“The Office of the Local Democracy Agency Starts Working in Vinnytsia Region,” ALDA Secretary General During Her Visit to Vinnytsia

'This is not our first meeting with ALDA representatives. It gives us hope that in such difficult times for Ukraine we have foreign friends and partners who support our community. Undoubtedly, local democracy, community self-governance, and the development of civil society are exactly what should make municipalities stronger and, accordingly, improve the quality of life in communities. We are strong, democratic, and united,' said Viacheslav Sokolovyi, Chairman of Vinnytsia Regional Council.

In her turn, Antonella Valmorbida assured of further support and cooperation with Vinnytsia and the region. She also announced the launch of the ALDA office in Vinnytsia region. The Local Democracy Agency in Vinnytsia region, LDA Vinnytsia, will become a bridge between the organization and the communities of the region. The acting head of the office is Olha Oliinyk, who also took part in the meeting. The relevant documents for the official agreement on the start of the local branch are currently being prepared.

'We want to demonstrate our solidarity in these difficult times for you. Our organization continues to work in Ukraine, despite everything. We are expanding our work in the Vinnytsia region. At different stages of development, we now have five local democracy agencies in Ukraine, 33 member organizations in Ukraine, 33 partner organizations from the EU that support our agencies in Ukraine. And there are even more partners outside this network. We have planned for 2025 to open even more local democracy agencies in Ukraine and to engage stakeholders,' said Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA (European Association of Local Democracy).

Representatives of Vinnytsia and Vinnytsia region spoke about community development in the difficult times of full-scale invasion. In particular, they focused on the main priorities that Vinnytsia and the region are currently living by: Security and Defense, Resilience, and Care.

'Thank you for your support and joint work. Vinnytsia has been a member of the Local Democracy Association since 2023. Speaking of 2025, we are focusing on updating strategic documents in the city, because we now have new conditions and a new context. We also pay attention to restoration: we are talking about critical infrastructure, social services, and humanitarian services. Vinnytsia is also the first Ukrainian city to adopt the Green Deal, which we continue to work on. In addition, we build partnership bridges between municipalities in the region and foreign cities and communities. These multi-level ties make municipalities stronger,' said Deputy Mayor Vladyslav Skalskyy.

Halyna Yakubovych added: 'The coordination and navigation that ALDA has done in cooperation with Dijon in the field of medicine gives us connections that are very important for our institutions. We see that this partnership is building to the benefit of both: our city and Dijon.'

Antonella Valmorbida also participated in a roundtable discussion entitled “Democracy in Action: Combining the Efforts of Communities, Civil Society, Youth and Partners.” The participants discussed the role of local governments in supporting democratic processes during martial law in Vinnytsia region, youth involvement in decision-making, civil society practices in developing democratic communities, as well as lessons learned from partners and the role of international partnership for Ukrainian communities.