Help Ukraine for freedom!

We fundraise internationally for immediate support to Ukrainian people and communities exposed to the Russian invasion.

Your contribution enables us to provide assistance to
Individuals and families for food, medications, clothing and other essentials
Communities ruined by war for keeping the basic infrastructure and services (emergency repairs – electricity, telecommunications, water supply, etc.)
Communities threatened by occupation for organizing shelters and evacuation for civilians

You can donate to
IBAN UA953005280000026001000015353
for DESPRO NGO, Kyiv, Ukraine
Full bank transfer info here

Thanks for your contribution! It can make a difference!

The NGO DESPRO stems from a Swiss-Ukrainian decentralization project with 14 years of experience.

DESPRO project is pleased to inform about the recent publication of the research paper "eLearning within the Community of Practice for sustainable development" in the journal Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning by Emerald Publishing Ltd.

On 24 July, a meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee took place in the Zaitsivska village amalgamated territorial community in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

As part of partnership with the Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration, the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine will carry out the analysis of current state of credit financing for the development of water supply and sanitation infrastructure in the Oblast under the "Drinking Water" Programme, study foreign experience of similar credit programmes implementation and carry out a number of workshops for local partners so that the best practices are incorporated in the credit programme.

A three-day training "Leading Women in Local Self-Government" by the DESPRO Project is over. That is a pilot event in a series prepared by the Project, which events are dedicated to the involvement of women in public and political processes at all levels of organization of power.

On 9 May, the DESPRO Project participated in the Round Table "Pressing Matters in the Area of Development of Cooperation and Mechanisms for Lobbying Interests of Local Self-Government in the State Government Bodies".

The conference was organised at the initiative of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, under the auspices of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine and projects funded by the EU (Twinning, APENA, BRDO), the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine.

On 17 May, as part of events held within the Open Door Days, there was a presentation of the online resource "New Public Service" at the National Public Service Agency.

A public discussion "Is It Worth to Amalgamate?" was held in the cit of Zhovkva of Lviv Oblast. The party supporting amalgamation earned a convincing victory in four rounds of severe war of words by having increased the number of its followers by 16%.

The number of participants of the online forum for starostas is increasing. 197 starostas from 23 oblasts (except the Rivne Oblast, where there are 19 elected starostas and 69 acting starostas) have already registered. The level of topicality of issues raised by starostas for discussion is also increasing.

On 6 March 2018, a research and practice workshop "Decentralisation of Power and Development of Local Self-Government: European Experience and Ukrainian Environment" was held in the city of Bila Tserkva as initiated by the Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University (BNAU), with the participation of the Kyiv Oblast State Administration, the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine, the Kyiv Centre for Local Self-Government Development, and the All-Ukrainian Association of Village and Town Councils.

On 5 March 2018, there was held a meeting of the competition commission of the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine regarding the selection of the winner of the competition for selection of a pilot project on financing investment projects for the account of proceeds from placement of local bonds.

On 28 February, the Committee on State-Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will consider the Draft Law (No. 6466) "On Voluntary Amalgamation of Territorial Communities" regarding the voluntary accession of territorial communities in villages and towns to the cities of Oblast subordinance. That legislative initiative is aimed at the deblocking of the communities amalgamation process around the centres of economic activity, which centres are the cities of Oblast subordinance. 

There is a myth that the amalgamation of villages with a city may result in the disappearance of those villages. To either confirm or deny it, the "Decentralisation" publication had a talk with representatives of Tiachivska City Amalgamated Community in Zakarpattia Oblast consisting of the city of Tiachiv and several neighbouring villages: Tiachivka, Lahzy and Okruhla, Ruske Pole.

"To what end should communities amalgamate?" this very question became the top one for the participants of discussion on decentralisation held in the town of Krasnokutsk in Kharkiv Oblast. 

The event was arranged for by the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine, with the assistance of the Krasnokutska Rayon State Administration and the Centre for Local Self-Government Development in Kharkiv Oblast.

Public Services and Monitoring Expert of the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine Mr. Vyacheslav Sorokovsky speaks about national peculiarities of waste collection in Ukraine, as well as how to get out of the rubbish noose.

On 8 February, the DESPRO experts held a workshop in Kyiv, which workshop was devoted to the planning of further cooperation in the area of water supply and sanitation, as well as the enhancement of managerial and organizational potential of municipal enterprises with the communities in target regions of the Project.

Public Services and Monitoring Expert of the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine Mr. Viacheslav Sorokovsky speaks about the National Waste Management Strategy and whether fines will be imposed on communities for dealing improperly with the "rubbish" problem.

The successful experience of joint projects implementation gave an incentive for the development of a new cooperation vector between the DESPRO and communities of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast during the IV phase of the Project and became the ground for signing the Memorandum of Understanding between the DESPRO Project, the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast State Administration, and the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Council.

Taking the Tulchynsky cluster as an example, Public Services and Monitoring Expert of the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine Viacheslav Sorokovsky told how the waste should be handled in Ukraine.

Sumy Oblast shows high activity in the course of reforming local self-government and territorial structure of power. If at the beginning of the reform in 2015, only one amalgamated territorial community was created in Oblast, as of 1 January 2018 there are 28 ATCs established in the Sumy region. This shows that both the residents of the region and government agencies are aware of the importance and necessity of implementation of the decentralisation targets that are, generally speaking, aimed at the improvement of the quality of baseline services for residents, the local economic development, and the improvement of well-being. It was said by Oksana Garnets, Manager of the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine, during her working visit to the Sumy region.

On 5 December, the Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian project, Poltava Oblast State Administration, Poltava Oblast Council, and two amalgamated territorial communities, within the framework of a working meeting of the DESPRO experts and leaders of the Poltava region.

"DESPRO is the most lasting project ever implemented by the Swiss Resource Centre and Consultancies for Development. Over 10 years, we, together with Ukraine, lived through numerous commotions and victories, we had to respond to unexpected challenges and came through many ordeals but did not leave the way of reform - that is why the DESPRO Project managed to achieve powerful successes and progress in the process of its implementation", that theme was the key one in the complimentary speech of Juerg Christen, Managing Director of the Skat - Swiss Resource Centre and Consultancies for Development, and DESPRO Managing Director.

The overwhelming majority of the heads of ATCs positively assess the decentralization reform. This data was obtained as a result of a sociological survey conducted by the Expert Center “ASK Reform” supported by the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine - DESPRO and with the participation of the Association of Amalgamated Territorial Communities. 

