The Volodymyr municipality of the Volyn region received a proposal to start a partnership with the city of Knaresborough, UK.

This was announced by Ihor Palionka, Mayor of Volodymyr.

Robert Bernard Frendt, a volunteer from the UK who has been actively helping Ukrainians since the outset of Russia’s large-scale armed invasion of Ukraine, contributed to the implementation of the proposal.

“71-year-old retiree Robert, known simply as Bob to his friends and acquaintances, spent most of his life driving trucks. Now he is carrying goods again, this time far from his country. He says that after seeing bombed Ukrainian cities, women and children fleeing the war in the news, he could not remain indifferent, so he arranged the collection and delivery of humanitarian aid for Ukraine. This time, in addition to humanitarian aid, Bob brought an official letter from the Secretary of Knaresborough City Hall, confirming the readiness to enter into a partnership agreement between our cities. We will meet the leadership of the local municipality via video conference soon, after which we will agree on the next steps,” Ihor Palionka wrote on his social media page.

Decentralization reminds that municipalities of Ukraine can use the International Municipal Partnership Guidelines to build communication with foreign municipalities and enter into twinning agreements. These Guidelines offer algorithms and practical advice on establishing a partnership, cases of successful partnerships, practical advice on customs clearance and accounting of various types of assistance that partners can exchange, information on how to choose partners, how to organise the work of competent professionals or division, as well as information on financing, bookkeeping and reporting and a lot of other useful information.

Based on these Guidelines, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine developed the Partnership for Recovery and Development section of the Decentralization national portal, with the support of DECIDE (Decentralisation for Improved Democratic Education), a Swiss-Ukrainian project, and the U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

These Guidelines are based on the methodology of the Council of Europe, City to City Cooperation, and developed by the Council of Europe as part of the Programme “Decentralisation and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine” at the request of the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.