Mayors of Southern Ukraine ready to launch new initiatives on local democracy

Odessa, 16 February 2017– 28 mayors from four regions in Eastern Ukraine (Odessa, Kherson, Mylokaiv and Zaporizhjya) took part in a two-day workshop “Mayors, Leaders for Change”. They exchanged on recent legislative changes related to the decentralisation reform and the amalgamation process in Ukraine, as well as on issues of transparency and ethics at local level. They shared their experience with peers, members of the Congress from Ireland and Ukraine and mayors from Georgia and Germany, on how to develop projects fostering citizen participation and engagement.  

This workshop was organised by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe within the project “Promoting local democracy in Ukraine”, which is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2015-2017.  

Ukraine joined the Council of Europe on 9 November 1995, ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government on 11 September 1997 and its Additional Protocol on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority on 2 September 2014. Countries which have ratified the Charter are bound by its provisions. The Charter imposes compliance with a minimum number of rights and principles, which are the European bedrock of local self-government. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe ensures respect for these principles.

Contact:

Marité Moras, Head of Unit - Co-operation and external relations Department,  Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Tel: +33 3 88 41 22 33

Svitlana Gryshchenko, Project Manager, Council of Europe Office in Kyiv,
Tel: +380 96 340 13 83