The research was conducted using a telephone survey. 254 heads of village, settlement and town amalgamated communities from all regions of the country took part in it. As a reminder, today there are 413 amalgamated territorial communities (ATCs) in Ukraine.

On July 20, 2017, the Forum “Decentralization – the basis for the formation of a new system of governance and local development” was held in Ternopil oblast.

On July 13, presentation of the sewerage system and wastewater treatment plant built in the framework of a pilot project supported by the Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” – DESPRO, was held in Illinetske village, Vinnytsia oblast.

On July 13, in Tulchyn, Vinnytsia oblast, two important and interrelated events took place, which are important not only in the life of the local community, but also in the scale of the whole country: the round table “Regional and Inter-Municipal Solutions in the field of implementation of the Integrated Solid Waste Management” and the Grand Opening of a newly built landfill for solid household waste.

On June 23, 2017, a presentation of the results of the pilot project for supporting the amalgamated communities in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast was held. Mr. Anatolii Tkachuk, Director in Science at the Civil Society Institute, told experts and representatives of the donor organizations supporting the project, including DESPRO, about its main achievements and outcomes.

The heroes of our story are the town of Tulchyn, the rayon centre in Vinnytsia region, and the surrounding communities of Kynashiv and Suvorivske village councils. The total number of inhabitants in these administrative units is 26,000. 

Like most small towns, Tulchyn had typical problems related to waste: spontaneous garbage dumps, for the liquidation of which considerable funds were spent annually from the budget, lack a sanitation scheme required by the Law of Ukraine “On Waste”, a loss-making utility company that is forced to borrow fuel and default workers’ wages, adjacent territories are not provided with containers. Garbage collection in Tulchyn and in some of the nearby villages was carried out sporadically, once a week, because of the lack of sufficient equipment. The garbage dump (it is important to emphasize that it was a garbage dump, not a landfill or disposal site), built in 1990, with a service life of 20 years, was completely overloaded, with neither monitoring equipment, nor engineering facilities. Harmful substances seeped through the soil down to the aquifers. 

The local authorities – local councils of Tulchyn town, villages of Kynashiv and Suvorovske, Tulchyn Rayon Council and Rayon Administration – came to a conclusion that water never flows under settled stone, and began to act simultaneously in two directions: they tried to solve the problems that could be overcome independently, but in addition, they looked for investors, donors, partners, experts in order to solve the problem competently and comprehensively. They also applied to the then existing State Fund for Local Self-Government Support and international donor organizations.

During March 1 – April 9, 2017, an online course ‘Local Development Projects Management’ was held on the web-platform of the Community of Practice for Local Development of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine - DESPRO". Representatives of public authorities and civil society of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts were the participants of the training implemented by the Lviv Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine.

On April 11, experts from the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine - DESPRO transferred a bulldozer to the Tulchyn City Council a bulldozer.

On April 10, 2017, in Kropyvnytskyi, a presentation of the experience of the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Supporting Decentralization in Ukraine” DESPRO in terms of the development of rural communities of Ukraine and implementation of the decentralization reform took place at the Centre for Retraining and Advanced Training of employees of public authorities, local self-government bodies, public enterprises, institutions and organizations of Kirovohrad Oblast State Administration.

The best graduates of the DESPRO’s Local Self-Government School gathered in Kyiv to attend a five-day training session on interactive adult learning techniques.

Since 2010, the Swiss-Ukrainian project DESPRO has supported pilot projects in the field of solid waste management in several regions of Ukraine. But this time Vyacheslav Sorokovskyy, Project expert, took on an unusual role: he was invited to conduct a lesson for schoolchildren of the specialized school No. 40 in Kyiv. Tatyana Zavoyska, a public activist, initiated that meeting.

February 27, representatives of donor organizations, projects and programs dealing with support of decentralization in Ukraine, discussed future plans for the reform implementation with representatives of legislative and executive authorities.

The issue of coordination of international donor assistance aimed at introduction of decentralization in Ukraine becomes increasingly topical. In particular, it has become the central theme of a panel discussion held at the conference “From amalgamation of territorial communities – to smart growth”, organized by the Institute for Civil Society and Ministry of Regional Development in partnership with the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine - DESPRO.

February 23, representatives of the amalgamatedterritorial communities from four regions of Ukraine gathered in Kyiv to take part in the final training module on strategic planning in amalgamated communities:“Monitoring and Institutional Support for Strategy Implementation”.

February 11, mini-EdCamp (Un)conference in Kyiv gathered together about 200 progressive school teachers from 17 regions of Ukraine. Traditionally, one of the partners of the event was the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine – DESPRO.

The Forum is one of the key events regularly organized by the Institute for Eastern Studies. This time, the Swiss-Ukrainian project DESPRO was a partner of the event, the purpose and the main theme of which was the modernization and the development of Ukraine's potential along with the direction and pace of the reforms in Ukraine. It is naturally that decentralization in Ukraine was one of the most important topics of the discussion at the X Europe-Ukraine Forum.

Only 22 % of rural territories in Ukraine have centralised water supply, and water disposal, less than 2.5 %. In many amalgamated communities, this problem was determined as a higher priority. Today, they have resources to solve it and will obtain all required assistance from the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, and Housing and Utilities of Ukraine and leading experts in the area.

From now on, all information pertaining to the administrative-territorial system of Ukraine will be stored at one information resource.

As a result of the implementation of 9 projects (in the amount of UAH 12.0 million) more than 7 thousand countrymen in Poltava region will get access to drinking water. Three projects have already been completed and five more are ready for completion. This was, in particular, discussed at the meeting of the Regional Supervisory Committee of the "Decentralisation Support in Ukraine" DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian project, with the participation of First Deputy Head of the Poltava Region State Administration Andrii Pisotskyi and Deputy Head Oleh Pruhlo.

Summarizing the 2015 results of implementation of the "Decentralisation Support in Ukraine" DESPRO Swiss-Ukrainian project in Vinnytsia Region Oksana Garnets underlined: "We have been working with the Vinnytsia Region for many years. This is the most active and dynamic region where you always find support both at the local level and on the part of the region authorities, and that is an optimum alternative of cooperation."

