest in other, more urgent services elsewhere? If that all sounds tricky, then the game has already done what it set out to do: Help users in an increasingly decen- While the options are only a “yes” or a “no”, the answers are tralised Ukraine understand how difficult and how rewarding less black and white in their effect on your standing as a hro- the reform can be.

THE U-LEAD WITH EUROPE INTERVIEW CAROLA GUNNARSSON THE TRANSFORMATION GOING SPOKESPERSON OF COHESION POLICY AND TERRITORIAL DE- VELOPMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONS (CEMR), MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF THE SWEDISH ON IN UKRAINE IS AMAZING! - ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND REGIONS (SALAR), MAYOR OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF SALA (SWEDEN), HAS SHARED HER OPINION ON THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE DECENTRALISATION SWEDISH EXPERIENCE IN REFORM IN UKRAINE AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE UKRAINIAN AND SWEDISH MODELS. DECENTRALIZATION

How do you assess the progress of the decentralization reform in The Ukrainian Association of Amalgamated Hromadas is just gain- Ukraine? What should be improved in your opinion? ing momentum, and many AHs have not joined it yet. The similar Q: Q: Swedish Association SALAR is a prominent figure on the political arena of the country. What exactly this Association managed to To be honest, quality of the reform should be determined by citizens rather than by change over the last years in the life of Swedish municipalities? experts and observers. It is citizens who should say whether they have received all necessary services and whether the level of these services meets their expectations. Based on the feedback I received, I can say that the decentralisation reform has been Our Association has three goals. The first goal is to provide jobs and decent salaries implemented rapidly and confidently in Ukraine. The hromadas have been amalgam- to local self-government specialists. To do this, we bring together representatives of ating relatively quick, and they do it voluntarily. The administrative service centres 23 trade unions. The second goal is to provide a variety of services to members of the have been established by the hromadas throughout the country. This is a great job! Association: educational, legal, conference and meeting services, etc. Therefore, we I talked to Ivan Dudar, Head of Kochubeivka Amalgamated Hromada in Kherson have a large staff consisting of 450 employees. Our Association is a platform which Oblast, where a modern administrative service centre equipped with children’s corner can be used by all our members to exchange ideas. This is a regional Facebook. The and ramp for people with disabilities was opened last year. He mentioned that during third goal is to promote legislative and governmental initiatives aimed at the develop- the year, 3,500 residents of the hromada received 4,500 services in this centre. I’m ment of regions. Members of the executive committee of SALAR regularly meet with delighted with what’s happening in Ukraine! the Minister of Finance and take an active part in the formation of the state budget.

The administrative and territorial reform in Sweden was completed In Ukraine, with launch of the reform, a certain vacuum appeared in the late 1970’s. Is there any need to improve what has been built in the control over legitimacy of the regulations of local self-gov- Q: at that time? Q: ernment authorities. How does the state control such regulations in Sweden? There are many discussions in our society in this regard. The fact is that many First, they are verified by the auditors of the municipality. The Ministries of Educa- Swedish municipalities are very small with population of about 4 thousand people. tion, Sport, etc. exercise separate control in their spheres. As far as local self-gov- So, it would be reasonable to amalgamate them in order to increase their capacity. ernment in Sweden is concerned, much is based on trust. Discussions at the na- However, the opponents of amalgamation point out that capacity can be increased tional level are of great importance, but in fact everything entirely depends on the with more intensive inter-municipal cooperation. There is a separate discussion municipalities. In Sweden, local self-government has very large powers and bears on amalgamation of northern municipalities having large territories, but few res- responsibility towards whole country. idents. Personally, I am convinced that it is not necessary to amalgamate them, because residents won’t benefit from this. After all, the main thing is high quality of services rather than size of the hromada. Questions are prepared by Dmytro Synyak, the full version of the interview (Ukrainian) is available via the link DECENTRALISATION DYNAMICS SUCCESS STORY LARGE HROMADAS HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES: EXPERTS ANALYSED THE BUDGETS OF 665 AHS Leaders of Hromadas and Rayon sign the Declaration of Intent for ASC establishment OVER 2018 Photo: U-LEAD Archives

