On 16 December, the online presentation of the manual titled “Guidelines on International Municipal Partnership” was held. This manual was created in cooperation of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development and the Council of Europe Programme “Decentralisation and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine” and the electronic platform “Partnership for Restoration and Development” developed in cooperation with the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Decentralisation for Improved Democratic Education” (DECIDE) and U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

The manual and the electronic platform are assumed to become useful tools for local self-government bodies in establishing partnerships with foreign municipalities.

“Before the full-scale war, we paid little attention to the topic of partnership between Ukrainian municipalities and municipalities of other countries. Such cooperation was rather formal. But this year, the international intermunicipal partnership took on a completely different meaning. The sister cities sent Ukrainian municipalities tons of humanitarian aid, a lot of utility equipment to replace the equipment destroyed by the enemy, and sheltered Ukrainians who were forced to leave the country. We are grateful for this support and believe that every municipality in Ukraine should have reliable partners abroad able to provide assistance and share their experience. Therefore, of course, we decided to help municipalities establish partnership relations with municipalities of different countries of the world,” said Viacheslav Nehoda, Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine.

Actually, this idea became the basis for the international marathon “Unification of Local Self-Government of the World for the Well-Being of People and Peace”, which took place in March–April this year at the initiative of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine and with the support of the Council of Europe Programme “Decentralisation and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine”. More than 1,000 representatives of municipalities, associations of local self-government bodies, and other organisations from a total of 35 countries took part in its events.

“Talking with representatives of Ukrainian municipalities, as well as with their foreign colleagues, we realised that there are questions that need to be answered in order for this interaction to develop more effectively. We came to the conclusion that there are various initiatives regarding partnership, but many municipalities do not know how and with whose help to look for partners. In addition, numerous practical and legal issues arise in the process of starting and implementing cooperation. There is also a lack of up-to-date and consolidated information on which municipalities already have partners, and in which countries. Therefore, we decided to create a platform and methodological recommendations that would help municipalities that are looking for, creating and developing international intermunicipal partnerships, and all those involved in these processes,” said Viacheslav Nehoda.

According to the Deputy Minister, the Ministry addressed a request to municipalities regarding the existing partnerships.

“It is clear that not all municipalities were able to prepare and provide such information – some are under occupation or are just recovering after de-occupation, in some, hostilities continue, and there are many urgent tasks. In addition, new partnership agreements are signed literally every day, and information will need to be updated. But today we have the most complete and verified information on the status of partnerships on the portal,” Viacheslav Nehoda said.

Based on the data received by the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development, an interactive map has been created on the platform, which displays verified information on approximately 50% of Ukrainian municipalities (as of August 2022), and there is an opportunity to view information on already 1,279 partnerships with the possibility of sampling by municipality, region, and country (VIEW). This information will be constantly updated.

Consultants of the Council of Europe Programme talked with dozens of heads of municipalities, associations of local self-government bodies, international technical assistance projects, and other organisations that shared both their experience of intermunicipal partnerships and the existing problems. The Ministry for Communities and Territories Development also asked a number of Ministries and other central bodies of executive power, as well as some professional experts, to clarify some issues of municipalities’ cooperation with partners.

As a result of this work, the “Guidelines on International Municipal Partnership” (VIEW) were created.

The manual has 7 chapters and 10 appendices, and contains a lot of information that can be useful to municipalities when interacting with municipalities in other countries, as well as to other interested parties. It is based on City to City Cooperation (the methodology of the Council of Europe).

These guidelines have a practical purpose – they are designed to help municipalities find answers to those questions regarding which there are doubts about the correctness of certain decisions.

“In the process of preparing the platform and recommendations, we realised that today, many efforts are being made to support the establishment of partnerships by various interested parties. But what is clearly lacking is coordination. And I would suggest that our meeting today be considered as the first step towards arranging such coordination. It is important that everyone – associations of local self-government bodies, international projects and programmes, representatives of the central government – meet regularly, exchange information, discuss problems, and agree on further joint steps, as well as jointly encourage municipalities to find partners,” Viacheslav Nehoda said.

The representatives of associations of local self-government bodies, international organisations, and Ukrainian municipalities who attended the presentation agreed on the relevance and necessity of the tools created at the initiative of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development and expressed their readiness to participate in further joint work in this direction.

Specialists of DESPRO NGO provided technical support for the event.