In Odessa, public activists and journalists learned to influence the transparency of local budgets

On February 12-15, 40 public activists and journalists from 17 regions of Ukraine have improved their skills in monitoring the transparency of local budgets. During the training in Odessa, experts from the Bureau of Policy Analysis (Sumy) and the Odessa Oblast Organization of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, taught participants to control the formation and use of local budget funds.

The training was conducted within the framework of the project civil society and media for transparent local budgets, which is carried out by the Odessa Regional Organization of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine in partnership with Transparency International – Ukraine with the support of the Finland Embassy and the European Union.

“Training will eventually help local communities to learn how to increase the level of public participation in the formation and use of local budgets. We hope that it will help to make local budgets more transparent,” – said Anatoliy Boyko, chairman of the Odessa Regional Organization of the Committee of Ukraine.

Participants have mastered the basics of analyzing and using local budget funds, the foundations of effective advocacy and campaigns for informing the public, as well as the peculiarities of advocacy campaigns in Ukraine. In addition, the training participants learned how to form public opinion on local budget policy, create expert communities and lobbying groups.

At the end of the training, a competition for local projects was announced to monitor the level of integrity and transparency of local budgets, as well as to conduct advocacy and publication campaigns. The competition will select 15 projects of 15 communities to be implemented during the year: from March 2015 to March 2016. The public will be able to follow the implementation of projects through partnerships. Citizens will also be able to participate in the public events provided for by the projects.

Reference:
The Civil Society and Media for Transparent Local Budgets is aimed at strengthening the ability of local NGOs and the media to help reforms and increase the transparency of local budget formation and use. A public partnership for transparent local budgets has already been established within the framework of the project, which has been carried out for 2 years. The partnership includes about 40 NGOs and the media from 17 regions of Ukraine. These days, partnership members learn to influence urban budget policy to increase its transparency.

For more information please contact
The press service of the Odessa Regional Organization
NGO “Committee of Voters of Ukraine”

Tel.: +380 48 716 40 18,
e-mail:odesakvu@ukr.net
Facebook: cvu_odessa