Volodymyr Groysman emphasised in the openings speech that the reform of local self-government was one of the key reforms for Ukraine. "The question is to create algorithms of amalgamated communities which are able to provide high-quality services to people. I would like to express my admiration for each leader of the local community who ran in the elections," the speaker noted.  He believes that the Ukrainian Parliament does not and will not stay away from the problems of territorial communities.

On 30 December, a festive opening and blessing of the water supply system took place in the village of Ozeriany of Tlumach District in Ivano-Frankivsk Region. It became possible to construct the up-to-date system of centralised water supply owing to the substantial assistance from the regional and district authorities and the Swiss-Ukrainian project "Decentralisation Support in Ukraine" DESPRO. 

It was the fifth time that the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project (DESPRO) invited the representatives of local authorities and public to take part in the training on Project Management, in experience exchange and cooperation aimed at the development of communities and regions, in order to acquire competence in practical exercises on preparation of projects and involvement of stakeholders. 

Interagency project supporting the development of amalgamated local communities in Khmelnitsky region combines efforts of different actors - the local authorities, international partners and organizations of public sector. It is really unique and instructive pilot for Ukraine.

18 leading Ukrainian communication experts, representing governmental and non-governmental organizations, were meeting their Polish colleagues throughout the week. The visit was made possible, thanks to collaboration of Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization support in Ukraine” DESPRO and Polish International Solidarity Foundation “Solidarity Fund PL”. 

The village of Stepanky (Pogrebyshchy rayon, Vinnytsya oblast) is a small village of approximately 100 households; it is also one of the four villages belonging to the competency of Cheremoshne village council. It is the last of the four villages, which now has drinkable water supply.

On October 15, 2015, a workshop titled “Inter-municipal waste disposal systems in Ukraine – from idea to implementation” took place in Poltava oblast. During the workshop, a strategy for solid domestic waste disposal in Poltava oblast, as well as practical aspects of inter-municipal waste disposal project implementation in Vinnytsya oblast were presented.

The ways of improving communication between the centre and the regions were discussed by Ukrainian experts as part of the conference “Centre-regions: communication with one voice”, held in Ukrainian crisis media-centre.

The way of changes in the Republic of Poland, and responsibilities of decentralized authority before the public – these were the subjects studied by Ukrainian journalists during the training visit on October 5 to 10. The visit was organized by the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization support in Ukraine” (DESPRO) and the International Solidarity Fund «Solidarity Fund PL».

The survey was aimed to learn the residents’ opinion about their solid domestic waste (SDW) disposal practices. 494 respondents participated in the survey, including 306 Tulchyn residents, plus 188 residents of Tulchyn raion settlements (Suvorovske, Nestervarka, Mazurivka). The survey was held among the residents, who had access to the centralized solid domestic removal service.

On September 16-18, 2015, another Local Self-government School started working in the form of a three day on-site course for representatives of different local authority levels from different oblasts of Ukraine.

Educational activities of DESPRO covered 2 more oblasts of Ukraine: on September 9, 2015, a panel discussion took place in Mykolaiv, on Septermber 10 – in Kherson.

On August 12, 2015 a panel discussion “Decentralization Reforms: Steps, Prospects, and Expected Results”, organized by Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization support in Ukraine” (DESPRO), took place in the city of Zaporizhzhya.

On July 28 and 29 panel discussions “Decentralization Reforms: Steps, Prospects, and Expected Results” took place in the cities of Sumy and Kharkiv under initiative and organizational support of the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization support in Ukraine” (DESPRO).

On July 19-25, 2015 a delegation of 8 Ukrainian local authority representatives, alumni of the last year’s Local self-government school, organized by DESPRO in 2014, went to the Republic of Poland with a training visit.

On July 16, 2015, a panel discussion “Decentralization Reforms: Steps, Prospects, Expected Results” was held in Chernigiv. The discussion was initiated and supported by the project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” (DESPRO), jointly with the Ministry of regional development, construction, and housing and communal services of Ukraine.

On July 8-10 2015 a regular training workshop, held by DESPRO as part of support of initiatives of territorial communities on organization of strategic planning process at the local level, took place in the city of Kiev.

Under financial and organizational support of the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentraliztion support in Ukraine”, representatives of press-services of oblast state administrations and regional TV and radio broadcasting companies met the chairman of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Volodymyr Groysman, and the leading national experts on decentralization, at a round-table discussion. This time the meeting was dedicated to the constitutional reform on authority decentralization and local self-government reorganization.

Residents of the village of Pavlivka (Pogrebyshchy raion, Vinnytsia oblast) now have a new water pipeline, providing centralized water supply to the whole community. The project implementation became possible thanks to the efforts of the residents and involvement of all interested parties and international partners in co-funding. On July 7, 2015, the formal opening of the water pipeline took place.

On the windowsills of apartments in Polish cities you can see unusual appliances to scare away the pigeons, while on the roofs there are systems, which prevent formation of icicles, presenting danger for residents in winter. Care about ordinary citizens became possible as a result of successful conduction of local self-government reform in the country 25 years ago. A third of the national budget is targeted at self-government bodies. According to the Centre for research of public opinion, the level of trust to local authorities last year (58% of respondents) exceeded respective indicators for the parliament and political parties.

A famous Polish composer Frideric Chopin, whose body is buried in Paris, asked in his will to bury his heart in Warsaw. Here it rests in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. In this city, which the famous musician was so deeply in love with, his works are immortalized by the so-called Chopin’s benches. These black marble constructions are installed near the buildings, where the genius lived or which he visited. These music boxes of a kind play the famous composer’s tunes. Once you are in Warsaw, you understand the last wish of the famous Pole: when you visit the Polish capital, you leave a part of your heart in it.

On June 30 a newly-constructed water supply network was put into operation in the village of Vesele (Rayivka village council, Synelnykovo raion). From now on, all village residents will have access to high-quality drinking water. The project was implemented as a result of cooperation of oblast council and Swiss-Ukrainian project DESPRO.

The statement was made by the head of department of improvement of territories and communal services of Minregion, Maksym Barinov, on June 24, during the round table discussion featuring representatives of international projects of the German society for international cooperation (GIZ) and the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization support in Ukraine” DESPRO.

eLearning course on “Local Self-Government Reform and Decentralization of Power” was implemented during May-June for local self-government officials of the Dnipropetrovsk oblast within the framework of the Community of Practice “Innovations and Best Practices of Local Self-Government”. The e-course was developed according with the Memorandum on Cooperation between Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council/ Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration and the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine DESPRO in partnership with the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy of Public Administration.

