Mykolaiv residents to be involved in updating city charter

On August 13, a meeting of the working group to study the application of the Law of Ukraine dated 09.05.2024 No. 3703-IX "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Democracy at the Local Government Level" was held in Mykolaiv and the city charter was updated.

This was reported by Mykolaiv City Council.

The Council's experts provided recommendations on how to involve active citizens in the preparation of a document called the 'city constitution'. The new charter should reflect the interests and values of all Mykolaiv residents. Mykhailo Zolotukhin, deputy chairman of the expert and public council, said that the basic version of the document is ready, but needs to be finalized and discussed publicly. Following the meeting, it was decided to set up a working group, which will include representatives of the authorities, NGOs, business and experts on a parity basis. Citizens will be able to join by submitting an application and passing a rating selection.

The current Statute of the Mykolaiv territorial community was adopted on September 3, 2009, so the need to update it is urgent. The document is being worked on by the NGO Mykolaiv City Development Fund together with the Mykolaiv City Council as part of the project "Effective Local Democracy in the Charters of Two Mykolaiv Communities", implemented with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. The project partner is the Civil Society Development Forum (Kyiv).

Meanwhile, the Odesa City Council published a petition on the Socially Active Citizen portal to abolish the current Odesa City Charter and create a working group to develop a new version of the document. The petition is authored by activist Serhiy Bondarenko. The activist insists that the current charter contradicts, among other things, the Constitution of Ukraine, especially in terms of the development of the Ukrainian nation, its historical consciousness, traditions and culture, the state policy of decolonization, and the memory of the fighters for Ukraine's independence.

Катерина Глушко