Increasing the capacity of local self-government bodies in assessing the needs for the restoration of the territorial community

The large-scale military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine led to terrible human casualties, which Europe had not seen since the Second World War, colossal migration of the civilian population, large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure, contamination of territories with explosive elements, etc. All these consequences have both national and local significance, since the systemic solution of many problems will rely primarily on local self-government, as an institution designed to solve issues of local importance. Local self-government in this process needs methodological and advisory support. Therefore, the Center for Security Studies “СENSS” has developed a Methodology for assessing the needs of the territorial community, which will allow local self-government bodies to implement this process in a systematic, coordinated and transparent manner.

Drafted Methodical recommendations for needs assessment on the local (community) level in connection with the armed aggression of the Russian Federation (the Guidelines) that included the following:

• Recommendations for local authorities on conducting the needs assessment in the areas of restoration of physical infrastructure and societal systems, revitalization of livelihoods, economies, and the environment;
• General recommendations on the prioritization of the recovery needs in connection with new circumstances, and preparedness for challenges regarding post-conflict needs;
• Explanation of the meaning and reasons to follow/use the ‘build back better’ principle of recovery;
• Recommendations for organizing the ways in which local authorities could interact with the national authorities, international partners, and non-state actors during preparation and the recovery process. This also included the development of the stakeholders’ analysis matrix and providing the list of state authorities that could have relevant information for planning the recovery process.
• Recommendations on how to organize transparent procedures during the recovery process.

The presentation of the Methodology took place on November 29 in the city of Bucha, you can find out more about it at the link: https://censs.org/navchaemo_hromady_otsinuvaty_svoi_potreby_y_vidnovlenni/