The School of local self-government, founded by the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization support in Ukraine” (DESPRO) started working in the format of a three-day on-site training course for 50 local self-government representatives from different oblasts of Ukraine. 

On March 16 five village heads signed agreements within the framework of DESPRO project implementation in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast’.  

On April 23-24 the training for the participants of the last-year School of local self-governance was held.  

In late December 2014, the Verkhovna Rada introduced amendments to the Budget and Tax Codes of Ukraine in order to enhance the role of local budgets and to strengthen them through redistribution of incomes and expenditures between the budgets of different levels. To bring the information about these innovations to those interested, the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project DESPRO and the Ukrainian Association of Rayon and Oblast Councils have jointly organized a new e-course “Local Budgets in the Context of the Budgetary Process Reform”, which took place on the DESPRO web-platform Community of Practice: Innovations and Best Practices in LSG from March 4 to April 4, 2015.

In late December 2014 the Supreme Rada introduced changes to the Budget and Taxation Codes of Ukraine, with the goal of enhancing the role of the local budgets through redistribution of the incomes and expenditures between the budgets of various levels. To disseminate the information on the introduced novelties Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization support in Ukraine” DESPRO and Ukrainian association of the raion and oblast’ councils offered a new e-course “Local budgets in the context of the budget process reform”, which was held on the DESPRO Sharing of practices web-platform from March 4 to April 4 2015.

April 15, Kiev, Supreme Rada of Ukraine. Representatives of the oblast’ state administrations and regional TV companies met the state leaders - Supreme Rada speaker V.Groisman, vice-premier minister of the regional development, construction and housing and communal economy H.Zubko, deputy head of the President’s Admiiatration V.Kovalchuk, and also leading Ukrainian experts on decentralization. The meeting became possible due to the financial support of the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” DESPRO.

Competition to participate in the current-year School of the local self-governance to start on May 4 2015 as long distance (e-course), and then be moved to Kiev for day-studies in two stages:

Stage I -May 20-22, 2015;

Stage II  -  autumn 2015 року.

Staff of the local self-governance bodies – members of all-Ukrainian association of the local self-governance bodies -  are invited: 

- Village and settlement heads;

· Raion council heads;

· Town mayors.

To take part please fill out the Questionnaire, then send it by fax, regular or e-mail prior to April 12 2015, (last day) with the subject matter “application to participate in the School of local self-governance” to the address:

DESPRO project,

B.Hrynchenko street, 2, office #2.

Kiev, 01001 Ukraine

fax(+380 44) 279 67 27

On April 1, 2015 an on-line videoconference with the participation of the association leaders DESPRO, oblast’ councils and oblast’ state administrations was held. The main issue under discussion was the collaboration between Ukrainian association of raion and oblast’s councils collaboration with Swiss-Ukrainian project “Support of Decentralization in Ukraine DESPRO», under the agreement on the implementation of the project “Creation of the nation-wide network of video conference communications”.

 The winners were invited to participate in DESPRO educational/methodological seminar on the projects implementation. The seminar will be held in two stages: first for the communities in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsya oblast’, second – for Poltava, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk oblast’s. Both community members and representatives of raion and oblast’ authorities were invited.

The meeting of architects of reforms on decentralization in Ukraine with the journalists of Zakarpattya oblast’ took place on February 3, 2015, in the form of another training organized by DESPRO in the city of Uzhgorod.

The meeting of architects of the reforms on decentralization of Ukraine with the journalists of Ternopil, Chernivtsi, and Khmelnytsky oblasts took place on Novemner 20, 2014, in the form of another training organized by DESPRO in the city of Kamyanets-Podilsky.

Following the initiative of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine/Minregion, a series of discussions on local self-government reform, particularly, on balancing of interests of territorial communities, state authority, public sector and business, has been launched in different regions of Ukraine.

On 17^th June 2014 Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law “On cooperation of territorial communities”, which gave a new impetus to the implementation of the Concept of local self-governance and territorial power organization in Ukraine. 

On June 25, 2014, a training on decentralization in media took place in Rivne. 55 journalists and editors from Zhytomyr, Rivne and Volyn oblasts took part in it.

Practical training aspect “Journalist workshop” was covered by host of political talk show “Freedom of Speech” on ICTV Andriy Kulykov. Pavlo Kozyriev, mayor of Ukrayinka, took part in a practical training session. He conducted press-conference for journalists, after which trainers analysed the mistakes of both mass media representatives and speaker. Master-class was lively and pretty useful for participants. 

On 23 – 24 of April 2014 the pilot training for media representatives “Decentralization Reforms in Mass Media” took place. It was organized by the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” (DESPRO) in cooperation with Kyiv Oblast organization of the National Council of Journalists of Ukraine.

The reform of local self-government in Ukraine has been widely discussed for a long time. The ideas concerning the need for the reform and decentralization of authority are always present in the programs of Ukrainian political parties and presidential candidates. Ukraine has already adopted and cancelled previously adopted documents on the concept of local self-government reform and territorial authority organization, starting over another stage of the reform project development and its national discussion. In 2013 took place the next discussion of reform. But the content of the discussion is not always valid and correct. The complexity of this topic often creates misunderstanding of the reasons and procedure of reforming, even among those who present it.

ELearning initiative is aimed not only at self-education but at creating of Community of Practice, i.e.: launching of professional communication among representatives of local self-governing bodies from different regions of Ukraine in order to ensure the systematic processes for creation, analysis, storing and distribution of information resources and knowledge in the sphere of local self-governance.

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast joins Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization support in Ukraine” during its Third Phase.

On 16th July 2013 first working meeting of DESPRO Steering Committee in Dnipropetrovs’k Oblast took place in Dnepropetrovsk.

During the meeting Oksana Garnets, Senior Project Coordinator in Ukraine reported on successful completion of Project Second Phase and beginning of its Third Phase.

 Ukraine should launch a global reform of power decentralization. This was stated by Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on State Constructon and Local Government David Zhvania during the meeting with the Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine Guido Beltrani and DESPRO senior project coordinator r in Ukraine Oksana Garnets.

 Presentation of civil society resources and international donor organizations “Information Fair 2013” has been launched today in Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.  The event was organized by Parliamentary Development Project II Ohio State University in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Duration: two days.

 On 15^th February 2013 First Winter School-2013 was launched in Zakarpattya Oblast. Its topic was “Local self-governance basics as integral part of local and regional development”. School was established by Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization support in Ukraine” in cooperation with All-Ukrainian Association of village and small town councils. It is the first phase of a comprehensive program aimed at training and practical education for village and small town heads of Ukraine*. 

