The overall objective of the project (2016-2017) is to support the development of transparent, accountable and responsive local government and to strengthen citizens participation practices in local policy development in Eastern Ukraine. Within the scope of the project, VNGi and PAX work together with local authorities and civil society organisation (CSO’s) in in six municipalities in Eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian state and society have been greatly destabilised over the past 2.5 years, since Maidan 2014. Improving social contract (trust in and cooperation between authorities and civil society) has the potential to become a valuable instrument out of the current crisis in Ukraine. The project interventions therefore aim at providing a participatory, locally driven response to the reform efforts, focussing on the Eastern regions of Donetsk (government-controlled territory), Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk provinces. The proposed interventions in these areas are also linked to the high influx of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) who require basic services and how that relates to local citizens’ needs.
At the core of the project stands the building of trust and a stable, law-based relationship among citizens and municipalities in six different towns. To achieve this, the project works in 3-ways:
- Demand: inclusive processes for local civil society (incl. IDPs) to elaborate realistic demands towards local government actors (mainly implemented by PAX)
- Response: support to local authorities to formulate systematically accountable responses to demands (mainly implemented by partner VNG International)
- Linking & Learning: dissemination of the results of the project to other local authorities and national authorities in Kyiv
Contact
Cinta Depondt, Programme Manager Eastern Europe & Eurasia, depondt@paxforpeace.nl