14-15 September 2016 – Zhytomyr (Ukraine) – “Dialogue with your citizens and partners is the only way to establish trust, increase your effectiveness and gather support for your decisions” underlined Robert Biedron, member of the Congress (Poland, SOC), Mayor of Slupsk, during the two-day seminar which gathered 27 Ukrainian local councillors, most of whom hold their first electoral mandate. Representing the regions of Vinnytsa, Khmelnytsk, Ternopil, and Zhytomyr, the participants exchanged with Congress members and experts on citizens’ participation, ethical decision-making, and their roles and responsibilities within the current decentralisation reform in the country.

Further discussing trust and openness in local governance, Andrew Boff, member of the Congress (UK, CRE-ECR), councillor from the Greater London Assembly, insisted on the role of individuals to mitigate conflicts of interests and concluded that “if you are confident in yourself, you should fear neither a code of conduct nor your electorate”.

The seminar was organised in the framework of 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 the Co-operation Activities Unit, 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 50 45 23 118