On October 16-17, 2024, communities took part in the Participatory Budgeting in Communities forum in Kyiv, marking the final event of the year-long Participatory Budgeting from A to Z project. This initiative, supported by the USAID HOVERLA Activity and the Public Partnership "For Transparent Local Budgets!", brought together 20 communities that embraced openness and accessibility for their residents.

USAID Mission Director Julie Koenen participated in the forum, congratulating local government representatives on the progress in Ukrainian communities' budget processes.

“The results of this effort are clear: transparency of the budget planning process doubled, and nearly 700 budget proposals were put forward by your community members, reflecting what they needed most. Both numbers reflect the hard work of local governments and the enthusiasm of citizens to engage in the process,” the Mission Director said in her speech.

The most bold and impactful community changes were recognized with awards in several categories: 

• In the category for Most Progress in Budget Process Standards, the honor went to the Zhovkva community from Lviv Oblast, the Yemilchene community from Zhytomyr Oblast, and the Pivdenna (formerly Yuzhne) community from Odesa Oblast. 
• In the Best Budget for Citizens category, the Artsyz community from Odesa Oblast, the Horinchovo community from Zakarpattia Oblast, and the Ostroh community from Rivne Oblast were recognized. 
• Awards for the Best Budget Day category were given to the Boratyn community from Volyn Oblast, the Zdolbuniv community from Rivne Oblast, and the Teterivka community from Zhytomyr Oblast. 
• In the category of Best Local Government Engagement, the Vyshniv community from Volyn Oblast and the Rokytne community from Rivne Oblast received honors.

Following the awards ceremony, Julie Koenen engaged mayors in a roundtable for an in-depth discussion about citizen engagement in the budgeting process, the economic challenges during wartime, their efforts to restore the economy and infrastructure, and the integration of veterans into the local economy and social life.

"We truly aim to be open to citizens, explaining complex issues in simple terms, illustrating financial indicators with visuals, and receiving suggestions from residents on how to allocate budget funds. After learning the A-to-Zs of participatory budgeting, it is now our turn to convert these letters into understandable words and sentences." concluded Ruslana Lykholai, representative of the Boratyn community.

The 20 communities that participated in the "Participatory Budgeting from A to Z" project were selected through an open competition. They included Boratyn, Vyshniv, Rozhyshche, and Lokachi communities from Volyn Oblast; Yemilchene and Teterivka communities from Zhytomyr Oblast; Yasinia, Poliana, Velykyi Bychkiv, Horinchovo, and Irshava communities from Zakarpattia Oblast; Zhovkva from Lviv Oblast; Artsyz, Pivdenna (Yuzhne), and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi communities from Odesa Oblast; Zdolbuniv, Ostroh, Rokytne, Radyvyliv, and Bila Krynytsia communities from Rivne Oblast.

With HOVERLA’s support, the communities developed their own Budgets for Citizens booklets, which explain the community budget in simple terms and with creative visuals; received roadmaps to enhance budget transparency and participatory approach; and held Budget Days, during which they collected initiatives from residents to formulate the community budget for 2025. Over 300 community representatives gained mastery in using the participatory budgeting tools during training sessions. 

Through such initiatives, the USAID HOVERLA Activity supports the efforts of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine to increase transparency and accountability of local governments.