The importance of government-community interaction was discussed in Sumy

On November 8, a press conference was held on the basis of the media platform “Vilna” dedicated to the features of the decentralization process in the Sumy region.

Communications Consultant of the Reform Office at the Sumy Regional Branch of the Association of Ukrainian Cities

Karen Agadzhanov-Gonzalez

spoke about the features of the decentralization reform in the Sumy region, in particular, made some conclusions about 2018 and formulated prospects for 2019.

The speakers also discussed the next steps in decentralization of power, the completion of the voluntary unification of communities and the consolidation of districts in the Sumy region. The topic of another attempt to block the election process in united communities, including in the Putyvl ATC, attracted special attention.

Executive Director of the NGO “Northern Human Rights Group”

Natalia Yesina

spoke about the project “Public Budget – a Dialogue Platform for the Government and the Community”, which is being implemented in Sumy, Chernihiv and Khmelnytskyi regions, in particular, about the readiness to implement the participatory budget program in united territorial communities.

The participants in the discussion agreed with the opinion that, unfortunately, people are often not interested in the processes taking place in their community. This happens due to the lack of incentives to intervene, or when residents of remote areas are not aware of the possibilities of participation at all. That is why it is necessary to raise public awareness and establish a dialogue between the community and the government.

As part of the project “Public Budget – a Dialogue Platform for Authorities and Communities”, visits were made to local communities, consultations were provided to residents and employees of local government units, representatives of different districts of ATCs gathered for joint events – round tables and training. By the way, the events were held away, in two ATCs (Shalyginska and Trostyanetska), which are already implementing participatory budgets and presented their own experience in implementing projects.

The project “Public Budget – a Dialogue Platform for Authorities and Communities” is implemented by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights in cooperation with the Northern Human Rights Group with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)