On December 23, Serhii Sukhomlyn, Mayor of Zhytomyr, and Grzegorz Kubik, Mayor of Rawicz, signed a partnership agreement. Earlier, the partnership was approved by the executive committee of the city council.

This was announced on the social media page of the Zhytomyr City Council.

The story of relations with a small Polish city with a big heart began in the first days of a full-scale invasion. Since February 24, Rawicz has accepted 650 Ukrainian women.

“This city has been collecting aid and providing assistance, seeking out partners to send humanitarian aid for Zhytomyr. The empathy of the Polish people for our pain is heart-warming. I am amazed at their effort to help us. Thank you, Rawicz! We are grateful to everyone who did not leave our women and children alone, everyone who collected and sent humanitarian aid. Thank you for your political, moral and spiritual support and for the unity in this struggle,” said the mayor of Zhytomyr during an online meeting with representatives of Rawicz.

As part of the cooperation, Rawicz collected and handed over 50 tons of humanitarian aid to Zhytomyr. The commune opened a support centre for Ukrainian women and children. Forced migrants receive support, psychological assistance and help with settling in a new place.

“We are doing our best to make Ukrainians feel at home here,” said Mayor Grzegorz Kubik.

In November, Zhytomyr began cooperation with the Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area of Poland.

In March, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine initiated the International Marathon of Local Self-Government aimed at drawing the attention of municipalities around the world to the tragedy of Ukrainian municipalities and boosting the process of establishing sisterly relations.

On 16 December, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine presented municipal tools for establishing partnerships with foreign municipalities, “Guidelines on International Municipal Partnership” created jointly by the Ministry, 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.

Municipalities can fill out an application for desired cooperation with a specific foreign municipality on the electronic platform by clicking Cooperate.