The e-course, which lasted for 2 months (from November 15, 2012 to January 15, 2013), was attended by 582 participants from all (!) regions of the country, in order to acquire new competence (skills) in project management to solve community problems.  

August 27-28, 2012, in Sevastopol, by the initiative of the Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” - DESPRO and the Council of Europe, under the auspices of the Administration of the President of Ukraine, a roundtable "The ways of reforming local self-government in Ukraine" was held.

On 15 August in the villages Smile and Yaroshivka, Romny rayon (district), and on 16 August in the villages Zhovtneve and Zavody, Konotop rayon of Sumy oblast (region), in the framework of the Swiss-Ukrainian Project "Decentralization Support in Ukraine” - DESPRO, the newly built water supply lines were put into operation.

Distant training on “Projects’ on local and regional development management”, which was implemented by State Fund for Local Self-Government in cooperation with Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” (DESPRO) and National Academy for Public Administration, is completed.

Swiss-Ukrainian project DESPRO invites talented young designers and illustrators to take part in the competition on designing the brochure for children of 5 to 7 years old.

Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” (DESPRO) and Council of Europe Program “Strengthening Local Democracy and Support of Local Self-Government Reforms in Ukraine” have signed Memorandum on Partnership and Cooperation.

 This March the piloting of eLearning “The Effectiveness and Efficiency of Public Administration and Local Self-Governance” was completed within the creation of Interregional information and education network’s “The Effective State” portal.  The course was tested in Eastern Ukrainian University named after V. Dal’ (Lugans’k) within full-time masters course “Public service/administration”.

Minister positively estimated Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” (DESPRO), which is co-financing water supply projects in rural areas. She addressed Crimean rayons to take part an active part in it. 

On 18 December, teaching of the 7-week e-course "Fundamentals of Regional Social Policy” was completed at Dnipropetrovsk Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy of Public Administration under the Office of the President of Ukraine, within the framework of Master of Public Administration (MPA) programme, with a specialty in Public Administration.

The contest "Uniting the Community!", aimed at coverage of the best examples of self-organization of rural population, lasted 6 months and was held in 5 oblasts of Ukraine: Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsya, Ivano-Frankivsk, and AR Crimea. The contest was initiated by the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine P (DESPRO) and implemented by Creative Association of Ukraine Mass Media "Slavuta".

On 13 - 15 December 2011, Yalta is hosting the annual meeting of partners of the Swiss-Ukrainian decentralization Support to Ukraine Project (DESPRO). Its goal is to summarize the work aimed at support the rural communities’ projects on provision of decentralized services, to discuss trends and prospects for local and regional development, knowledge management in the area of public administration. Besides, the Conference participants will plan their activities for next year.The event brings together 150 delegates, among them: rural activists, officials of local authorities and executive authorities, experts in public administration and knowledge management, journalists from regional and national mass media.

On 8 December, the Programme "Forming the Regional Innovation Policy" was successfully concluded at Lviv Regional Institute of Public Administration (LRIPA) NAPA. The Programme has become a component of advanced training for employees of the Main Department of Economy and Industrial Policy of Lviv Oblast State Administration and of the economic departments of Rayon State Administrations in Lviv oblast.

An important task faced by the DESPRO project is to disseminate the best practices and examples of self-organization of rural population, besides, not only within the framework of cooperation with the Swiss-Ukrainian project. To this end, in June 2011 the DESPRO project, in collaboration with Creative Association of Mass Media "Slavuta", announced the competition to the media for the best publication about good initiatives and projects of active rural population (villagers), who come together to improve the socio-economic conditions of their lives. The exciting moment has come. The jury has carefully reviewed all the publications and has determined the winners of the competition.

The scientific and practical conference "Innovative Educational Technologies in professional training for civil servants and local self-government officials" took place on 1 December 2011 at the National Academy of Public Administration under the Office of the President of Ukraine with the support of the National Agency on Civil Service and with the assistance of the company - partner "Microsoft Ukraine" and the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project (DESPRO).

Knowledge Management Training and Exposure Visit took place to Switzerland on November 20-26. The Visit was organized by Skat and aimed at the key stakeholders and DESPRO project partners involved into the developing and supporting the Knowledge Management System for decentralization and local governance in Ukraine: representatives of State Agency of Civil Service, Office of the President of Ukraine, Foundation on the Local Self-Governance Support, Members of the Parliament and faculty of academic institutions of Ukraine participated in the Training and Exposure Visit.  

On 18 November 2011 the Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the National Academy and the Swiss-Ukrainian Project "Decentralization Support in Ukraine" (DESPRO). The National Academy was represented by Yuriy Kovbasyuk, President of the Academy, Vitaliy Malaschenko, Vice President, and Andriy Zhuravlyov, Head of the Innovative Education Technologies Management; the DESPRO project – by Oksana Garnets, Project Manager for DESPRO in Ukraine.

On 11-12 November 2011, the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project (DESPRO) held the training workshop "Monitoring of Sustainable Decentralized Water-Supply Services at the Community Level" for its partners from Vinnytsya and Sumy oblasts as well as from AR Crimea.

The visit was intended to present the experience and best practices in implementing the integrated management of solid waste in certain European countries, such as Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” (DESPRO) is announcing additional call for proposals among service cooperatives created within rural communities of DESPRO partner rayons of Vinnytsya and Sumy Oblasts and AR Crimea. The aim is to implement/improve decentralized mechanisms of community based water supply services.

Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” Expert Body met on 26^th October 2011. Meeting’s goal was to discuss the issues concerning the development and design of web-portal for Interregional Information and Training Network “Effective State”.

On 25^th October 2011 the meeting of Local Working Group dealing the issues of planning the integrated solid waste management (ISWM) took place in Tulchyn. It was supported by Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine”, DESPRO. 

18^th through 20^th October post graduate courses for the Union of young and perspective public servants of Lugansk Oblast took place in Lugansk. The event was supported by DESPRO in cooperation with the Department of State Service based on Lugansk Centre of post graduate education.

13^th through 14^th October Regional Forum on Inter-Municipal Cooperation, entitled “Practicing Local Self-Government for People”, took place in Skopje, Macedonia. It brought together representatives of international organizations, governments of Balkan and Eastern European countries. 

