Kyiv, 28 November 2022 – More than 80 local authorities representing 20 territorial communities on the front lines of the war in Ukraine attended specialized classes on the principles of good governance, peacebuilding, crisis management and public administration. The seminars, which took place from 3 October to 5 November 2022, were organized by the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine, with the financial support of the Government of Sweden.

The participants, representing local self-government authorities of Chernihiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Poltava and Sumy oblasts, also studied strategic and spatial planning as a tool for achieving sustainable development and project management to solve social and economic challenges at the local level. They also learned about implementing effective strategies for building good governance in the transition from war to peace, and the importance of civil society, business and the media in recovery and development.

Christophoros Politis, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Ukraine, said the principles and practices of good governance are important at all stages of a country’s development, and are particularly critical in times of war. “Life is incredibly difficult for populations living under the stress of war,” he said. “This is why UNDP focused on these areas in eastern Ukraine after the conflict started in 2014, from supporting the process of decentralization to creating an effective dialogue between the authorities and the community.”

Politis said that since the full-scale war broke out in February of this year, UNDP has taken the lessons learned and competencies developed in Donetsk and Luhansk and is applying them in affected oblasts across Ukraine. “In particular," he said, "we are actively supporting intensive training programmes to show already acquired experience and present effective mechanisms of cooperation and citizens engagement, which communities will be able to use in rebuilding and recovery after the war.”

The Good Governance School was organized with the support of UNDP within the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme with the financial support of the Government of Sweden.

Background: The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Eleven international partners support the Programme: The European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Media enquiries: Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Head of Communications; e-mail: yuliia.samus@undp.org