Yushchenko addresses conference on local government reform (06/05/05)

Yushchenko addresses conference on local government reform

by Sherri Alms

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko was the keynote speaker at the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation's recent Community Partnerships Project (CPP) conference, which was held May 13-14 in Kyiv.

More than 330 attendees, including 104 mayors, journalists, government officials, and a group of American trainers, speakers and staff, attended the conference. The conference theme was "Integrity, Transparency, Professionalism: Is Local Government in Ukraine Ready for Europe?"

President Yushchenko discussed the importance of municipal government, including the need to prepare for entry into the European Union. He also commented on Ukraine's position and the need to reach out both to the West and the East. "Whenever we speak of integration, we should consider two things. Integration should be done from our national interests and we should act fairly and honestly. Secondly, integration to the East should not block the road to Western integration," he said.

He went on to say that "the main subject of this conference is local self-government and responsibility available for people in our society. The roots of self-governance are probably back in the past, the deep past. Starting from that time, people realized their interest in local communities ... Developing local government is the first priority. Jobs will only be created with economic growth, with the creation of small and medium-sized businesses."

The priority of government, he said, is to streamline processes through legislation and ensure that citizens can get what they need from the government efficiently and easily. "Our task is to create an official who is like a doorman, standing on the pavement inviting citizens in to create their own businesses ... There is only one way out and that is to consider a very different option to release the energy of local communities and every citizen of Ukraine. We must conduct reform of the public administration ... If you would like to bring freedom and development to local communities, we should do this [reform the public administration]."

Local governments play a key role in the reform, he said, and they must make their citizens partners in the planning and reform process. In conclusion, he told the audience that "the president is your partner in creating change."

U.S. Ambassador John E. Herbst greeted participants, welcoming them and lauding the important role the foundation plays in Ukraine. The conference agenda included a number of national government officials who are involved with local government and the process of reform, including the secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Building and Local Government, Borys Bezpalyi, Verkhovna Rada Deputy Volodymyr Stretovych and Valerii Asadchev. The Chairman of the Center for Political and Legal Reforms, Ihor Koliushko, also spoke to conference participants. Michael Kulesza, an expert from Poland, shared the experiences and lessons learned from Poland's administrative reforms.

In addition to several question-and-answer sessions with the general session speakers, conference attendees also participated actively in three breakout sessions intended to ultimately result in initiatives that will improve local government. Each session included a staff moderator, an American expert and a Ukrainian mayor.

The first working group focused on integrity and discussed whether city governments could use a code of ethics, with a goal of establishing a working group to develop a draft code of ethics to present at the plenary and circulate among mayors throughout Ukraine. Komsomolsk Mayor Oleksander Popov and the former mayor of Springfield, Ill., Mayor Karen Hasara, led the group.

The group on transparency discussed the image of local government, specifically how elected officials can win the confidence of their communities, with a goal of designing a framework for a best practices workbook, including practical tools such as public hearings, opinion polls, and working with NGOs and the local media. Mayor Bill Hudnut of Chevy Chase, Md., who also served as mayor of Indianapolis, Ind., and Slavutych Mayor Volodymyr Udovychenko led the group.

In the third working group, which discussed professionalism, the issue was how to create an effective team, with a goal of drafting a petition to the Ukrainian government to obtain certification for the CPP management course, which was developed in partnership with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, and to look for methods to legitimize teaching courses for professionals. Kherson Mayor Volodymyr Saldo and the administrative director of the University of Georgia's International Center for Democratic Governance, Dan Durning, led the group.

In addition to the American leaders of the working groups, a group of CPP trainers from the United States and CPP staff from the Washington office of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation participated in the conference.

The goals of the Community Partnerships Project are to create a supportive environment for local governments; encourage practitioner-to-practitioner mentoring; support grassroots and constituent-driven reform; assist sharing and implementation of best local government practices; and promote innovative and efficient government practices.

Created by the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation in 1997, the Community Partnerships Project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Using city-to-city partnerships between U.S. and Ukrainian communities as its starting point, the CPP has become a vibrant and energetic network made up of 14 Ukrainian cities and their U.S. partners, five regional training centers, and 23 regional partnership cities and towns.

To learn more about the Community Partnerships Project, readers may log on to: http://www.usukraine.org/cpp/aboutcpp.htm.

| Home Page |