Description of all remote sessions for the International Visegrad Fund
From March to June 2020, a series of remote sessions of the training course of the project “Strengthening the capacity of local self-government in frontline settlements of Luhansk region”, implemented by the Charitable Foundation Vostok SOS with the support of the International Visegrad Fund and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea.
The course consists of theoretical and practical training sessions for the management staff and employees of local authorities as well as representatives of civil society from 12 frontline settlements of Luhansk region. Among the participants of the educational course were activists, members of civil society organizations, representatives of local self-governments and heads of district councils.
Each remote session took place online from 10:00 to 15:00.
Representatives of the following settlements took part in the educational course:
- Stanytsia Luhanska,
- Sotenne, Stanychno-Luhanskyi district
- Nizhnoteple, Stanychno-Luhanskyi district,
- Petropavlivka, Stanychno-Luhansk district
- Komyshne, Stanychno-Luhanskyi district
- Novoaidar,
- Spivakivka, Novoaidar district,
- Triokhizbenka, Novoaidar district,
- Schastia, Novoaidar district,
- Popasna
- Zolote, Popasnyanskyi district
- Hirske, Popasnyansky district
Remote session №1
On March 31, 2020, the first online session took place.
During the session, 42 participants learned the basic concepts of the structure and the organization of “hromada” (local communities and self-governance units in Ukraine). The functions of local self-government, community management, decision-making processes, the structure of the local community in terms of finances and sources of funding were analyzed in detail. All participants received homework.
Remote session №2
On April 23, 2020, the second remote session took place.
We continued to study the organization and work of the “hromada”. The topic of public oversight of authorities was analyzed in detail including citizens’ rights, the interaction of citizens with local authorities. The format and peculiarities of the work of the Civil-Military Administration and local elections were analyzed. All participants received tasks for homework.
Remote session №3
On May 19, 2020, the third remote session took place.
At this session experts from other Visegrad countries joined the team of trainers and experts. Zenon Kolodiy – an expert of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland) and Samuel Goda – project manager of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association told the project participants about the experiences of their respective countries. Among topics discussed were the structure of community governance and the cooperation between the civil society and government.
The Ukrainian expert, Alexander Solontay, told about the division of society into taxpayers and non-payers of taxes with specific examples in the communities of Luhansk region. Past homework tasks were analyzed, and participants received new homework.
Remote session №4
On June 16, 2020, the fourth remote session took place.
Decision-making processes in communities were studied in detail, including how the head of the community makes decisions on the local level, how the commissions of the council’s executive committee work, how the local council and the executive committee make decisions.
We analyzed the completed homework of the previous remote session in which the demographic situation of communities was discussed. There was also a discussion on the introduction of new administrative districts in the country.
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