National Forum - November 10, 2005
On November 10, 2005, the Canada-Ukraine Partnership Project for Regional Governance and Development (RGD Project), which is managed by the Canadian Urban Institute and funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, held its first Inter-Regional Forum to launch a dialogue between oblast- and national-level stakeholders on advancing Ukrainian democracy, governance and development at the oblast level.
Ms. Evelyn Lee, Head of the Technical Cooperation Section of the Canadian Embassy, and Her Excellency Mrs. Abina Dann, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine, opened the forum by welcoming participants and remarking on the commitment Canada has made to Ukraine’s development through the funding of projects such as the Regional Governance and Development project.
Forum participants engaged in fruitful discussions on regional policy and development issues in Ukraine and abroad. Specific discussion topics included prospects of European regional policy for Ukraine, regional development in Ukraine: current status and prospects for participatory governance, modern approaches and tools for regional governance and development, and inter-regional cooperation and dialogue.
Pavlo Kachur, Minister of Construction, Architecture and Communal Housing and President of National Association of Regional Development Agencies (NARDA), noted that the issue of decentralization and fostering sustainable regional development is very high on the Government’s agenda, especially taking into account the fact that on 8 September the Law “On stimulating regional development in Ukraine” was adopted.
Other key speakers at the forum included Serhiy Romanyuk, First Deputy Minister of Economy on Regional Policy Issues, and Oleksandr Syn, Deputy head of Zaporizhzhya Oblast State Administration. Representatives of the Secretariat of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, civil society organizations, academia, as well as Ukrainian and international experts on regional governance and development also participated in the forum.
Andrew Farncombe, Project Director, brought to the attention of participants, Canadian governance standards and methods. He emphasized the importance to differentiate between government and governance as well as brought to the attention of the Forum participants UN-Habitat norms of good local governance.
The success of the first inter-regional forum allowed the RGD Project to gather a wide range of ideas, opinions, and concerns from key stakeholders in Ukraine’s regional governance and development, which will be instrumental in informing the next phase of the project and in responding to Ukraine’s needs in this field.
Presentation "Toward Norms of Good "Regional" Governance" - Andrew Farncombe, Project Director, Canadian Urban Institute Presentation "Regional Governance and Development Project" - Tibor Frank, Lead International Expert, Canadian Urban Institute Presentation "New Challenges in Regions' Development" - Olga Mrinska, DfID Ukraine, and Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University Presentation "Decentralizing Government Powers. The Canadian experience" - Tanya Wanio, Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Canada Presentation "Ontario's Municipal Performance Measurement System" - Bohdan Wynnyckyj, Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Canada Presentation "Decentralized Management of Skills Training in Ukraine project" - Ihor Ilko, ACCC/SIAST project coordinator in Ukraine Presentation "Challenges of European Regional Development Policy and Regional Democracy in Hungary" - Peter Szegvari, Deputy Director General, Regional Development Holding, Hungary |
