Recovery

On Guard for the Defense and Recovery of Ukraine

Today, as Ukraine is experiencing one of the greatest challenges of its independence period - a full-scale Russian invasion, the entire country has united to resist the invaders. We have withstood, united, and continue to fight for our free future.

In such extremely difficult conditions, the strength, perspective, and extremely important role of local self-government have particularly manifested, which has to find answers to the unprecedented challenges of wartime on a daily basis, ensure the stability and vitality of hromadas, solve humanitarian and economic issues, jointly coordinate work with government bodies, volunteers, international partners.

Local self-government bodies have become a single front in opposing the aggressor, providing strong support to the territorial defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Among the defenders of Ukraine are mayors and employees of local self-government bodies, who have stood up to defend the country.

As for the whole of Ukraine, for the All-Ukrainian Association of Amalgamated Territorial Communities (municipalities) (AAATC), this was a year of resilience. A year of fighting on all fronts. AAATC managed to work even more actively for the benefit of hromadas: provide expert-consultative support to hromadas, direct international aid to those hromadas that needed it most, ensure the communication of hromadas regarding the evacuation of residents from dangerous territories, keep a hand on the pulse of all legislative novelties, help hromadas implement changes, represent and defend the interests of hromadas before the Central Executive Bodies.

AAATC is a reliable representative of hromadas, a tool for lobbying interests and providing services.

Glory to our brave Defenders!
Eternal memory to the fallen Heroes!
Glory to Ukraine!

In unity and cohesion - our strength!
We continue to fight!
Successful together!

Oleksandr Korinnyi
AAATC Chairman,
Mayor of Novoukrainka urban hromada, Kirovohrad Oblast

AAATC is actively operating under martial law in the main directions:

analysis of regulatory acts of the Central Military Administration and draft laws (providing comments and suggestions);
informing, providing explanations and consultations to local self-government bodies regarding activities under martial law (webinars, digests, individual consultations);
support of hromadas in recovery and assistance in providing charitable aid;
involving new hromadas to join the All-Ukrainian Association of Amalgamated Territorial Communities.

"Hromadas-to-Hromadas" Initiative

This is an initiative that was started by the hromadas (municipalities) themselves. The All-Ukrainian Association of Amalgamated Territorial Communities (AAATC) has been facilitating communication between the hromadas of the western region and the regions that found themselves in the zone of military operations and needed help since the first days of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation. The "Hromadas-to-Hromadas" initiative was launched in March 2022. As a result, humanitarian aid: food, medicine, hygiene products, and clothing were delivered to the residents of hromadas who found themselves in a difficult situation due to Russian military aggression.

More than 200 hromadas joined the initiative. The hromadas of Khmelnytskyi and Rivne regions joined the project most massively and powerfully. The Mizhgirska hromada of the Zakarpattia region, the Chortkivska hromada of the Ternopil region, the Novoselytska hromada of the Chernivtsi region, the Pidberiztsi hromada of the Lviv region, the Dunayevetska and Derazhnyanska hromadas of the Khmelnytskyi region, the Bugrinska hromada of the Rivne region showed increased activity.

Through the AAATC communication channels, it was possible to help evacuate and temporarily accommodate a significant number of hromadas residents from dangerous territories to the western regions of Ukraine.

In the autumn of 2022, assistance was provided to the de-occupied hromadas of the Kharkiv region (members of AAATC) at the expense of membership fees that arrived in October. Hromadas: Iziumska, Velykoburlutska, Starosaltivska, Roganska, Tsirkunivska, Oskilska, Petropavlivska, Zolochivska received tools for municipal services, for carrying out repair and restoration work. With the assistance of AAATC, Kupianska, Dvorichanska, Shevchenkivska hromadas received the same tools from the Council of Europe program.

The implementation of the "Hromadas-to-Hromadas" initiative continues through interaction with charitable organizations, which, with the support of AAATC, direct assistance to the hromadas of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Kherson regions. With the assistance of AAATC, Swiss benefactors are helping to restore outpatient clinics and hospitals in the hromadas of Gostomel and Dmytrivka (Kyiv region).

As part of the cooperation between AAATC and the Council of Europe Program "Decentralization and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine", a project to support hromadas affected by Russian aggression has been implemented in terms of improving the accessibility of administrative services for the population through the restoration of the work of the Centers for Administrative Services (CAS). 72 laptops and 72 MFPs were handed over to 39 de-occupied hromadas to restore the provision of administrative and social services to hromadas residents.

Biggest challenges, & future perspective

Reintegration of affected hromadas into a single national space with a focus on restoration needs;
Coordination of recovery policy in 12 target regions of Ukraine.

The members of the Association consider it necessary to implement a number of proposals in Ukraine regarding:

Further legislative regulation of the decentralization process;
Financial support for local self-government;
Priority of all levels of budget expenditures on the army;
Energy security of hromadas during the heating season,

more detailed in the Resolution of the General Assembly (Congress of Delegates) of the AAATC from August 10, 2023.

As part of its activities of its Platform for temporarily occupied and de-occupied hromadas, AAATC monitors needs and coordinates the provision of assistance to hromadas of 4 types:

49 occupied hromadas;
57 de-occupied hromadas;
21 hromadas of active combat actions;
65 hromadas of possible combat actions.

You can find out more details about these hromadas here:
https://map.edopomoga.gov.ua/