81317025-Technical assistance for Support to Ukraine for Decentralisation and Regional Development

Project description Title: U-LEAD with Europe: Phase III Commissioned by: European Commission, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Country: Ukraine Main political partner: Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Context Despite ongoing suffering and destruction, Ukraine"s future remains promising. EU accession negotiations drive crucial reforms, while international funding supports recovery and modernization. However, Ukraine"s public administration faces key challenges related to: - Resilience & Recovery: supporting citizens and the economy while ensuring social cohesion. - Reconstruction: rebuilding infrastructure with local input and sustainable planning. - EU Preparation: aligning with EU laws, strengthening institutional capacity. - Decentralization: empowering municipalities for long-term resilience and reform. These challenges require a multi-level governance approach that balances a strong central authority with empowered municipalities, supported by a robust local self-government system. Municipalities play a crucial role in restoring services, infrastructure, and economic stability while adapting to wartime constraints and reintegrating displaced citizens. Effective local and national policies, backed by legal and financial support, are essential for Ukraine"s recovery and EU integration. Objective Overall Objective: Multi-level governance in Ukraine is increasingly trans-parent, accountable, and responsive to the needs of the population in the context of EU integration and rebuilding Ukraine. Specific Objective (outcome): The actors at the national, regional, and local levels are increasingly effective in fulfilling their tasks in the course of decentralisation and reconstruction and in the context of EU integration. Approach U-LEAD with Europe"s activities throughout Phase III are designed to achieve three outputs: Output 1: The Ukrainian government and the Parliament are increasingly capable of advancing the decentralisation reform and aligning regional policy with the EU acquis. Output 2: The professional and administrative skills of municipal officials for strong local self-government in the context of Ukraine's accession to the EU are enhanced, taking into account, among other things, the special needs of vulnerable groups and gender equality. Output 3: Ukrainian municipalities are enabled to implement regional and local development policies and reconstruction planning in the context of the EU accession process.