The training programme was launched on May 31 during the first online seminar. The organisers and participants of the Steps were greeted by the honoured guests of the event: Helge Arends, Planning, Monitoring and Communications Team Leader at U-LEAD with Europe, and Natalia Starostenko, Sector Manager of Regional and Local Development at the European Union Delegation to Ukraine.
According to Mr Arends, supporting volunteer initiatives in municipalities is not a new direction for U-LEAD. After all, in 2020-2021, in order to overcome the pressing challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Programme announced a call for “Municipal Volunteering”, a competition for projects implemented in the municipalities of Ukraine in cooperation with local self-government bodies and non-profits.
As Ms Starostenko emphasised, the great strength of Ukrainians is also reflected in organising thousands of large and small volunteer communities. That is why the European Union Delegation to Ukraine supports a number of initiatives to strengthen the volunteer movement in Ukraine.
The first event of the training programme focused on volunteering at the local level and its role in solving municipal problems. Anna Bondarenko and Olena Vuzka, volunteer programme experts at U-LEAD with Europe who support volunteers of the Ukrainian Volunteer Service NGO as part of their daily activities, introduced the topic to the participants. They will support the participants throughout the entire training programme.
Guest speakers of the event — Anzhelika Timchenko, Director of the Nizhyn City Youth Centre (Chernihiv oblast), and Mykola Panchuk, Mayor of Hoshcha (Rivne oblast) — shared their thoughts on the value of volunteering for municipal development and told about volunteer initiative cases in their municipalities.
“The unique feature of this training programme is that we train representatives of three different categories at the same time,” said Mykhailo Shelep, Coordinator of Steps, Decentralisation and Local Self-Government Adviser of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Rivne oblast. “Namely, local self-government officials, employees of municipal institutions and organisations, volunteers and representatives of public associations. That is, each of them often has different expectations and approaches to problem-solving. However, they are all united by a common goal, the development of partnership between local self-government and volunteers in the municipality. And as organisers, we will help in this.”
In the following weeks, participants will join training seminars on various topics, including “Legal Framework for Volunteering and the Relevant Powers of Local Self-Government Bodies” and “Motivation for Volunteering and the Role of Local Self-Government Bodies in Popularising Volunteer Movement in the Municipality”. They will also take part in training sessions and workshops to learn various skills necessary for activities in this direction. An additional learning tool will be the U-LEARN educational platform, which will allow participants to communicate with experts and complete homework. After passing all stages of training, participants will receive appropriate certificates.