Positive experience of cooperation and results obtained from implementation of community projects supported by DESPRO facilitated active institutional reforms in autonomic republic, creation of new working places, infrastructure development as well as solution of social issues like support and development of entrepreneurship, housing and communal sphere, health and environment.

The visit was aimed at acquaintance with the progress of water supply community projects of Suvorivske and Kleban villages.

The event was aimed at actualization of inter-municipal cooperation in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and Ukraine as a whole.

Which are the ways of solving local challenges and attracting resources for regional development due to strengthening the population’s capacities? How to do it? Which are the expected results?   These and a number of other issues became the subject of a round table, which took place on 27^th September in Simpheropol and was initiated by Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” (DESPRO).

During the implementation of Phase II, Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” (DESPRO), besides water-supply, supports the local projects on Solid Household Waste Management. In this March the process of strategic planning of integrated Solid Waste Management was launched in Tulchynsky rayon, Vinnytsya Oblast.

16 through 18 September 2001 Community general meeting of Association of Regional Development Agencies of Ukraine took place in Alushta (Ukraine). Within its framework, a workshop “Decentralization as an Aspect of Regional Development in Ukraine” was conducted.

eLearning and Knowledge Management Workshop was held on 15-18 August in Kamyanets-Podilskyi. It was organized by the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project (DESPRO) for faculty members who teach educational subjects in the area of "Public Administration". The goal of the Workshop was to improve the participants’ skills in developing training modules in eLearning format, testing and further implementation of the developed modules in the learning process.

On 5^th August round table “Traditions as a Factor for Communities Self-Organization” took place in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast State Administration. Cooperation of village, small towns and municipal communities with international structures was discussed. Representatives of power, non-governmental organizations and mass media took part in it. Organizers also invited representatives of Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine”. The later shared the experience re implementing decentralized services models in the village as well as presented the competition on best publications in media “Uniting the Community!”

Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” in cooperation with Creative Association “Slavuta” conducted the round table, which officially launched the Media Competition “Uniting the Community!” in Vinnytsya Oblast. The competition is devoted to covering the practical experience in the sphere of population self-organization and effective solutions of rural communities’ problems in five regions of Ukraine – Vinnytsya, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblasts and AR Crimea.

July 13 in Vinnitsa will host another roundtable on "Promoting social activism of local communities: the experience of Vinnytsia region" within the roundtable will be presented competition "Uniting the community" for regional media

An inception visit to Switzerland was conducted on 3 - 8 July 2011 for the representatives of regional and district (rayon) authorities, heads of service cooperatives, and water supply operators.

On 5 July and due to invitation of Oblast Council, Oksana Garnets, Project Senior Coordinator in Ukraine, Yuriy Hanushchak, Project Expert and representatives of Tulchynsky rayon Vinnytsya Oblast partner community participated in a round table “Actual Problems of Oblast Territorial Communities and Ways of Their Solutions” that took place in Dnipropetrovsk.

On 6 to 7 July 2011 VI Annual Conference of Small Towns of Ukraine took place. This year the event was devoted to “Resource and Information-Analytical Support Provided to Small Towns’ Mayors and Local Self-Governance Bodies”.

Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” in cooperation with Creative Association “Slavuta” conducted the round table, which officially launched the Media Competition “Uniting the Community!” in Sumy Oblast. The competition is devoted to covering the practical experience in the sphere of population self-organization and effective solutions of rural communities’ problems in five regions of Ukraine – Vinnytsya, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblasts and AR Crimea.

Training’s organizers, i.e. experts of Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Decentralization Support in Ukraine” developed an intense training program in a way so as to cover all aspects of communities’ future activities in the sphere of local projects’ on service provision in rural areas implementation.

On 8 July the working meeting on solid waste management took place in Bakchysaray, AR Crimea.

The Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine - DESPRO has initiated a competition among the regional mass media in five oblasts of Ukraine for the best publications devoted to highlighting the practical experience of self-organization and effective solution of problems of rural communities in the region. The competition was presented on 3 June 2011 in the office of the news agency "Ukrainian News".

On 31 May through 1 June 2011 DESPRO call for proposals commission considered in Sumy Oblast 14 community projects from Konotopsky, Romensky and Krolevetsky rayons. The commission included heads of rayon state administrations and their deputies, heads of rayons councils, heads of rayons state administrations’ departments, experts in the sphere of decentralization and village heads.

The scientific workshop “The directions of reforming the territorial organization of power” organized by the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine was held on 26-27 May in Pushcha Vodytsia, Kyiv.

The first International Scientific Conference "Distance Education (eLearning) Technologies in Modern Public Personnel Policy" was held on 26 May 2011 at the National Academy of Public Administration under the Office of the President of Ukraine (NAPA), assisted by the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine DESPRO Project.

Information session for the communities – partners of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine DESPRO Project on provision of decentralized services in the area of water supply was held on 13 May 2011 in Vinnytsya.

The coordination meeting of the international partners of the National Academy of Public Administration under the Office of the President of Ukraine (hereinafter - NAPA) was held April 19, 2011 in Kyiv.

During its second phase, the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine (DESPRO), in addition to water-supply sector, also supports local projects related to municipal solid waste management. In one of the target rayons of the project - Tulchyn rayon in Vinnytsya oblast, the process of strategic planning of the municipal solid waste (MSW) integrated management started in March this year.

In the information field of Ukraine, one can increasingly hear the message about the need for decentralisation and administrative-territorial reform. And it is no wonder: the archaic management system and the flawed spatial planning in Ukraine hamper its economic and, consequently, social development. That is why, during a regular meeting of the Expert and Advisory Council of the DESPRO Project, which was held on 5 April 2011, the experts discussed the possibility of conducting the administrative-territorial reform in Ukraine and the concept of promoting the reform among the general public.

On 25-27 March, "Introduction to Knowledge Management" Workshop took place in Kyiv; it was organized by the DESPRO - Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support to Ukraine Project in cooperation with Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Switzerland) for teachers of education courses in the field of “Public Administration” from Ukrainian higher educational institutions.

The Roundtable on Knowledge Management: Prospects for Implementing the Concept in the Public Sector was held on 24 March 2011 at the National Academy of Public Administration. The event was organized by the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine - DESPRO.

On 16 - 18 March the seminar “A Basis of Local Self-Government” was held for representatives of local self-governments in Bakhchysaray rayon (Autonomous Republic of Crimea).

