The best practices

Ukrainian version

Resolving the local problems via public self-governing bodies

Historic Background

The local self-governing system in Makiivka includes: the city council, 5 regional councils within the municipality, 5 settlement councils, a village one and their executive committees. 398 deputies have been elected to the local municipal and oblast councils. Among them there are 4 oblast, 59 municipal, 196 regional within the municipality, 124 settlement and 15 village deputies. 5 administrative regions are functioning in the municipality.

Innovations

The municipality is a complicated territorial formation which requires from the municipal authorities an improved managing organization. One of the effective resolutions is to join the inhabitants’ initiatives to this process. The municipal government has realized that inhabitants are an important structural link in the municipal social life and, as a result, the assistance in resolving the all-municipal tasks.

The 1^st community territorial self-government committees were founded back in 1991. The main organizational work has been done within 1996-1997 and is still being done till present.

In November 2000, a municipal seminar-council of the self-organization leaders was held in the metallurgist club. 830 participants took part in this event.

Public formations have become a link between the municipal and regional councils, executive authorities and the inhabitants, whose needs they know the best.

The Results

On the inhabitants’ initiative 748 self-organizing bodies were founded. They include: 25 sub-regional councils, 6 settlement and 3 village ones; 218 house, 257 quarter and 239 street committees. They comprise above 4 000 municipal activists. More than 30 condominium formations have been created.

The biggest and the most well-organized 10 committees have the status of a legal person and are empowered by district councils with some competence of their own.

Within 2000, bodies for the inhabitants’ self-organization have joined (additionally to the budget assignations) about 200 000 hryvnas for yards improvement, municipal networks reconstruction, social security, leisure organization, etc.

The inhabitants bring the buildings’ entrances into the order by themselves, warm the balconies, install alarmed entrance doors. School-children are actively assisting: in some buildings together with their parents they have reconstructed the basements and equipped them as gyms. Settlement and street committees organize cultural-and-sport festivals, different competitions, resolve any everyday municipal problems, safeguard the public order.

In such buildings people feel safe and comfortable.

Makiivka’s experience has been introduced in some municipalities of Donetsk oblast and in Kirovohrad.

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