Today, on the 1^st of March, the U-LEAD with Europe Program is launching a unique project created specifically for city, town and village mayors called Steps for Leaders. The format is designed to enhance the capabilities of their mayors to effectively manage their municipalities. It will last for 7 weeks and will consist of both online seminars and workshops with the participation of well-known speakers, professionals and practitioners in the field of local self-government. In particular, in the first week the participants of the course will be able to listen to and communicate with Ghent University professor Bert George, Iryna Ozymok who coordinates the Local Economic Development Program of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund and Oleksandr Starodubtsev, the deputy head of National Agency on Corruption Prevention. In addition, the deputy head of MinRegion made a welcoming speech at the opening of the course.

"I would like to thank the U-LEAD with Europe Programme for a good and timely initiative - Steps for Leaders. (...) For municipalities, such an initiative is very important, since the effectiveness of the reform in Ukraine will be assessed through your work. I hope that using the examples of other municipalities and the knowledge gained from U-LEAD, you will be able to perform your work actively and professionally. Today, the Programme has created conditions for you to expand your knowledge in the areas of budgeting, strategic planning, education, healthcare, etc., so I wish you success in the further application of the acquired knowledge in your work", - the first Deputy Minister from the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Viacheslav Nehoda said at the opening of the event.

150 leaders of municipalities of various size will take part in the course. They will have the opportunity not only to receive training, but also to establish cooperation among their communities. Each and every participant will have a chance to prepare their own project and present it during the selection for funding for implementation.

"Welcome to the circle of friends and colleagues! There is a challenging, but interesting path ahead of you in the endeavor to develop the municipalities that you were elected to lead. And the program "Steps for leaders 2021. Online version" will help you in this, because it will allow you to see a holistic picture of key areas and issues that determine the success of the community," emphasized Bastian Veigel, Director of U-LEAD with Europe.

In total, the free of charge training program will cover 11 topics related to local self-government and development, including rural development, human resource management, infrastructure development, social services and many others. Each topic in its own way will help mayors to make their municipalities wealthier, safer and more comfortable for the citizens, as well as take full advantage of the opportunities provided by decentralization.