Maksym Latsyba, Head of the Civil Society Development Program at UCIPR, spoke on the morning show "The Very Same Morning with Andriy Kulykov" on Hromadske Radio about how communities can influence local government decisions.
The broadcast focused on a UCIPR competition for territorial communities to develop and implement Community Charters and public participation tools in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On People's Power at the Level of Local Self-Government."
According to the expert, the competition is open to communities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Poltava, and Kharkiv oblasts. Three communities will be selected from each region, with UCIPR working with 15 communities in total. A team of experts will visit the sites to help draft the Charter, facilitate public discussions, and train both local government representatives and residents on using public participation tools.
Application Deadline: February 16, 2026.
Details and Application Form: https://forms.gle/5a7usmpFiq4a4Lfo8
The discussion also highlighted the role of the Charter as a fundamental document defining the rules of interaction between local self-government bodies and community residents.
Maksym Latsyba reminded listeners that in 2025, the President of Ukraine signed Law No. 3703-IX, which was advocated for by UCIPR. Under this law, all territorial communities in Ukraine must adopt new Charters or bring existing ones into compliance with the law's requirements by January 1, 2027.
Listen to the broadcast recording here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FHuisPphC8JJqQixaSfdQBCJfDFF9gGQ?usp=sharing
This cooperation takes place within the project "Strengthening Local Democracy and Inclusive Resident Participation in the Decision-Making Process at the Community and Regional Levels in Southern and Eastern Ukraine," implemented by UCIPR with the support of the MATRA Program of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. UCIPR is solely responsible for the content, which does not necessarily reflect the official position of the Embassy.
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