COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UNIT CREATED!
March 2007

Creation of a Community Development Unit (CDU) within the DU base organisation Committee of Voters of Ukraine became the final and the most logical step in building capacity of the DU consortium members and securing the sustainability of the processes and experiences in the area of community development and local democracy building acquired within the four years of the successful implementation of the Democratising Ukraine Small Project Scheme. The CDU delivers its services through a highly skilled team of internationally and locally educated professional staff members and experts.

Our approach is based on a community development model that comprises mutually enhancing components: increasing and enabling participation of citizens, development of local NGOs and other stakeholders including local authorities, businesses and the media.

Our services include both administering donor initiatives from scratch - from project design through to evaluation - as well as the delivery of specific tailor-made learning programmes, needs assessment and monitoring and evaluation services.

We aim to provide not only individual training seminars and consultations but rather comprehensive learning programmes which include mentoring assistance, experience sharing events, study-tours, etc. The training programmes, tailor-made to meet the purpose and objectives of our clients, are based on the analysis and evaluation of their capacity and needs. Targeted training materials and information packs are developed for every training seminar and made available for the participants of our events.

The training programme enables the beneficiaries to develop, grow and use their new knowledge and skills effectively and includes a series of workshops based on mutually enhancing basic training modules:
- Community Needs Assessments (how to conduct community needs assessments and how to use findings from it, etc.)
- Using a Toolbox of Working with Community (what is community development; participatory democracy; tools of community development - public hearings, citizens meetings, information campaigns, roundtables, civic advisory bodies, citizen advisory bureaus, real planning; resources for community development, etc.)
- Advanced Community Development Tools (self-help groups, community foundations, social enterprise, compacts, etc.)
- Building Partnership between NGOs (coalition building, partnership agreements, governance and management, planning, etc.)
- Building Partnership between Authorities and NGOs (legal framework for co-operation, good governance, local budgets and resources, innovative practices of co-operation between L/As and NGOs, compacts, etc.)
- Strategic Planning (defining goal-oriented planning, stages of strategic planning, sustainability, developing community action plan, etc)
- Municipal Social and Economic Planning and Budgeting
- Lobbying and Advocacy
- Building Analytical Skills and Risk Analysis
- Work with Target Audience
- Gender Issues.

We also provide capacity building and mentoring/coaching support for nongovernmental, public organisations as well as informal community groups. Some of training themes include: Project Design; Project Management; Fundraising; Human Resources; Financial Management; Clear and Successful Reporting; Project Monitoring and Evaluation; Development of PR Skills; Time Management; Change Management; Working with Volunteers; Conflict Management and many others.

Each of our workshops or seminars may be accompanied with a one or two-day consultations and designed to provide answers to questions that arise in the course of the training and further practical work. In addition, we are able to provide expert assistance on a day-to-day basis by telephone and e-mail. To facilitate the learning we also propose to our clients a range of other learning exercises such as experience exchange events and study visits to the communities of Donetsk and Lviv oblasts which enabled changes with support from the DU Programme.

YOU CAN ORDER OUR SERVICES INCLUDING TRAINING INPUTS BY CONTACTING LYUDMYLA YELCHEVA, COMMITTEE OF VOTERS OF UKRAINE AT YELCHEVA@CVU.KIEV.UA; PH./FAX (+38 044) 254-25-26;P.O.B. #181; 01133 KYIV, UKRAINE.




New Address and Contacts of the Democratising Ukraine Programme

Dear Colleagues,

Please be advised that the address and contact information of the DU Programme have changed. Now you can contact us by phone at (+38 044) 254-25-26, 492-27-67, 492-27-68 and 492-27-69 or by e-mail Lyudmyla Yelcheva at yelcheva@cvu.kiev.ua and Vitaliy Kuchynsky at kuchynsky@cvu.kiev.ua. Our new address: Committee of Voters of Ukraine, 21 Lesia Ukrainka Boulevard, apt. 19, Kyiv (near Pecherska Metro Station). Please forward your correspondence to Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Democratising Ukraine Programme, P.O.B.#181, Kyiv, 01133.

In its further work the Democratising Ukraine Programme will focus on sharing its experience and methodology.




29 January 2007
Kyiv
Conference FROM COMMUNITIES… TO A EUROPEAN PROSPECTIVE

Strengthening the role of communities in social and political life, discussing the future of the state policy regarding the admin reform and increasing the role of communities, introduction of new forms of co-operation between local authorities and nongovernmental organisations through the Compacts, developing communities as a constituent part of European integration of Ukraine, models and tools of community development – these and other issues were discussed by the participants of the DU Programme’s conference on 25-26 January in Kyiv.

The first day of the Conference was conducted in an open forum format and aimed at sharing experience between a wide circle of organisations and citizens interested in community development issues. The participants had an opportunity to receive information from the ten pilot communities, which implemented the projects within the framework of the Democratising Ukraine Programme, to get to know their experience of community engagement and to learn about the new initiatives and methods as well as about the results of their activities.

Within the second day of the conference DU community development experts and representatives of the Government of Ukraine and international organisations discussed prospects and opportunities for European integration of Ukraine and the role of local communities in this process.

