Four Ukrainian cities (Fastiv, Kharkiv, Mena and Vasylkiv) took part in the 2016 European Local Democracy Week and organised events under the theme “Living together in culturally diverse societies: respect, dialogue, interaction”.

At the occasion of the annual co-ordination meeting of the ELDW (Strasbourg, 30 January 2017), Congress Secretary General Andreas Kiefer stated: “The ELDW is a tool for making local democracy more accessible and understandable for all citizens, facilitating their direct implication in the decision-making process of matters that concern them. This is why local elected authorities and national associations of local and regional authorities are the main partners of the Week”.

Mayor of Fastiv, Mikhailo Netiazhuk, said that participation in the European Local Democracy Week was the result and actual application of the knowledge obtained within the cooperation activities of the Congress in Ukraine addressed to Mayors, City Councillors and Young Local Leaders.

The "European Local Democracy Week" (ELDW) is an annual European event co-ordinated by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Local authorities from all the 47 member States of the Council of Europe, their associations, citizens and NGOs are invited to register and organise public events to promote and foster democratic participation at grassroots level. This initiative also aims at further disseminating the Council of Europe universal values such as democracy and human rights, while also offering the participants the opportunity to join a European network engaged for the promotion of citizen participation at the local level.  More information about ELDW and the contributions of Ukrainian cities can be found here http://www.congress-eldw.eu/en/ and http://sedl.alnetis.fr/en/38-pays.html