The higher the societal development and technological progress is, the more waste of life activities we leave. Today, Ukraine suffers from garbage. Every year its quantity is increased by one billion tons. The country has more than 3.6 thousand polygons with total area of more than 6.3 thousand hectares. It is essential that 70% of waste is recyclable materials, which require processing in order to reduce production costs.

On the 18th of March 2011, the documentary “The reverse side of waste” was presented to the schoolchildren of the Khotiv village gymnasium in Kyiv oblast. The film had been shooted on the order of the DESPRO Project to demonstrate correct handling of municipal solid waste. The video demonstrates relevant bright examples and successful practices.

On 2 - 4 March Sumy hosted the first workshop/training for representatives of the communities, which will participate in the DESPRO project competition. The topic of the workshop was "Decentralised models of services provision and social mobilisation of communities." The workshop was attended by village activists from Krolevets, Romny and Konotop rayons, as well as by the officials of rayon state administrations who are going to join the rayon working groups and to further coordinate collaboration with the DESPRO.

Representatives of the DESPRO project and young mayors from Eastern European countries discussed the current trends of urban development during the seminar titled "Urban Development in Eastern Europe" held on 24-25 February 2011 in Vinnytsya.

The training workshop "Topical issues of licensing and permitting activities in the area of centralized water supply" was held in Vinnytsya on 18 February.

The Conference has been initiated by the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The highest levels of government, major international institutions and organizations, including the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, the EU project "Sustainable regional development support in Ukraine", the UN Development Programme in Ukraine are involved In organizing the conference. Leading experts of the Project "Support to decentralization in Ukraine" will participate as well.

February 7, 2011 the draft Law of Ukraine "On Local Referendum" was discussed at the roundtable organized by the Committee of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on state development and local self-government in collaboration with the Council of Europe’s Programme "Strengthening Local Democracy and Support for Local Government Reforms in Ukraine", Election Law Institute and other partner organizations.

Inter-Project Working Group of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine and the UNDP Project "Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme" held a preparatory meeting in the context of project planning for solid waste management in Tulchyn Rayon. During the meeting the participants have discussed the current state of solid waste management in Tulchyn municipality, villages Suvorovka  and Kynashev of Tulchyn Rayon. They have identified major problems in this area at the local level and established a local working group and steering committee on inter-municipal cooperation project planning and planned a project`s launching seminar.

Discussion for planning the future cooperation will bring together community partners, the leadership of Rayon State Administration and the Rayon Council, the profile service enterprice, director of the 'Decentralisation Support Project in Ukraine" Joerg Christen,  DESPRO and Municipal Governance  and Sustainable Development Programme.

No doubt, it is difficult to abandon the Soviet system of governance in which self-government serves only as crutches for the omnipotent state apparatus on the local level. Pyramid of local governance, built up upside down, squashes elected officials, making them the "wheels and cogs" in the state mechanism.

Forum of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support in Ukraine Project DESPRO partners was held in Yalta on December 15-16, 2010.

Decentralisation Support in Ukraine project DESPRO in cooperation with All-Ukrainian weekly newspaper «Dzerkalo tyzhnya» (Mirror weekly) held round table on the topic “Local self-organization: By virtue of? Contrary to? Perspective?” for the representatives of local authorities and community activists on December 8, 2010.

Roundtable "Local Self-Government: Current State and Development Prospects" was carried out in Kyiv on December 2, 2010. The event was organized by the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support in Ukraine project DESPRO in cooperation with the National Academy of Public Administration on the occasion of the Local Self-Government Day.

Representatives of the Swiss Cooperation Office Ukraine yet again visited Vinnytsya oblast, while they developed long-term relationships of close cooperation in implementing joint projects with this region. On December 2, 2010 the Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office Ukraine Manuel Etter met with the head of the Regional State Administration Mykola Dzhyga, the Head of the Regional Council Sergiy Tatusyak, Vinnytsya city mayor Volodymyr Groisman to discuss the results of realisation of the Swiss-Ukrainian projects in Vinnytsya oblast and implementation of the new and promising areas of cooperation for 2011-2014.

For the first time in Ukraine the sociological study of the needs assessment for knowledge in the system of local government was carried out. The study results were presented in Kyiv on November 24. Data analysis was carried out by the Institute of Sociology of NAS of Ukraine on the request of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation Support Project DESPRO in Ukraine.

On November 9, 2010 representatives of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine DESPRO took part in VIII International Water Forum "Aqua Ukraine - 2010" and VI International Congress "Institutional and technical aspects of the housing and communal services reform - 2010". Both events were held at the International Exhibition Center in Kyiv.

On October 21 at the Ministry for Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine was held the second meeting of the Coordination Group for the National Policy Dialogue on the Water and Wastewater Services of Ukraine under the title: "Towards overcoming the negative consequences of the decentralization in the water and wastewater sector”.

16 communities-contestants received consultative support during the visits of the DESPRO experts to the Vinnytsya oblast and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The main discussion issue was the work on the mistakes in the project applications, recommendations to the applicants on correcting them.

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.

Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine project DESPRO and UNDP "Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development" project in Ukraine (hereinafter - UNDP/MGSDP) established inter-project task force on solid waste (hereinafter - SW) management. The first joint task force meeting was held in c.Dolyna of Ivano-Frankivsk region on September 22, 2010.

A roundtable discussion on gender aspects of implementing community development projects in Ukraine was held in Kyiv on August 27, 2010. It was initiated by the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project DESPRO. The main goal of the roundtable was to identify effective approaches to the implementation of local projects in decentralized service provision that would obligatory take into account ensuring equal opportunities for men and women.

6 August 2010. Launching ceremony has held in Mayaky village of Tultchyn Rayon, Vinnytsya oblast. From now 260 household will benefit the decentralized water supply service

Representatives of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), the UNDP’s Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme (MGSDP/UNDP) and the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project, DESPRO, met on July 19, 2010. The purpose of the joint meeting was the development of a training course on decentralization and effective local self-government for local government officials and specialists in local government development.

The Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine, DESPRO, has established an Expert and Advisory Council of the project. Leading experts in local self-government, regional development, state administration, information technology and other areas were invited to participate in the Council.

The Project Information and Monitoring System (PIMS) is an electronic online database of planned, ongoing and completed activities and sub-projects of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine, DESPRO. PIMS is linked to the project objectives defined in the project document. It ensures the accumulation of information to be transformed into knowledge and experience; vertical and horizontal contact between users; transparency and control over project management; and the production of statistics and report data.

