“Problems and Challenges of the Northern Border Municipalities” was the name of the experience sharing event held for the border municipalities of the Volyn Oblast. As the head of the local Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe, Anatolii Parkhomyuk, said, the purpose of the meeting was to strengthen horizontal communications between the heads of these municipalities and inform them about the current offerings of the U-LEAD Programme and possible ways to solve the problematic issues of local municipalities.
According to him, the event brought together the heads of the municipalities of Holovne, Dubechne, Zabolottia, Zabrodivska, Liuboml, Ratne, Rivne, Samary, Serekhovychy, Stara Vyzhivka and Shatsk, Kovel District. Some of them border Belarus, so at the outset of the full-scale invasion, these municipalities actively formed defence lines and joined the construction of fortifications.
“U-LEAD supported them in that difficult time and provided generators, tools, etc. as part of support packages. We continue to support these municipalities by providing advisory and expert assistance in resolving operational issues of local self-government in wartime,” he said.
The speakers of the event included Olha Cheren, Head of the Kovel District Military Administrations, Vitalii Biruk, Head of the Ratniv Settlement Council, Oleksandr Semeniuk, Head of the Volyn Regional Branch of the State Land Cadastre Centre, as well as the team of the Regional Office of U-LEAD.
The discussion centred around the problems and challenges, as well as defining directions and tools for the development of these municipalities. It also focused on security issues, implementation of measures to restore infrastructure and engineering facilities, results and planning of further actions, including cooperation with U-LEAD.
“These events are an opportunity for municipalities to discuss challenges and share their experiences in solving complex issues. For us, this event is also important because we can ensure that we are on the same page regarding the needs of municipalities and U-LEAD’s offerings, understand the demands of local self-government bodies and choose support tools for the development of capable local self-government,” said Anatolii Parkhomyuk.