On 3 December 2020, the Congress organised, jointly with the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Association of Ukrainian Cities (AUC), an online round table to establish a Platform for National – Local Consultation on Open Government in Ukraine, in line with the OGP Local Strategy.

In his opening speech, Congress Secretary General Andreas Kiefer underlined that “in the context of reform in Ukraine, the quality of local governance becomes even more decisive and open government strategies and initiatives emerge as an opportunity to streamline multilevel dialogue, as well as to provide all levels of government with the necessary tools to enhance responsiveness and promote innovation.”

His reflection on collaboration and co-creation between national and local authorities on open government in Ukraine was supported by Oleksandr Yarema, State Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, who stressed “the need to synchronise efforts and support initiatives coming both from national and local levels. The platform will facilitate strategic development because the closer we are to citizens, the better decisions we can make”.

AUC Executive Director Oleksandr Slobozhan highlighted the key role of local authorities in the process of development, implementation and evaluation of open government initiatives. He recognised the added value that the Platform can provide in the identification of innovative local initiatives that can be disseminated nationwide. In this vein, representatives of three Ukrainian municipalities that were recently selected to join the OGP Local Programme, namely Khmelnytskiy, Ternopil and Vinnytsya, presented their achievements in open government by strengthening transparency and open data, fostering citizen participation, increasing accountability and public scrutiny, and building trust.

The event was organised as part of the project "Strengthening democracy and building trust at local level in Ukraine” implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018‑2021. The project aims to improve the quality of local democracy in Ukraine by strengthening institutional frameworks and by supporting local authorities and their national associations in their efforts to promote ethical decision-making and more citizen-oriented, inclusive and transparent local governance.