20 local leaders took a special course on participatory budgeting
The training course “Participatory Budgeting: From Needs to Analytics”, which the Center for Fiscal Policy Research conducts in partnership with the Ukrainian Catholic University, is coming to an end. After the online session, which took place in the second half of April, the participants had the opportunity to spend three intense days in Lviv. This is 72 hours of intensive offline training in a circle of like-minded people who are ready to implement their projects for the benefit of local communities. Day one: from theory to practice Lectures were delivered by Viktor Maziarchuk, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Fiscal Policy Research, and Andriy Pelekhaty, Deputy Mayor of Pustomyty City Council. Mr. Maziarchuk focused on the key aspects of working with the budget, including preparing applications for funding and finding appropriate resources. He also introduced the students to the E-data, Spending, and Boost tools that help prepare high-quality project proposals. “The course has formed a fantastic group of 20 participants from all over Ukraine: representatives of the public sector, local governments, and local deputies. We are working here to combine these areas so that they can jointly seek funding for better project implementation,” said Maziarchuk. Andriy Pelekhaty shared his practical experience in using the results of community needs analysis for planning and allocating budget resources. He spoke about specific methods that help optimize budget expenditures and ensure their effective use. “Representatives of communities, non-governmental organizations, and businesses gained knowledge and understanding of what they need to do and in what areas to work in order to raise funds, to use their own financial resources more efficiently, and to ensure that the development of their territorial communities is truly effective, without the so-called “gray zones,” said Andriy Pelekhaty. Day two: financing and communications On the second day of the training, Viktor Maziarchuk and Svitlana Kryzhanivska-Blinova spoke about the specifics of financing recovery and communication as a superpower. “During the lectures, we worked on specific projects and, importantly, with the practical tools that the state now offers in the field of data openness, such as E-data and Open budget,” emphasized Maziarchuk. Svitlana Kryzhanivska-Blinova emphasized the importance of communication with the community at all stages of project implementation. “We talked about communication as a superpower that allows us to learn from the community about their perception of projects. If you don’t ask people if they need this project and don’t communicate all the stages, they can make up their minds, devalue and easily criticize the processes,” she said. The guest speaker of the course was Natalia Slysh, Director of the Reform Support Office at the Ministry of Finance. She shared her experience of building a successful team and spoke about 22 lessons of transformation that helped to effectively support reforms. Her story inspired the participants to create their own reform offices. Day three: ethics and advocacy The third and final day of the offline session was devoted to ethics and advocacy. Natalia Yakymets, Deputy Director for Research at the International Institute of Ethics and Contemporary Issues, spoke about ethical standards in management decision-making. “The importance of this topic is dictated by our reality today. We live in a time when we cannot refer only to instructions or prescribed laws. Ethics lies in the plane between our personal beliefs and legal normativity,” she emphasized. Oleksiy Kovalenko, national expert of the Council of Europe, taught the course participants how to develop advocacy strategies to promote the wishes of citizens in budgeting. “Budget advocacy based on community needs and analytics is the quintessence and the highest level of advocacy processes, as it requires extensive practical knowledge and skills, and most importantly, awareness of new technologies and approaches to budget-related decision-making. This course is unique, as there has never been such a practical approach in Ukraine before,” he emphasized. Until June 30, 2024, the course participants will formulate their project proposals with mentoring support, applying the acquired knowledge in practice. The course is organized by the Fiscal Policy Research Center, Ukrainian Catholic University, together with the Institute of Leadership and Management of UCU, School of Public Management UCU. The activities are co-financed by the Act to Support the Phoenix Project Acceleration Program, implemented by the East Europe Foundation at the expense of the European Union in Ukraine. Стежте за нами Instagram Facebook-f Linkedin-in Twitter Youtube Підписка Підпишіться на нашу розсилку та отримуйте добірку цікавих статей та досліджень щотижня Встановлюючи цей прапорець, ви підтверджуєте, що ознайомилися та погоджуєтеся з нашими умовами використання щодо зберігання даних, надісланих через цю форму. ПІДПИСАТИСЬ НА НОВИНИ
Fundraising for Communities: Opportunities for Local Authorities
At the invitation of the Institute for Analysis and Advocacy, the head of the Center for Fiscal Policy Research gave a lecture on how communities can become attractive for investment and how to attract state funds for their own projects. The lecture also provided information on financing the restoration of Ukraine and how the Fund for the Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression is filled. “In the past, there have been considerable problems with funding for recovery projects. For example, the funding for one project in Mykolaiv changed 4 times during the year! This indicates that the local authorities did not prepare the documents very well, perhaps they were in a hurry.” Viktor Maziarchuk noted and warned the audience against similar mistakes in the future. To do this, he advised to use the DREAM system. During the lecture, he also focused on the project of the Center for Fiscal Policy Research – Cost of War, which aims to create a single database on financing the recovery and overcoming the consequences of war. Expenditures monitored by the Center include: restoration of damaged or destroyed facilities or construction of new ones functioning of the state during the war period support and development of business payments to IDPs and other social payments made at the expense of foreign partners other expenditures resulting from the war “This is currently the only place where there is verified information on financing the recovery.” Follow us Instagram Facebook-f Linkedin-in Twitter Youtube Subscription Subscribe to our newsletter and receive a selection of interesting articles and research every week By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to our terms of use regarding the storage of data submitted through this form. SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER
The course “Participatory budgeting: from needs to analytics”
The new online training week will be started by Viktor Maziarchuk, Head of the Center for Fiscal Policy Research, who will help students understand the general logic of the budget process. In particular, to understand the peculiarities of planning, approval and execution of the state budget. During the lectures, students will not only gain theoretical knowledge but will also interact with current events in the budget process, study budget documents, analyze analytical materials and review the history of the budget process since 1991. The course is organized by the Center for Fiscal Policy Research and the Ukrainian Catholic University, together with the Institute of Leadership and Management of UCU, School of Public Administration of UCU. The activities are co-financed by the Act to Support the Phoenix Project Acceleration Program, implemented by the East Europe Foundation at the expense of the European Union in Ukraine. Follow us Instagram Facebook-f Linkedin-in Twitter Youtube Subscription Subscribe to our newsletter and receive a selection of interesting articles and research every week By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to our terms of use regarding the storage of data submitted through this form. SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER
Public finance for journalists
The second budget training for journalists took place, where we discussed in detail the state budget for 2024 and the specifics of its formation and approval. We discussed how the budget is prepared for the first reading and how it is prepared for the second reading, what a budget declaration and a budget request are, as well as what amendments MPs can make and what they can contain on thousands of pages. We also looked at the deadlines for the adoption of the budget. The Fiscal Center plans to continue telling journalists about the budget and the budget process, so we want to hold such “budget seminars” regularly. If you have any specific requests or questions about the budget, please let me know and we will prepare the content taking into account your needs. Follow us Instagram Facebook-f Linkedin-in Twitter Youtube Subscription Subscribe to our newsletter and receive a selection of interesting articles and research every week By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to our terms of use regarding the storage of data submitted through this form. SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER