I will not quote the Constitution of Ukraine or other laws here.
I would like to share the results of a “hot” survey of municipal leaders that has just taken place. It was conducted by the Association of Ukrainian Cities jointly with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe as part of the XVII Ukrainian Municipal Forum.
Democracy, the power of people, is universally based on two principles: equality and the possibility to influence the conditions of one’s own life.
The Council of Europe, which has been contributing to the implementations of these and other democratic principles in Ukraine for many years, names the practical application of democracy “Open Government.”
The survey, conducted on 4-5 December 2023 among about 400 representatives of local self-government, was focused on the open government tools and their application in villages, settlements, and cities.
There are many tools for citizen participation in governmental decision-making at the local level:
- public evaluation of the relevant body's activities,
- participatory budget,
- public hearings,
- electronic appeals,
- petitions,
- general assembly,
- competitions for projects of civil society organisations,
- advisory and consultative bodies,
- control and supervisory bodies of municipal enterprises,
- youth councils,
- self-organisation bodies, “Open City/Society” platform, public consultations,
- chatbot,
- school participatory budget,
- others…
Personally, first of all I would add the media, which often play an important role in communication between the government and society.
The survey showed that 94% of municipalities are already applying open government tools.
As you can see from the diagram, the tools are applied in different ways, depending on the type of municipality and the number of residents. But they are applied!
Applying open government tools in different municipalities
Moreover, draft decisions of local governments are posted on their websites in advance, before being presented at the session. Interested residents participate in the meetings of the councils and executive committees; mandatory receptions for citizens are held – this is all about today, about the martial law in municipalities that are not on the frontline.
Evaluating the results of the survey on civil society participation in the village, settlement, and city councils, I automatically drew an analogy with the central level, which determines the framework for the work of all municipalities by decisions of the Parliament and the Government.
Yes, there is no similar survey, but there is our own experience.
Parliamentary sessions are not streamed – materials that have been resumed for broadcasting at night on Rada TV channel are really better than nothing. I would like to believe that the law on media, finalised before the vote in the hall, will not destroy local TV channels.
The work of consultative and advisory bodies, that once worked with various central authorities, has been curtailed or levelled out.
Parliamentary Committees cancelled the systematic work of experts on quality draft laws or replaced it with meeting tours around Ukraine. However, the work of specialised groups in the Committees, discussions and joint findings for submitting an already agreed decision to the level of MPs has been a very useful practice in different convocations. There is still an exception today – that is a consistent work with the support of the Congress of the Council of Europe on legislation to restore local self-government as soon as possible.
The government has closed down the Council of Entrepreneurs under the Cabinet of Ministers – businesses that remained in Ukraine are probably doing well.
Once, acting as a Chair of the Council of Entrepreneurs, on behalf of hundreds of business associations, I had the opportunity to present the position of business regarding draft decisions at the Government meeting and work out solutions to problematic issues with government officials. Today, the Government does not need experts' positions on drafts during discussion process. Perhaps there are no discussions.
Parliamentary Committees invite experts to their meetings, and this is a good idea, because it protects all of us from their costly mistakes.
There are other examples of communication that takes a lot of time and everyone’s effort, but this communication does not ensure dialogue and co-action.
This occurs when draft decisions on recovery are sent for approval, receive specific reasonable proposals, but then they are ignored.
This happens when public discussions about the future of local self- government are held future, but mayors are denied to put questions to a speaker after the presentation.
This occurs when written and public proposals are ignored, and then the state authority wonders why those proposals are voiced during their presentation to international partners.
This refers to restoration procedures that oblige municipalities to work out the draft strategies in a month or two.
This refers to the procedures for using funds for restoration, according to which the Kharkiv region and Zakarpattia region will have the right to receive funds at the same level.
This refers to our future, which someone insists on building without us.
But we are here.
We work at the level of municipalities – small, medium-sized and large ones.
We are ready for real cooperation and interaction, because Ukraine's victory is possible only in unity, by joint efforts.
Oksana Prodan,
Chair of the All-Ukrainian Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses "Fortetsia", Member of Ukrainian Parliament of the VII and VIII Convocations
