On 5 February, a meeting was held to discuss cooperation between the Swedish-Ukrainian Polaris Programme "Support for Multilevel Governance in Ukraine", the Rivne Regional Military Administration (RMA), and local hromadas in shaping a comprehensive vision for the development (including the establishment) of Administrative Service Centres (ASCs) in Rivne oblast.
The event was attended by over 70 participants, including: Susanna Dellans, SALAR International representative in Ukraine and Head of the Local Self-Government Support Division of the Polaris Programme; Oleksandr Tereshchenko, Deputy Head of Rivne RMA for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalisation (CDTO); ASC managers, representatives of District State Administrations (DSAs), and heads of hromadas in Rivne oblast.
"There are still 14 hromadas in Rivne oblast that have not yet introduced ASC services. Various reasons have contributed to this. Now, these hromadas have both the opportunity and the necessity to develop roadmaps for establishing administrative service centres, as local authorities must prioritise the needs of their residents. Our international partners are ready to assist hromadas in addressing this issue," said Oleksandr Tereshchenko, Deputy Head of Rivne RMA.
Experts from the Polaris Programme presented their vision for implementing the pilot initiative, including approaches to ASC development using digital tools and methodologies tested by experts in recent years. Participants also discussed the need to analyse existing ASCs, taking into account contemporary challenges.
At the end of the meeting, ASC representatives and local government officials had the opportunity to discuss key issues related to service accessibility and quality with Programme experts, as well as representatives of the RMA and DSAs of Rivne Region.
Photo: Rivne RMA
