To strengthen the role and effectiveness of the project-oriented development management model, project offices have been opened in four communities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts

Kreminna, Ukraine, 7 December 2021 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, with the financial support of the European Union, is pleased to announce the opening of four project offices in communities in eastern Ukraine. Starting from December, the offices will operate in Bakhmut and Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast, and Popasna and Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast.

The project offices will operate under city councils and are part of a UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme initiative to implement a project-oriented development management model. The model is key to implementing good governance in the community, achieving success in addressing a variety of local development issues, providing an integrated approach to addressing pressing challenges for communities and territories, and increasing their investment attractiveness.

The coordinator of the Local Governance and Decentralisation Reform Component of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, Olena Ruditch, noted that the effective implementation of the project approach in many communities might be hampered by a lack of practical skills and knowledge of project management among local government employees, as well as an insufficient soft material and technical base.

"The developed model and project offices now opened will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of local governments, improving the quality of public life in the community, and strengthening its competitive potential," Ruditch said.

Among the main tasks of the project offices are:

-      providing recommendations on forming vectors of local development, on developing entrepreneurship and industry, and on investment and foreign economic policy;

-      conducting a legal, financial and organisational analysis of projects or commercial proposals to increase investment efficiency;

-      assisting in the organization of forums, seminars, focus groups, round tables and other economic events;

-      developing and implementing investment and grant projects funded with international technical assistance, funds from the State Fund for Regional Development, etc.

Mayor of Kreminna Volodymyr Struk noted that effective project management should be standard in the community and beyond. The tasks at hand include creating a partnership network, and cooperating with neighbouring communities and inter-municipal associations, he said.

The project offices were established and equipped with furniture and equipment by UNDP under the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, with financial support from the European Union.

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).

Twelve 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, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Media enquiries

Vlada Soloviova, Communications Associate, UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, vlada.soloviova@undp.org, +380 95 529 4240