In June 2025, the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) launched a new project entitled ‘Introduction of local democracy tools in the Ternopil, Chortkiv, and Ozerna territorial communities through the adoption of a territorial community charter’.
The project aims to facilitate the development or updating of the charters of the Ternopil city, Chortkiv city, and Ozerna rural communities and encourage residents of these communities to use local democracy mechanisms more actively.
The project aims to help local authorities align local regulations with new Ukrainian legislation and promote the development of democratic participation at the local level.
Why is this important?
On 9 May 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Law No. 3703-IX ‘On People's Power at the Local Self-Government Level,’ which obliges local councils to adopt or update their community charters in accordance with the new requirements by 1 January 2027. The law clearly regulates the content of the charter and provides for the mandatory regulation of key instruments of public participation. However, in many communities, this process has not yet begun or requires significant updating. In particular, the situation in the three communities participating in the project is as follows:
- the Ozerna community has neither a charter nor regulations governing public participation instruments;
- the Ternopil community has a 2019 charter that does not comply with the updated standards;
- the Chortkiv community adopted a charter in 2022, but it also needs to be brought into line with the new legislation.
The project plans to:
- conduct training for representatives of 55 local self-government bodies in Ternopil oblast in partnership with the oblast military administration;
- analysing the state of legal regulation of local democracy instruments in three communities. Preparing a monitoring report with recommendations on bringing council acts into line with current legislation (territorial community charter, council regulations, provisions on standing committees);
- developing charters and amendments to local council regulations for communities. The charters will regulate in detail six instruments of local democracy, including: general meetings (conferences) of residents; local initiatives; public hearings; public evaluation of the activities of local self-government bodies; public consultations; electronic petitions; reporting by the mayor, council members, executive bodies, and village heads;
- accompanying and supporting the process of adopting new charters and regulations in local councils
- conducting educational events for community residents, representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) and local self-government employees on the use of local democracy tools
- development of information materials that explain in an accessible form how public hearings are conducted, how LGA activities are evaluated and how local initiatives are submitted to the council for consideration. The materials will also be distributed during seminars.
The project not only complies with new legislative requirements but also creates conditions for the development of democracy at the local level, improving the quality of governance and strengthening interaction between the authorities and the community. It can serve as an example for other communities that are only preparing to update their charters. The project is implemented by the UCIPR with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.
The International Renaissance Foundation is one of the largest charitable foundations in Ukraine. Since 1990, it has been helping to develop an open society based on democratic values in Ukraine. During its activities, the Foundation has supported about 20,000 projects worth over 350 million US dollars.
Website: www.irf.ua
Facebook: www.fb.com/irf.ukraine