Meeting of the DESPRO Steering Committee of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was carried out in Simferopol on February 10, 2010.

The results of the first phase activity (2007-2009) of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine DESPRO project in AR Crimea were summarized during the Steering Committee meeting.

The meeting participants discussed the support strategy for decentralization of authority and local government reform in Ukraine, the application of successful experience of DESPRO partners, as well as the introduction of decentralized models of water services provision in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Management of the rayon and rural councils along with community activists presented the results of local projects implementation in introduction of the decentralized model of water supply.
According to the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of AR Crimea Aziz Abdullayev, the new type of people evolves in the process of implementing the rural communities’ projects. People acquire features of responsible, mature community members with the right to choose, with the right to participate in decision-making.

 Manuel Etter, the County Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Ukraine, emphasized: “It's good that the Crimean authorities actively cooperate with the Decentralization Support to Ukraine DESPRO project. We are satisfied with the results of work at the local level. Services are getting closer to the consumers, people actively gather, cooperate with the authorities. However, it is important that these efforts receive support at the institutional level that they become a part of large-scale reforms of the public authority system and the territorial-administrative structure in Ukraine.”
 
After 3 years of cooperation between the government and communities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea with the DESPRO project 20 local projects were implemented and significant social and economic results were achieved: about 8.8 thousand of rural residents of Bakhchysarayskyi, Leninskyi and Nyzhnyohirskyi rayons of AR Crimea are able to enjoy high quality of water supply, the total project cost reached UAH 3 million 330 thousand, out of which about 62% is a contribution of Swiss-Ukrainian DESPRO project, 21% was collected by the local community members, the rest - about 17% is local budgets funds. In the second phase project will continue its effort in decentralization support in several regions of Ukraine, particularly in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

In the work participated: Aziz Abdullaev, the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of ARC, Chairman of the DESPRO the Steering Committee in ARC; Manuel Etter, the Country Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Ukraine; Olena Lytvynenko, Program Manager of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Ukraine; Oksana Garnets, Senior Project Coordinator of DESPRO in Ukraine; heads of the Rayon State Administrations and Rayon Councils (Bakhchysarayskyi, Leninskyi and Nyzhnyohirskyi rayons of ARC); heads of the large enterprises of Crimea; representatives of the international organizations, rayon working groups, as well as target project communities.