Canadian Urban Institute

On an annual basis, CUI’s Canada-Ukraine Regional Governance and Development Project (RGD) organizes forums in Ukraine that provide opportunities to reflect on recent achievements of national and regional partners, as well as share these with project stakeholders and beneficiaries.  This year, the 5th Regional Forum was held in Zakarpattya - one of the project’s pilot regions - on June 21, 2010.  The forum brought together heads of the Zakarpattya Oblast Administration, the Oblast Council, public officials, civil society and business sector representatives, as well as former participants of RGD’s practice-based training programs.

This year’s Zakarpattya Forum not only provided a platform for reflecting on recent achievements, but also an opportunity to celebrate the significant accomplishments made in Zakarpattya to stimulate economic growth and promote community development.  With RGD support, over $4 million in funding from local, national and international sources were leveraged for the development and implementation of 25 community-based and capital investment projects. 

One of these projects involves building a hospice facility in the Vynogradiv district to respond to the community’s urgent need for palliative care services that are not locally available.  In the Irshava district, a project is focused on constructing a rehabilitation centre that will provide daycare and therapy to people with disabilities. Another project, based in the Beregovo district, is an industrial park and logistics centre that is to be located at an important border crossing between Ukraine and Hungary. The site’s strategic location is expected to attract investment in high-tech manufacturing and facilitate the movement of goods between Ukraine and the EU, while also providing needed employment for nearby residents.

Since commencing its partnership with Zakarpattya in 2006, CUI assisted the region to establish a regional development plan that involved the engagement of over 12,000 community members. CUI also provided training to over 50 public officials and community leaders on how to develop and implement 25 community-based and capital investment projects that address the strategic priorities identified in the regional development plan including: human development, economic competitiveness, tourism and the environment.

The overwhelming consensus and conclusion of the forum was the recognition that the successes of the CUI-supported projects have inspired a second wave of community and economic development projects.   Many of these are being implemented by former participants of the RGD training programs, while others are being implemented by community and business leaders who received training by RGD’s graduates.  These achievements have instilled a great sense of confidence in CUI’s Zakarpattya partners that a solid path toward investment competitiveness, economic diversification, and ultimately economic development has been laid.  As Oleg Lubimov, the Head of the Vynogradiv Rayon Council commented, “RGD provided the fishing rod, not the fish”.

For more information on CUI’s programming in Ukraine, click here.  We also encourage you to visit the RGD project website for detailed information on the project and a list of reports and publications.

PHOTO: Andrew Farncombe (left, CUI’s Vice President International Partnerships) and Kati Csaba (middle, Counselor/Head of Technical Assistance Section (CIDA), Embassy of Canada to Ukraine) present Vasyl Brenzovych (right, Deputy Head of Zakarpattya Oblast Council) with a Certificate of Recognition.