QUARTERLY REPORT for the implementation of the PULSE Project JANUARY – MARCH, 2019 (I² QUARTER OF US FISCAL YEAR 2019) QUARTER THIRTEEN OF THE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION QUARTERLY REPORT for the implementation of the PULSE Project QUARTERLY REPORT for the implementation of the PULSE Project January – March, 2019 (IІ Quarter of US Fiscal Year 2019) Quarter thirteen of the Project implementation 2 January – March, 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of abbreviations 4 Resume 5 Chapter 1. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE REPORTING QUARTER 5 Chapter 2. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 7 ER 1: Decentralisation enabling legislation reflects local government input 7 1.1. Local government officials participate in sectoral legislation drafting 8 grounded on the European sectoral legislative principles 1.1.1. Preparation and approval of strategies for sectoral reforms 8 1.1.2. Preparation of sectoral legislation 22 1.1.3. Legislation monitoring 27 1.1.4. Resolving local government problem issues and promotion of sectoral reforms 28 1.2. Local governments and all interested parties are actively engaged and use 31 participatory tool to work on legislation and advocating for its approval 1.2.1 Support for approval of drafted legislation in the parliament: 31 tools for interaction with the VRU Support to approval of resolutions and directives of the Cabinet of Ministers: 35 1.3. Local governments improved their practice and quality of services because 49 of the sound decentralised legislative basis for local governments 1.3.1. Legal and technical assistance 49 1.3.2. Web-tools to increase the efficiency of local government activities 50 1.3.3. Feedback: receiving and disseminating 51 ER 2: Resources under local self-governance authority increased 53 2.1. Local self-governance own resources are increased ensuring local government 55 financial autonomy 2.1.1. Tools to increase own resources of local governments 55 2.1.2. Dissemination of best practices and replication of experience 56 2.2. Tools for local government to access additional financial resources are in place and 58 utilised 2.2.1. Capacity building for local government officials 58 2.2.2. Promotion of access to resources 58 3 QUARTERLY REPORT for the implementation of the PULSE Project ER 3: Capacity of stakeholders increased 59 3.1. Local governments and stakeholders are informed and capable of carrying out 60 new roles and responsibilities flowing from decentralisation reform 3.1.1. Capacity building for local officials at the local level 60 3.1.2. Capacity building for local officials at the oblast and rayon level 69 3.1.3. Training for NGOs’ representatives and librarians as the communicators of reforms 71 3.2. Communication and outreach of decentralisation reform is enhanced 73 3.2.1. Creating communication channels for central authorities outreach and messaging 73 3.2.2. Strategic messaging through different media 74 3.3. Increased public awareness of reform successes and trust in local governments 82 3.3.1. Supporting Offices for Reform Implementation Support 82 3.3.2. Promotion of reform successes 84 3.3.3. Engaging young people and teenagers to decentralisation 86 Chapter 3. IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS AND BARRIERS 89 Chapter 4. SUCCESS STORIES 90 Chapter 5. COOPERATION WITH OTHER PROJECTS 101 Chapter 6. SUGGESTED PLAN OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE COMING QUARTER 106 Annexes 107 Annex А. Calendar of events of the PULSE Project conducted in January – March, 2018 Annex В. List of sub-agreements with PULSE Project sub-partners Annex С. Cohort of teams of library and NGO representatives who were selected for funding to conduct informational events involving citizens (from April, 2019 till September, 2019) 4 January – March, 2019 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AUC – Association of Ukrainian Cities AUC RO – Regional Office of the Association of Ukrainian Cities CAS – Center for Administrative Services CEC – Central Elections Commission CMU – Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine CSEA – central state executive authorities CTC – consolidated territorial community HCE – health care establishments HEE – Higher Educational Establishment HMU – housing and municipal utilities sector IRC – inclusive resource center ITA – international technical assistance KSSA – Kyiv City State Administration LED – Local Economic Development LGC – local government caucus (Parliamentary Inter-Faction Local Government Support Group) MCU – Ministry of Culture of Ukraine MESU – Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine MFAU – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine MFR – Municipal Fiscal Register MFU – Ministry of Finance of Ukraine MHC – Ministry of Health Care MLSPU – Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Ukraine MOTIDPU – Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally-Displaced Persons of Ukraine MRD – Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Municipal Utilities of Ukraine NGO – non-governmental organisation NRDF – National Regional Development Fund NSS – National Social Standards NSSN – National Social Standards and Norms OSA – Oblast State Administration PIT – Personal Income Tax RSA – Rayon State Administration RSG – Reform Support Group SASU – State Audit Service of Ukraine SFS – State Fiscal Service SMCA –State Military and Civilian Administration STSU – State Treasury Service of Ukraine UAROC – Ukrainian Association of Rayon and Oblast Councils UTG – Unified Tariff Grid USAID –U.S. Agency for International Development 5 QUARTERLY REPORT for the implementation of the PULSE Project RESUME PULSE Project is working to develop a proper legal framework for decentralisation reform in Ukraine, ensuring that local governments contribute to decentralisation policy development and implementation, increase resources under local government authority and improve local government capacity to effectively use them enhancing the capacity and raising the professional level of key reform stakeholders involved. This report provides the information about the Project implementation in October - December, 2018. The main achievements are presented in Chapter 1. Calendar (list) of events is presented in Annex A. List of sub-agreements concluded by AUC with the Project sub-partners is presented in Annex В. Chapter 1. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE REPORTING QUARTER AND CALENDAR OF EVENTS During Quarter I, 2019: x PULSE Project was engaged in the establishment of new consolidated territorial communities, 2 territorial communities of cities of oblast significance annexed 2 village and 1 town territorial communities. Now, there are 782 CTCs in Ukraine that have conducted their initial local elections and 26 communities of cities of oblast significance, which have annexed the adjacent villages and towns; x PULSE Project participated in preparation of 25 draft regulatory and legal documents; x The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers approved 16 regulatory and legal documents of importance for local self-governance, which were prepared with the participation of PULSE Project experts; x PULSE Project experts prepared 43 expert opinions to draft regulatory and legal documents the AUC received for concurrence from central state executive authorities; x PULSE Project experts prepared 32 expert opinions on draft regulatory and legal documents, which are being considered by committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; x PULSE Project experts participated in 20 meetings of 7 parliamentary committees; x PULSE Project experts participated in 12 meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and 24 meetings of Cabinet of Ministers Committees; x In the course of the discussion of draft agendas of the Cabinet of Ministers and its committees, PULSE Project experts monitored 652 draft regulatory and legal documents, in particular: 51 draft laws, 21 presidential decrees and directives, 499 resolutions and directives of the Cabinet of Ministers, 81 expert opinions on draft legislation, legislation implementation plans, etc. The draft regulatory and legal documents PULSE Project experts worked with included 456 (54.6%) documents dealing with local government issues; x PULSE Project organised and conducted 2 working sessions of AUC Professional Groups (80 participants); x PULSE Project organised and conducted 2 sectoral forums (228 participants); x PULSE Project regional consultants provided 2,441 consultations on legal and financial issues and local economic development issues, which contributed to the process of territorial community consolidation; x PULSE Project organised and conducted 35 legislation application laboratories with the participation of 680 local government representatives; x During the reporting year, PULSE Project continued the introduction of four distance learning courses on the Prometheus online platform (www.prometheus.org.ua) prepared in previous years and introduced a new course on for local council members of consolidated territorial communities. All the courses demonstrated high attendance. The course on gender responsive budgeting demonstrated the highest attendance: 7,666 (!) students, with 5,851 of them receiving their certificates (76.32%). All in all, since the beginning of these courses, more than 18,757 persons participated in them, with 7,890 receiving their certificates; 6 January – March, 2019 x PULSE Project organised and conducted 15 expert workshops for 334 representatives of rayon and oblast councils including 190 males and 144 females; x PULSE Project continued its cooperation with partner projects and organisations; x PULSE Project participated in working session of the Decentralisation Donor Board and