Conference: Democracy and security in Ukraine - Unpacking local resilience and prospects for reconstruction

Who is granting security in conflict-ridden Ukrainian regions?  How can cities provide for their citizens in the face of the ongoing conflict? How can reconstruction be facilitated? Join the virtual event Democracy and security in Ukraine: Unpacking local resilience and prospects for reconstruction. Hosted by the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD), Swedish Institute (SI) and  DeLoG with the participation of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS), amongst others.  

Date: 17th of May 2022   

Time: 15:00-16:30 (CET) (16:00-17:30 Ukrainian time) 

Where: online 

+++ Register here +++ 

 

Why joining? 

As part of ICLD Local Democracy Talks, this conference aims at revisiting the state of Ukrainian local democracy before the war and discuss how it has contributed to the resilience we are witnessing today. We will find out how decentralization reforms, combined with widespread democratic innovations i.e. digital transformation, in recent years significantly contributed to Ukraine’s resilience. The conference will be interesting for development organisations, donors, scholars, and representatives of Ukrainian local governments to further explore informal power dynamics locally and the role they play for decentralisation.  

 

DeLoG Partners' inputs 

The conference will be followed by a discussion round in break out rooms. DeLoG will be hosting two further Break Out Rooms together with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS): 

  • Child and youth-friendly cities in Ukraine: on UNICEF’s work in Ukrainian municipalities through the Child and Youth Friendly Municipality Initiative. Special focus on local governments’ community support during conflict and the role of international donors in supporting recovery efforts through local governance work. Guests: Joanne Bosworth, Chief of Public Finance and Local Governance at UNICEF Programme Division; Yusuf Bafozoda, Chief of Social Policy at UNICEF Ukraine. 

  • Sister Cities and municipal partnerships: on municipal cooperation as key to reconstruction efforts, both for the political and infrastructural system. Focus on digitalisation innovation contribution to more accountable, transparent, open governance. Guest: Jana Belcheva Andreevska, Digitalization and Smart City Officer at NALAS 

Further discussion rounds will address decentralisation support from international donors; information and communications for peacebuilding; partnerships with business and NGOs; sister cities and municipal partnerships.  

 

Connect 

To join the conference and the break out rooms, please register here

Further information can be found here