Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukraine had made significant progress in implementing ambitious regional development and decentralisation reforms. These reforms resulted in the creation of 1 469 amalgamated municipalities, the establishment of an elaborate multi-level regional development planning framework, as well as a significant increase in local public service delivery, and public funding for regional and local development. However, the reforms faced a number of challenges, many of which have been significantly exacerbated by Russia’s war against Ukraine. These challenges include increasing regional economic, demographic and well-being disparities, a fragmented regional development funding framework, as well as marked discrepancies in municipal administrative, human resource and fiscal capacity. This report presents an in-depth analysis of Ukraine’s progress in implementing its multi-level governance reforms and explores the role of subnational governments in disaster management. From there, it recommends how Ukraine, together with international partners, can use multi-level governance, regional development and decentralisation to support subnational reconstruction and recovery to address urgent humanitarian needs, rebuild local economies and communities, and strengthen their resilience.

Governments at all levels are increasingly required to do more and better with less. They are searching for solutions to improve the quality of public services, the effectiveness of public investment and the fiscal sustainability of public finances. To meet these challenges, co-ordination arrangements between national, regional and local governments, as well as across jurisdictions, are needed, along with subnational capacity building. Countries are also seeking guidance in making decentralisation and territorial reforms happen. This series is part of a larger body of OECD work on regional development and provides international benchmarks based on statistics, analysis and good practices.

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