NISPAcee Projects
Project: Capacity Building of NAPA for Open Local Governance

Implementing organisation: Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee)
Partner: National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine (NAPA under the President of Ukraine)
 
Supported by: SlovakAid, a Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Programme

Background:
The Association Agreement with the EU, signed on 27th June, 2014 and ratified on 16th September 2014, calls for the implementation of large-scale institutional and structural reforms in Ukraine. The Sustainable Development Strategy "Ukraine - 2020" (approved by Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 5/2015 on January 12, 2015) also identifies the need for immediate reforms, including energy recovery, decentralisation, reform of public administration and public services. The country must also prepare and implement the new Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs 2030), and obligations arising from the membership of Ukraine in the States' initiative "Open Government Partnership". Effective public administration, focusing on citizens, is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of any strategy for economic growth and human development. Open governance, which is an innovative form of the concept of good governance, whereby the emphasis on it is placed on the most intense and most effective involvement of other actors in public policy-making (mainly citizens) into the relevant processes at all levels, is thus a key part of the necessary reforms and a major challenge for the country. During the reform processes, much attention has been given to central government institutions and their performance. However, local government capacities have not been developed sufficiently in these areas.  Open governance at the local level is crucial for a prosperous democratic society.

The basic framework for the implementation of open governance is the necessary changes in the relevant legislation, which are taking place in Ukraine. However, a major challenge is its real application in practice, for which it is necessary to build new capacities of public administration officials, particularly at the local level. Public officials need new knowledge and skills to be able to adopt and apply the necessary competencies and especially to create conditions for communication with active participation by citizens. The President of Ukraine proclaimed a strategy to involve talented, enterprising young people and representatives of the non-governmental sector in public service, which requires a major effort to provide them with the appropriate training to work in their new positions in public administration. The National Academy of Public Administration, under the President of Ukraine (NAPA), as the main higher educational establishment in the system of training, in-service training and advanced training of public officials in Ukraine, plays a key role in these processes.

The overall objective of the project: Open local governance in Ukraine

Target groups:
-    NAPA, including 4 regional branches in Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odessa and all its institutes and units.
-    Academic and administrative staff of NAPA, its branches and units.
-    NAPA students.
-    Employees of state government and self-government.
-    Public administration subjects in Ukraine.
-    Civil society.

Specific objective: New education for open local governance at the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine (NAPA)

Output 1:  Developed professional training capacities of NAPA in open local governance

Output 2: Prepared new training modules and materials

The preliminary agreed new thematic areas to be incorporated into the teaching curricula:

-    Citizen engagement
-    Transparency, openness, intelligibility
-    Identification of local leaders / local leadership
-    Efficiency in local service delivery
-    Participatory budgeting
-    Performance budgeting

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