Conference to support the Local Democracy Agencies in Ukraine

As the ongoing war against Ukraine continues to be endangered, dreams continue to be broken and days are flowing by, ALDA believes that it is its responsibility to bring the attention to those that are now fighting to ensure their safeguard of rights and freedoms.

In its commitment to reinforce the Local Democracy Agencies, the Association invites the community of Local Authorities and Civil Society Organisations to the conference entitled “Supporting the Local Democracy Agencies in Ukraine”. Aimed at giving a reliable update on the situation on the ground in Ukraine, as well as on the activities that ALDA has implemented in order to provide support to civilians and people in need, the conference will also be the occasion to focus on the on-going activities, as well as possible future ones, that need further support.

The conference will take place on the 22nd June 2022 at 2.30 PM in Brussels at Residence Palace

Thus, ALDA will present the possibilities to further empower the network while explaining the local governance system that is currently in place. Living in a period of uncertainly, Local Democracy Agencies are a powerful instrument for supporting communities affected by crises and by the war.

Specifically, the conference will take place on the 22nd June 2022 at 14:30 – 17:30 in Brussels, Belgium at Residence Palace, Wetstraat 155, 1040.

Bruno Julian Hamm – Pütt, Konrad Adenauer foundation Kyiv will give its opening speech, thus preparing the scene for the beginning of the conference. The latter will be designed into two panels, each of which addresses the different aspects of the topic at the centre of the meeting: the Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs).

Moderated by Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Secretary General, the first panel will focus not only on the testimonies from the LDAs, but also on the methods undertaken by the latter in terms of democracy promotion and people’s engagement.

Among the keynote speakers of this first session:

Tetjana Lomakina, Adviser-representative of the President of Ukraine on the barrier society issues and delegate of the Local Democracy Agency in Mariupol
Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdansk, President of CoR Working Group on Ukraine, main partner of LDA Mariupol
Svetislav Paunovic, on behalf of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Moving on to the second panel, the last part of the conference will be dedicated to the specific supports and needs of the Agencies. Following the format of the first debate, the second one will be moderated by Alexandru Coica, Regional Coordinator for Eastern Partnership at ALDA’s, having among its keynote speakers:

Inna Volkova, Member of Odessa Rayon Council
Anzhelika Pylypenko, Delegate of LDA Dnipro, and representative of the municipality
Dzenana Dedic, Delegate of LDA Mostar
by Olha Oliinyk, head of NGO “Ideas for People” and deputy head of the Secretariat of VOAOMS in Vinnytsia (Ukraine), potential new LDA Host

Overall, ALDA knows that local governance supporters are also willing to commit, by telling the Ukrainian Local Agencies that their courage is a reminder not to take democracy, peace and freedoms for granted.