RANG helped the VRU committee organize public discussions in Lutsk

On February 9, the VRU Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development organized public discussions "Experience of the functioning of the institute of starosts (village elders). Regional dimension". The event was held in Lutsk with the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program's support.

Representatives of central and local authorities took part in public discussions, among them there were MPs, representatives of the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, associations of local self-government bodies, representatives of the Volyn Regional Council and the Volyn Regional State Administration, heads of territorial communities of the Volyn Region, village elders, representatives of the public and expert environment.

During the opening, the MP, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Administrative and Territorial Organization and Local Self-Government Vitaliy Bezgin, underlined that the event in Lutsk introduced a series of regional discussions in order to study the applicable law in the sphere of the functioning of the institute of starosts (village elders) in different regions of Ukraine as well as to discuss existing problems.

According to Bezgin, local self-government in Ukraine is increasingly becoming one of the most powerful self-governments within the territory of Europe, and the institute of starosts (village elders), introduced within in the course of the public power decentralization reform, objectively becomes very close to the citizens. During sittings and discussions, the opportunity to hear directly from the executive branch information about challenges and success in districts is equally important for the Committee’s members.

MP Oleksandr Aliksiichuk, paid attention to key problems related to small districts, first of all to the reduction of population number and its size, as well as to the importance of holding public discussions during the appointment of starosts (village elders).

He emphasized: "It is necessary to find a balance, an understanding of how to correctly elect a village elder who would represent and protect the community’s interests and at the same time would be the community leader in order to carry out the control over the implementation of decisions made by the head communities and the local council".

MP Alina Zagoruyko pointed out that the war clearly demonstrated how a number of decisions of Ukrainian Parliament proved their effectiveness and relevance over time, in particular regarding the appointment of village elders. "The village elders should not be elected, but still be appointed. And the war shows that it was the right decision, and as a result, at least for today, we prevented the emergence of a number of problematic issues," the head of the subcommittee noted.

During the event, the results of the research based on the experience of the Volyn region and conducted at the Committee’s request "Analysis of the practice of the application of legislation regarding the institute of starosts (village elders)" were presented. The participants discussed the problematic issues of creation the village elders districts, appointment of village elders and organization of their work as well as exercising their powers.

While presenting the research, the NGO "DESPRO" expert Olena Boyko underlined some facts of non-compliance with the legal requirements during the process of creation of village elders districts and the appointment of village elders in certain territorial communities of the Volyn region. The research also allowed the participants of the event to get acquainted with the number of village elders districts where the legal requirements on village elders’ appointment were followed.

At the same time, the expert of the Project PROSTO "Support to Services Accessibility in Ukraine" Andrii Matsokin noted that there is a problem with the powers distribution between the executive authorities in village elders districts. The executive director of the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities Ivan Slobodianyk confirmed the importance of the communication part of the work of village elders, in particular in the context of pension provision for citizens and the provision of subsidies within the boundaries of the village elders districts.

The Director of the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program Ihor Kogut stressed that the Program supports three model parliamentary committees, including the Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development. This Program’s component is aimed at improving the cooperation of the VRU committees with the Government and relevant ministries, as well as the performance of control functions by the committees. Ihor Kogut reminded that the study of best practices of applying legislation is an integral part of the Parliament’s control function. In this context, the Committee’s sittings and round tables are precisely the events that promote to develop the dialogue between MPs and local self-government, and the Program will continue to support the committees in this issue.

The video recording of the Committee discussion in Lutsk is via the following link.

More information about the event is in the story of the RADA TV channel.