Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO) and the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine prepare for signing the agreement on the implementation of joint activities in support of local self-government development in Ukraine in 2010-2014. The meeting of the two parties held on October 7, 2010 resulted in a draft cooperation agreement.

According to the abovementioned draft, SCO and the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project (DESPRO) will continue supporting the activities of the Government of Ukraine on reforming local self-government, streamlining the administrative-territorial structure, improving the quality of public services and preparations for the reform of territorial structure and local self-government. The improvement of skills and knowledge of civil servants in the field of administration activity, building awareness of Ukrainian citizens on issues of preparation for the above-mentioned reforms, the participation of Swiss partners in drafting regulations on the issues of administrative-territorial reform and more should become the main outcomes of this cooperation.

In the meeting participated: Vyacheslav Negoda (the Director of the Regional Policy and Local Self-Government Department of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine), Manuel Etter (the Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine), Christian Diesler (SCO Program Coordinator, the division of CIS), Olena Lytvynenko (Program Manager, SCO), Oksana Garnets (Senior Project Coordinator of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project DESPRO) and others.