Self-government

Solidarity Fund > What we do > Self-government

The reform experience of Polish self-governments in the 1990s has become a Polish brand in itself, which Solidarity Fund PL wishes to share with other countries. Particularly in the post-Soviet states with totally centralised government, self-governments did not exist and local territorial divisions suffered from fragmentation and inefficiency. Such countries would need to rebuild from scratch. This requires not only proper models, effective self-government, and administrative reforms, but also a shift in the mindset of civil servants and the society. The Fund is particularly involved in the issue of self-government in Ukraine, where administrative reforms are being introduced over the recent years. These reforms are designed to decentralise the country, i.a. through creation of hromadas (which represents the lowest tier of territorial administration) and the process of their voluntary consolidation. Solidarity Fund PL has been committed to supporting Ukraine in this aspect since the beginning of the reform. The Fund has also offered organisational assistance to Polish experts who provided consultation to Ukrainian authorities and/or has carried out and supported Polish NGOs’ projects for competency developing the competency of consolidated hromadas (i.a. within the framework of Poland-Canada Democracy Support Program). In coordination with other donors’ programmes (i.a. Swiss DESPRO and Canadian PLEDDGE), Solidarity Fund PL has organised study visits for Ukrainian self-government representatives to Poland. Since 2017, the Fund has been collaborating with the largest EU programme in Ukraine, U-LEAD, whose aim is to support the decentralisation reforms.

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