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 es- tablishment. 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 digi- tal 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