How Local Governments can effectively interact with communities in wartime conditions

On May 19-21 in Zhytomyr, a three-day training on the topic "Good Governance for Peace" was held. Twenty participants that represent local governments from different regions of Ukraine studied methods of effective interaction with communities' residents and colleagues during wartime.

Trainers Oleg Kulinich and Yuriy Orel talked about tools that help ensure transparency and openness in the activities of local governments during martial law, and shared secrets on how to build partnerships with civil society organizations, responsible businesses, and the media.

In small groups, participants worked on ideas to improve local democracy tools: they discussed public consultations, community initiatives, citizen assemblies, electronic petitions, public hearings, advisory bodies, and local initiatives, as well as how these tools can be improved to facilitate the integration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and residents of host communities.

All participants thanked for the useful knowledge and assured that they would use the acquired skills in their work at the local level.

The event was held in the frames of the "Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in Ukraine – Step Forward" project, implemented with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office’s funds by IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Funding programme zivik.