Ukraine's recovery should be provided with respect of integrity, transparency and accountability, and international partners should join forces to implement best practices of transparent recovery in Ukraine. This was emphasized by the Head of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative Allan Pagh Kristensen during the discussion "Sustainable Inclusive Recovery: Fostering Community Capacity to Meet Local Needs".
The event took place on 22 June in London as a side event of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023.
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The discussions moved from the ideas and principles of recovery to specific issues of how to establish and manage these processes. Speakers and guests of the event exchanged views on, among other things, comprehensive recovery programs; the connection between recovery and EU integration processes; the role of communities in decision-making and implementation of recovery programs; support for communities by international partners; supervision of recovery projects. In their speeches, Oleksandr Kubrakov, the Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, and Oleksandra Azarkhina, the Deputy Minister, shared their plans and the challenges they foresaw.
“A real challenge we observe, especially in the de-occupied territories, is that there are a lot of cities, and villages, that started restoration but people are not coming back there. We should bring economic activities back to these regions. The key issues are ensuring that local self-governing bodies can provide comprehensive services for the population and promoting the participation of community residents in decision-making processes,” — Oleksandr Kubrakov commented.
“We granted the communities the leading role in the process of the recovery projects. Without the proper work in the regions, our ambitious plans are just going to fail. That is the main reason for the community-friendly digital tools we are developing, such as the DREAM ecosystem and the Geo-Information System of Regional Recovery and Development (GIS), which facilitate project planning. And finally, we are establishing a network of capacity support offices in the regions to help local authorities launch recovery processes faster." — Oleksandra Azarkhina emphasized.
Allan Pagh Kristensen, the Head of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI), spoke about EUACI's efforts to support recovery projects and the desire to implement best practices based on the ongoing cooperation with Mykolaiv that is the frontrunner in this field.
"We continue to work with local authorities to promote transparency and accountability. The EUACI’s Integrity Cities had different development paths after the invasion. Mykolaiv, for example, is not a city that had an experience of international assistance and donor support, it was something completely new for this city. So now we are developing a set of best practices to ensure that the reconstruction is done with respect of transparency, accountability, and integrity," said Head of the EUACI during the discussion, and expressed hope that these practices will be endorsed at the national level and replicated in other cities.
The City Mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Sienkevych shared his vision of reconstruction and described the steps taken to prepare for the city's recovery, including the assistance of Denmark.
"My main task as a city mayor is to establish a reliable basis for the city’s recovering after the war, regardless of who the next mayor will be. This is exactly what we are working on together with our Danish partners," said the Mayor.
The event was initiated by the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine in partnership with the State Agency for Reconstruction and Development, Alinea International, SURGe, the Local Government Association (LGA), the Ukrainian Association of Local Governments, the EUACI, the International Renaissance Foundation, U-LEAD with Europe and ISAR Ednannia.