The Swedish-Ukrainian Polaris Programme "Supporting Multilevel Governance in Ukraine" has announced the results of its call for partner hromadas under the direction “Development of coordination of mechanisms in hromadas to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV), in particular, domestic violence”.

Within this partnership, support will be provided to rural hromadas aiming to improve the effectiveness of their domestic violence prevention and response systems. A total of 38 hromadas from 19 oblasts participated in the selection. The largest number of applications came from Poltava (5 hromadas) and Dnipro (4 hromadas) oblasts.

As a result of the selection process, the Polaris Programme has identified eight partner hromadas:

• Blyzniuky settlement hromada – Kharkiv oblast
• Velykyi Bychkiv settlement hromada – Zakarpattia oblast
• Vodianytsia rural hromada – Cherkasy oblast
• Zorian rural hromada – Rivne oblast
• Kamianske rural hromada – Zakarpattia oblast
• Orzhytsia settlement hromada – Poltava oblast
• Pokrovske settlement hromada – Dnipro oblast
• Troitske rural hromada – Dnipro oblast

As part of the cooperation, the selected hromada will receive support to:

• Develop effective coordination and interagency cooperation between entities involved in domestic violence response;
• Strengthen the capacity of local leadership and frontline specialists working directly with survivors;
• Carry out comprehensive measures in the field of domestic violence prevention and response;
• Foster a hromada-wide culture of gender equality and zero tolerance for domestic violence.

The selection criteria included:

(1) the hromada’s motivation, particularly its readiness to develop a coordination mechanism for domestic violence prevention and response;

(2) the hromada’s rural status; and

(3) regional diversity to ensure representation from across Ukraine.

All selected partner hromadas share a common goal – to create a safe environment for all residents. The Polaris Programme will continue to support the development of effective local-level models for responding to domestic violence.