Among the participants of the conference: Mr Timothy Barrow, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Great Britain to Ukraine, Mr John Stuppel, Head of DFID Ukraine, Ihor Popov, CVU Board Chairman; Representatives of EC to Ukraine, UCAN, USAID, Secretariat of President of Ukraine, Supreme Rada of Ukraine, Government of Ukraine as well as the representatives of self-government bodies and NGOs from more than 40 cities and towns of Ukraine.

Within the last three years of the DU Programme work the DU implementers have realised a series of social projects in the communities of Donetsk and Lviv oblasts, provided to the local nongovernmental organisations a grant support in the amount of more than 3 million hryvnyas, organised a series of bilateral exchanges between the civic activists from the towns of Donetsk and Lviv oblasts, which confirmed the readiness of people to work together to solve the pressing societal issues regardless of their regional affiliations.

By encouraging partnership approach, developing of co-operative relations between the NGOs and local authorities with an aim to provide the communities with new opportunities for wider discussion of the main challenges they face, ways of solving them, the DU Programme initiated the development and introduction in municipal practice the Compacts – agreements between local authorities and nongovernmental organisations. Besides, the DU Programmes promoted strengthening of democracy through direct citizen engagement into active co-operation, enabling them to influence decision making process on issues which affect their lives, utilised innovative tools of community development, the benefits and challenges of which were discussed at the conference.




1 December 2006
Kyiv

Experience Sharing Event LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND THE THIRD SECTOR: PARTNERSHIP FOR THE SAKE OF COMMUNITY WELL-BEING took place on 29-30 November in Kyiv

Within the implementation period of the Democratising Ukraine Programme every pilot community gained unique experience of building partnership between different stakeholders, strengthening mechanisms of co-operation, engaging community - including vulnerable groups - into discussion of the existing local problems, searching for the optimal ways to resolve current challenges and securing the sustainable development of the communities.

The experience sharing event was specifically organised for the representatives of local authorities and local self-governance from the DU pilot communities. The representatives of the NGO coalitions, which implemented the micro-projects within the framework of the DU Programme, also took part.

The following themes were discussed:
· Current state of local self-governance development and the impact of the administrative and territorial as well as constitutional reforms
· Mechanism of co-operation between local authorities and the public
· Searching and building up resources for achieving changes in community.

In our opinion the event provided a much needed space for discussing the lessons learnt and opportunities for further co-operation between authorities and NGOs in Ukraine, tools of sustainable development of communities, prospects of implementation of the Compacts between authorities and NGOs, activities of community foundations, development of social enterprises, implementation of competitions of social projects, etc.




20 November
ANNOUNCEMENT

The summary roundtable discussion of the achievements of the DU pilot communities in Lviv oblast will take place in Lviv city on 14 December (Venue: Palace of Potockis, 15 Kopernicus Street)

The participants will discuss the outcomes of the DU Programme in Lviv oblasts, efficiency of community development methodology, opportunities and challenges the pilot communities had to face within the implementation period and prospects of cascading DU model to other communities within the process of building civil society and strengthening democracy in Ukraine.

The following guests have been invited to participate in the event: Mr Timothy Barrow, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Great Britain to Ukraine, Mr Petro Oliynuk, Head of Lviv Oblast State Administration, Mr John Stuppel, Head of DFID Ukraine, representatives of local authorities and project implementers from the communities of Brody, Drohobych, Sambir, Sokal and Chervonohrad as well as other communities of Lviv oblast.




6 November 2006
Artemivsk

Draft Compact Discussions Continue in Artemivsk

On 2 November 2006, representatives of the local council and civic organisations arranged a roundtable discussion of the draft Compact on Principles of Cooperation between the Local Council and Civic Organisations.

The developing and the initialling of such a contract in the town of Artemivsk has been initiated by the coalition of civic organisations implementing the Learning to Live Together Project within the framework of the Democratising Ukraine Small Project Scheme. For the purpose of draft Compact development, a Discussion Club and a Working Group of local government and civic organisation representatives have been established. The Working Group developed its draft Compact that October.

Leaders and activists of some 20 civic organisations attended the round-table discussion; the local government was represented by Officer-in-Charge of Executive Committee Operations M. Ye. Koleno and Unit Managers N. A. Kidina, I. V. Zhuchenko, and T. Ye. Tatarinova.

The discussion proved to be fruitful and efficient one. Lots of questions on whether the Compact will come to be a deed limiting the freedom of civil organisations, is it necessary at all, etc. were made. Throughout the discussion, DU’s Community Development Expert Oleksiy Svetikov noted, in particular, that such a contract represents one form of self-governance and underscored the Compact to be just a letter of intentions that does not provide for the development of any specific actions that would be binding on the contracting parties.

Importantly, the reports by local government representatives were imbued with a positive approach towards inking such a Compact Contract.

During the wrap-up phase, it was suggested to execute all voiced comments, proposals and suggestions in writing and to forward those to the Working Group which would then study them and update the draft Compact accordingly.
Then the updated draft Compact will be forwarded for consideration of the town council session and, if approved, will be signed.

Nina Zakharova,
Public Relations Manager,
Learning to Live Together Project.


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