The knowledge management system (KM system) in the sector of decentralization and local government is an integrated, systematic approach to defining, managing and disseminating knowledge among local government officials and civil servants at different levels for the reform of public authorities in Ukraine, thereby enhancing the quality of government services to the population. The aim of the system is to strengthen the institutional capacity of local governments and local state administrations as well as to collect in one place information and knowledge in the area of decentralization and reform of the system of authority. Civil servants at all levels, representatives of local government bodies, self-governing community-based organizations, NGOs, think tanks, universities and specialized educational institutions, international agencies and the media are among those envisioned as being the users of the KM system. The system should complement the current system of professional training for civil servants and take into account existing experience.

The round-table "Needs and possibilities of solving solid waste management problems in the cities of Ukraine" was held in Ivano-Frankivsk on May 27-28, 2010.

National round-table "Prospects for reforming of the local self-government in Ukraine" was carried out with the support of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine project DESPRO in c.Kyiv on May 27, 2010.

Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn supports the need for elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by open party lists and return to the majority system for elections to the local self-governments.
V. Lytvyn spoke for introduction of the appropriate amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, while opening the parliamentary hearings on the issue: "Reforming the legislation of Ukraine on local elections taking into account interests of local communities” on May 12, 2010.

International Conference on "Democracy and Decentralization" was held in St. Gallen (Switzerland) on May 3-4, 2010.

Expert discussion on the implementation of the effective models of knowledge management in the area of decentralization was held in Kyiv on April 15, 2010.
The discussion was elicited by the need of taking into account the views of national experts and partners, as well as identifying approaches, concepts and methods of management DESPRO’s knowledge and experience.

DESPRO project was presented to the participants of the conference of the Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Program UNDP

Issues of applying the successful experience of Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project DESPRO in the area of decentralization and support of local governance, project participation in support of regional development in Ukraine were discussed during the conference "Decentralization in Action” carried out in Kyiv on March 16. DESPRO partners summarized the activities of the first phase of the project in 2007 - 2009 years, and discussed the main challenges and priorities for the second phase.

The results of work of Crimean housing and utility infrastructure in 2009 were summarized at the board meeting of the Ministry of Housing and Utility Infrastructure of AR Crimea, which was held in Simferopol on March 3, 2010.
Minister of Housing of AR Crimea Volodymyr Bazhenov reported to the Board on the results of 2009 and informed about the main directions of the housing industry development in 2010-2014.

Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO) has celebrated the tenth birthday together with its partners on February 25, 2010. The event was attended by distinguished guests such as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to Ukraine HE Mr. George Zubler and Minister of Regional Development and Construction of Ukraine Mr. Vasyl Kuybida. Also among the invited guests were representatives of the projects implemented by SCO, in particular, Oksana Garnets, Decentralization Supporting to Ukraine DESPRO Project Leader.

Monitoring visits of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Decentralization Support to Ukraine project DESPRO leadership to Bakhchysarai rayon of AR Crimea was carried out on February 11, 2010.

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.

27-29th  of January. Koncha-Zaspa, Kyiv rayon. Swiss-Ukrainian DESPRO project organized and conducted the training for trainers on regional and local development programs.

DESPRO team monitoring visits was carried out to Vinnytsia oblast and AR Crimea on January 19-22, 2010 upon completion of the 1st phase (2007-2009) of the project. Monitoring was motivated by the necessity to meet with community organizations and local authorities, as well as ascertain projects’ tasks implementation on-site.

December 29, Vinnytsa. At the extended meeting of the DESPRO Supervisory Board of the Vinnytsa region the results of the first phase of the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support Project DESPRO were summarized.
The establishment of an effective model of services implementation for the population in a decentralized way constitutes the main result of the project activity in 2007-2009. This refers primarily to the pilot projects of the rural communities in establishment of the water supply systems. Applied organizational approaches and experience in the process of realization of the abovementioned projects could be useful for the upcoming territorial and administrative reform in the country.
 

The first phase of the Decentralization Support in Ukraine DESPRO Project (2007-2009) proceeds to its completion with the year 2009 coming to an end. The next phase of the project will unfold in 2010.
DESPRO project staff outlined strategic objectives, main principles and activity areas for the next phase of the DESPRO project during the planning session held in c.Bucha on December 24, 2009.

17 December 2009. The water supply system was solemnly launched in village Pryrichne of Nyzhnyohirsky Rayon. Since now 444 village inhabitants  benefit using the proficient and affordable water supply service. This achieved due to the community projects that have been implemented during 2008 - 2009 by village non-government organization "Kazampir" supported by Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralisation support Project DESPRO.

Local self-government reform: to be or not to be? - Organizers have selected this question for the discussion on the public debate carried out in Kyiv on December 17.

10 December 2009. Kyiv. The National Round Table on European Innovation Strategy and Local and Governance dedicated to the European Local Democracy week in Ukraine held in the Ministry of Regional development and Construction. Deputy Minister Anatoly Tkachuk presided the event.
Oksana Garnets – Senior Coordinator of the Decentralization Support Project in Ukraine (DESPRO) took part in the Round Table.

The Final Conference of the Swiss-Ukrainian «Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project» (DESPRO) will take place on 14-16 of December in Yalta, Crimea.

The representatives of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Verhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, the Ministry of Municipal Economy and Housing, other central executive bodies, the Vinnytsya Oblast and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea authorities, the international organizations, the representatives of DESPRO partner rayons and the communities are going to take part in the conference.

To get more detailed information, and also for the MASS-MEDIA representatives’ accreditation please apply to the office of the Project.
 

The III International Investment Forum «The Future of the Crimea» took place on October, 19-21 in the town of Sudak. This forum is the biggest event in investing activities in the Crimea, which annually gathers more than 500 business representatives and politicians, investment experts, scientists from Ukraine, CIS countries and abroad.

The Verhovna Rada Committee of State building and local government meeting took place on October, 14, 2009. The representatives of Swiss Agency for development and Cooperation SDC, The Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project DESPRO, UN Development Programme (UNDP) and others took part in the meeting.

August 25-28. Ukrainian, Moldavian and Swiss experts shared their best practices in local development projects implementation during the exposure visit to Ukraine and Moldova.

From the 22nd to 24th of September, community representatives will attend the Operation and Maintenance Training

On the 30th of July decentralization and social mobilization expert Vyacheslav   Sorokovsky presented the approach of DESPRO to the water supply system management.