Claudia Luciani, Director of the Congress, reviewed with Ukrainian partners and media the findings of a recent opinion poll on multilevel governance reforms. The survey reaffirmed that decentralisation remains Ukraine’s most popular reform since its introduction in 2014.

The findings underscore the public’s continued support for local authorities, highlighting their pivotal role in Ukraine’s resilience in wartime and its recovery and reconstruction.

“The results of the survey confirm the importance citizens place on decentralisation and highlight the continued relevance of the Council of Europe's support in Ukraine. It is crucial in ensuring that Ukraine's governance framework is built on a strong foundation aligned with European standards,” underlined Claudia Luciani.

“Such surveys serve as a guide for the Parliament. Society voices its demands, and we must recognise these requests and respond to them. This year's survey showed that, for the most part, we correctly assessed the situation in local self-government, although some issues will need to be adjusted. I believe, in particular, that a positive signal in this research is that people prioritise supporting combatants, rather than road construction or urban development,” noted First Vice Speaker of the Parliament Oleksandr Kornienko.

The opinion poll was commissioned by the Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance (CEMG) and carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in September – November 2024. This is already the 8^th such study since 2015 enabling Ukrainian authorities not only to survey public opinion and its dynamics but to adjust their national policies and reforms.

The highlights of the findings:

• A vast majority of respondents (77%) believe that after the war, Ukraine needs local self-government reform and decentralisation to increase local competences, resources, and liability. Only 16% consider the reform unnecessary. In 2022, this question was posed in a slightly different wording, but support for the reform remains consistently high in Ukraine (76.5% in 2022).
• Majority of respondents (65%) support a model of partnership between the state and local authorities in the process of recovery and reconstruction. Only 11% of respondents are in favour of centralised approach, when the state is solely responsible for it, while 16% assign full responsibility exclusively to local authorities. Of those favouring partnership, 42% believe that the state should take the lead (in consultations with local authorities), while 24% give priority to local authorities (in coordination with the state).
• 40% of respondents positively assessed performance of a mayor in their community, while 23% negatively. Another 33% are neutral (the rest are either unaware or undecided). Similar assessments are observed for local councils: 34% rate their activities positively, 22% negatively (35% remain neutral).
• Respondents were asked to rate the situation in 21 areas in their community. Also, they were invited to nominate 5 top priority areas for the community in the near future. Support programmes for combatants and military personnel (such as social care, health care/rehabilitation, accommodation, etc.) became the top priority gaining 40% support. Top priorities included also availability of backup/decentralised sources of electricity supply in case of emergency (generators, batteries, solar panels, etc.) (32%), jobs (27%), shelters for local inhabitants (26%), shelters in preschool and school institutions (23%), inpatient medical care (23%), water backup supply in case of emergency (23%), primary healthcare (21%), and centralised electrical supply (20%).
• A positive attitude toward internally displaced persons (IDPs) prevails in Ukraine, with only a small minority expressing negative views. Among respondents who are not IDPs, 71% feel positively about IDPs, and another 24% are neutral (compared to 72% positive and 18% neutral in 2022). Only 3% have a negative attitude (the same as in 2022).
• Among IDPs themselves, the share of those who feel positively received by the host community has decreased slightly compared to 2022, with neutral sentiments rising from 19% to 27%. Nevertheless, a clear majority of IDPs (68%) still feel positively received (down from 78% in 2022), while 4% (3% in 2022) feel negatively received.
• Among IDPs, 83% indicate specific conditions that would make them willing to return to the community they had to vacate because of the Russian Federation’s invasion, while 15% categorically state no intention to return. The main conditions for return include safety (36%) and the end of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression (30%).

The survey, conducted via telephone, gathered insights from over 3,000 respondents, representative sample of the adult population (18+) in territories under Ukrainian government control as of February 23, 2022.

The survey did not include individuals from territories occupied before Russian Federation’s invasion of 2022 – such as parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it did encompass areas temporarily occupied after February 24, 2022 and liberated by Ukrainian armed forces.

• General population of Ukraine - 2,200 interviews in total (margin of error 2.7%);
• IDPs - 993 interviews (margin of error 4.0%).

The full version of the report is available in Ukrainian.

The opinion poll was commissioned by the Council of Europe within the Programme “Strengthening Good Democratic Governance and Resilience in Ukraine”, which is implemented by the CEMG at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026.