Canada-Ukraine Partnership Project for Regional Governance and Development

The Regional Governance and Development (RGD) Project is a five-year (2005-2010) cooperation project implemented in partnership with the Foundation for International Training. The RGD Project is designed to promote civic engagement in regional governance, providing opportunities for citizens and communities to shape their common future and to put their region on the path towards sustainable development. The project works at several levels. It helps strengthen regional development policy in the country by providing advice to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and sharing know-how from other jurisdictions in Europe and North America. It supports two pilot oblasts -- Zaporizhzhia and Zakarpattya -- to launch participatory processes that give a voice to civil society in regional planning and decision-making. And it promotes open, accountable and effective government institutions at the regional level, responsive to the needs of citizens and working strategically towards its developmental goals. The experiences in the two pilot oblasts are intended to foster model approaches to good governance in Ukraine that can inform the country’s policy and practice into the future. For more information, please visit the RGD Project website.

Funding Agency
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Europe , Middle East & Maghreb Branch .

Timeframe
2005-2010

Geographic Focus
The geographic focus of the project is Zaporizhzhia oblast in eastern Ukraine and Zakarpattya oblast in western Ukraine as well as Kyiv, the capital city.

Project Partners
Ministry of Economy of Ukraine – a central government ministry responsible for formulating state regional policy and facilitating the implementation of this policy.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council and Zaporizhzhia Oblast State Administration – the regional elected body and regional executive authority in one of Ukraine’s eastern oblasts (regions).
Zakarpattya Oblast Council and Zakarpattya Oblast State Administration – the regional elected body and regional executive authority in one of Ukraine’s western oblasts (regions).
National Association of Regional Development Agencies (NARDA) – a non-governmental organization that brings together regional development agencies from across Ukraine and aims to serve as an umbrella organization for building the country’s organized civil society at the regional level.

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Background

Zaporizhzhia City skyline

Ukraine officially gained its independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991. Since its independence, Ukraine’s development has been characterized as both complex and slow. Many of the transitional reforms towards democracy and a market-based economy have not yet been implemented. The 1996 Constitution did contribute to reforming the government by delineating the roles and responsibilities of the Oblast State Administrations (regional executive authority) and elected Oblast Councils (local self-government bodies). However, it did not go far enough in this reform process, leaving major challenges to regional governance and development in Ukraine and placing most of the authority with the regional executive authority, which is accountable only to the central government, rather than with the regional elected councils, which are accountable to the citizens. Such systematic challenges, a lack of a clear delineation of authorities, and a lack of understanding of the need for and the procedures of decentralization are exacerbated by high levels of corruption, a poor understanding of the basic approaches to sustainable development, a lack of good governance, and inefficient public service provision at the regional and local levels.

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Project Description
The aim of this project is to assist the Government of Ukraine to develop, pilot, and up-scale a model integrated regional development process at the oblast level that utilizes the capacities of a mobilized civil society to both formulate and implement regional-level development strategies .

The expected results of the project include:

• Enhanced national-regional dialogue and cooperation in regional policy development and implementation
• Enhanced institutional structures and capacities to pursue democratic and sustainable regional development

• More equitable and transparent processes designed for the utilization of financial resources for targeted functions within pilot oblasts

• Improved mechanisms for civil society involvement in regional affairs and development
• Greater stakeholder awareness and understanding of gender issues and of roles, responsibilities and relationships related to regional development
• Enhanced public sector-civil society partnership for planning
• Heightened public awareness of gender issues and oblast development issues, processes and prospects
• Shared stakeholder vision of regional development
• Integrated regional development strategies and action plans formulated and implementation commenced through broad-based stakeholder participation

Approach
Generally, the Project approach will involve supporting the development and implementation of regional development policy, through advice to staff at the Ministry of Economy on the formulation of regional development policies; through assistance to selected pilot oblasts for the development and implementation of integrated development strategies and participatory action plans; and through strengthening the institutional capacity of pilot oblasts to implement policies and action plans responsive to, and with the participation of, civil society. The Project will promote model approaches to involving civil society in the shaping of regional development strategies and policies, and to the promotion of open, accountable and effective government at the regional level.