Main sphere of DESPRO cooperation with Oblast will be drinking water supply in rural areas. During project Third Phase (2013 – 2017) DESPRO plan to co-finance 18 community projects in Dnipropetrovs’k Oblast.  This year Oblast competition will take place. According to its results, 6 projects will be selected. Co-financing will start in 2014. DESPRO contribution will amount for 40% of total projects budgets, which means up to UAH 250 thousand per one project.

In future (second part of project phase) support of the projects on sanitation and solid waste management is possible. Special sphere of cooperation is professional development of local self-government officials and public servants.

“Each great thing starts from people initiative, from community readiness to work over solving its problems. Objective of local power is to support social activity of people, to provide them with necessary organizational and financial resources. One of main areas of support on the sites is an attraction of grant funding and implementation of contemporary European practices and experience in Dnipropetrovs’k Oblast towns and rayons. That is why our region is actively cooperating with leading international organizations”, said Yevhen Udod, Head of Oblast Council.

Third Phase of Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” (DESPRO) started in May 2013. Introduction and development of mechanisms for decentralized service provision on small towns and villages levels, their integration into the national reforms related to decentralization and their dissemination to other regions of Ukraine remain the priority project objective. First of all, it concerns co-financing of community projects in the sector of water supply, sanitation and solid waste management (SWM) in project target regions.

DESPRO key objective is to facilitate reforms on decentralization and local self-government in Ukraine as well as to support the activities of key national institutions and Associations of local self-government bodies related to decentralization and reforming the local self-governance.

Starting from this year, two more Oblasts became DESPRO partners. It was planned to add only one Oblast. However, during the selection process both Oblasts showed great potential, readiness for collaboration and great enthusiasm. DESPRO already has essential experience of cooperation with Vinnytsya and Sumy Oblasts and AR Crimea.

Oksana Garnets, Senior Project Coordinator in Ukraine told the audience about project activities for the period of 2013 – 2017 in five target regions i.e.:

• Development and implementation of innovative mechanisms for water supply services provision on small towns’ level and sanitation services on village level.
• Implementation of the model on integrated approach to SWM.
• Ensuring support to development and improvement of national legislation on decentralization.
• Strengthening the capacity of Local Self-Governance Associations and capacity building of their members.
• Development and implementing the training programs for local self-government officials aimed at their public management capacity building.
• Conducting outreach activities aimed at raising awareness of the reforms on decentralization.
• Capacity building of the specialists of Training and Re-Training Centers in the sphere of project management.
• Conducting information and education events and distribution of manuals “Decentralization and self-governance”, etc.

“DESPRO cooperation with local communities is based on common goal and mutual trust. This cooperation is the ground for implementation of projects aimed at improving the living conditions of rural inhabitants. Our project experience proved both the people readiness to solve urgent problems together and their readiness for reforms. Together we’ll be able to affect the process of local self-government reforming on national level”, said Oksana Garnets, Senior project Coordinator in Ukraine.