The experts of the Financial Monitoring Group of the Central Re- form Office under MinRegion analysed the financial performance of 665 AHs over 2018, as reported by Yanina Kazyuk, financial decen- WHY DUNAIEVTSI HROMADA IS tralisation coordinator. Experts analysed the data by four indicators: own revenues per resident, level of budgets subsidization, share of A GOOD EXAMPLE OF INTER- expenditures on the maintenance of administrative apparatus in the financial resources of the AH, capital expenditures per resident. For MUNICIPAL COOPERATION IN analysis, as before, 665 AHs were grouped by population. According to the analysis, experts once again emphasise that one THE AREA OF ADMINISTRATIVE of the best options for further development of hromadas with low financial capacities and demographics is their accession to other hro- SERVICE DELIVERY? madas and formation of an AH that is larger by area and population number. “Since Dunaievsti Rayon is completely covered by amalgamated hromadas, The full version is available in Ukrainian – please click HERE we came up with a proposal to the neighbors to make administrative services accessible to every resident through a powerful ASC. Together we came to GOVERNMENT ISSUED RESOLUTION ON ACTION the conclusion that it is not reasonable to establish separate ASCs in each hromada, and that it would be better to unite the maximum amount of ser- PLAN FOR NEW DECENTRALISATION vices under the roof of joint ASC, providing an access to residents through a PHASE IMPLEMENTATION mobile ASC and remote work places”, Velina Zaiats, Head of Dunaievtsi Town Hromada and cooperation initiator explains the motives for hromadas coop- The Governmental portal published a text of the resolution of the eration. Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine by which the Government approved the action plan for the implementation of a new phase of reform- The hromadas cooperation in the field of administrative services based on an ing local self-government and territorial organisation of power in agreement (inter-municipal cooperation or IMC) is currently underestimated. Ukraine for 2019-2021. In fact, IMC is a mechanism that allows to integrate additional services which are beyond the hromada’s competence in the ASC. This brings services clos- The action plan contains six major tasks, such as formation of a new er to the residents of remote communities. IMC may be a good tool to raise territorial basis for the activities of public authorities at the level of additional funding (co-financing) for ASC operation. hromadas and rayons, transfer of powers of executive authorities to local self-government bodies and their differentiation on the princi- There are four amalgamated hromadas in Dunaievtsi Rayon: Dunaievtsi Town AH, Dunaievtsi Village AH, Makiv and Smotrych Village AHs covering the en- ple of subsidiarity, creation of an appropriate resource base to per- tire territory of rayon. They include 51 communities. Each hromada has many form the powers of local self-government bodies, formation of an remote communities, which residents need high-quality administrative ser- effective system of service in local self-government bodies, stream- vices, but can only receive them from different authorities located in the ray- lining of the system of state control and supervision over the law- on’s centre. Of course, it is not always convenient and fast. Due to coopera- fulness of local self-government’s activities, development of direct tion agreement involving all four hromadas of the rayon, Dunaievtsi Hromada democracy forms: elections, referendums. gained an opportunity to apply for participation in the Roll-Out Phase of the “U-LEAD with Europe” Programme. “To accomplish these tasks, decisions of the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers, support of specialised associations, experts, As a result of the work of the Programme’s experts, the Terms of Reference and international partners are needed. The efforts of regional and was developed and Dunaievtsi Hromada received a support package accord- local authorities, who still have time to decide themselves on hro- ing to its application. Participation in the Roll-Out Phase will result in the madas’ amalgamation, are also important,” commented Vyacheslav institutional modernisation of the already operating joint ASC of the hromada Nehoda, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construc- and rayon state administration, as well as the creation of a mobile ASC and tion, Housing and Communal Services. one remote work place (for testing and further extension to starosta’s dis- tricts of the hromada). According to cooperation agreement, a mobile ASC MINREGION AND DONOR BOARD HAVE AGREED will operate in neighboring AHs as well and will provide an access to quality administrative services for all residents of Dunaivtsi Rayon. As a result, more ON JOINT TASKS TO IMPLEMENT THE SECOND than 73 thousand residents of the hromada and the rayon will be provided DECENTRALISATION PHASE with high-quality administrative services.

As it is known, the second phase of decentralisation has started in The launch of a mobile ASC is the best solution for bringing administrative Ukraine. The point of destination is conducting of the next local elec- services closer to residents of all hromadas of Dunaievtsi Rayon. “Our hrom- tions in 2020 on a new territorial basis. To this end, Ukraine needs adas are very different, some communities are located 30 km from the hrom- to solve several important tasks – from drafting the necessary laws adas’ centres. A mobile ASC will provide an opportunity to resolve this prob- to their adoption and implementation. And this means that everyday lem. Our first motivation is to bring services closer to residents”, said Velina work of all parties – the Government, Parliament, local self-govern- Zaiats, Head of Dunaievtsi Hromada. ment associations, donor community and experts – is needed. Thus, the joint tasks for the second decentralisation phase were agreed in Kyiv by MinRegion and the Donor Board, that combines international technical assistance projects and programmes supporting the decentralisation processes in Ukraine. The next meeting of the Donor Board is scheduled for the third decade of May.

U-LEAD VOICES

The ASC network development is a marker of the decen- The European Union comprehensively supports Ukraine in tralization reform success, which brings a quality service implementing decentralization reform, strengthening the closer to people. Last year more than 15 million Ukrainians hromadas’ capabilities in various areas of governance. The used the services of modern ASCs which brought an ad- decentralisation reform is a key reform, because it is about ditional UAH 2.9 billion to local budgets. If you count the a core principle of the European Union, namely subsidiar- money and services, it brings power closer to the people ity. It means the commitment to solve social and political and changes the face of power. I would like to thank our issues as close to citizens as possible. The way people re- partners from the U-LEAD with Europe Programme for sup- ceive administrative services in hromadas is an extremely porting the reform and providing comprehensive assistance important criterion for development of local self-govern- to development of the ASCs network in the hromadas. ment. The accessibility and quality of administrative services in hromadas is one of the key factors of the success Hennadii Zubko, and capacity of local authorities. Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Stefan Schleuning Housing and Utilities of Ukraine Head of Cooperation Programmes at the EU Delegation to Ukraine

I am proud that Sweden is part of this endeavour. As one “It is important to ensure that we empower you with knowl- of the most decentralized countries in the world, with a edge and skills through these demand-based thematic sup- well-established tradition of strong and independent mu- port packages. Stronger leaders mean stronger hromadas.” nicipalities, we are happy to share our experiences and to see the development of stronger and more confident hromadas in Ukraine. Better and more transparently delivered Bastian Veigel administrative services is one very important way for these U-LEAD with Europe GIZ Programme Director new hromadas to demonstrate this ongoing change to their citizens and to the Ukrainian society at largest

Martin Hagström Swedish Ambassador to Ukraine

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and its member states Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of its authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union and its member states Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden.

Websites: u-lead.org.ua, decentralisation.gov.ua Phone: (+380 44) 581 27 99 Facebook: facebook.com/ULEADwithEurope Email: [email protected] Address: House of Decentralisation, 20 Velyka Zhytomyrska Street (4th floor), Kyiv 01001, Ukraine