The Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Municipal Economy of Ukraine Mr. Gennadiy Zubko participated in the signing ceremony which took place during the launch of the new Swiss-Ukrainian joint program.

After the signing of the Memorandum, the Head of the Swiss Cooperation Office Ukraine Mr. Guido Beltrani highlighted: „Within the EGAP Program we plan to use e-governance and e-democracy tools as enablers for building the trust and cooperation between local authorities and citizens. We are confident that modern information and communication technologies are excellent tools for a more efficient provision of administrative services to citizens both from urban and rural areas, and for more transparent and inclusive decision making”.

The EGAP seeks to strengthen good governance and modern public service delivery and social innovation in Ukraine by using the new information communication technologies (ICTs).

The selected partner regions are the Oblasts of Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Vinnytsia and Volyn.

Around hundred young people – students, activists – participated in the meeting with Swiss politician Mr. François Lachat, First President of the government of the youngest Canton of Jura in Switzerland.

The event was organized by the Bohdan Hawrylyshyn School in partnership with Swiss Cooperation Office Ukraine and the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine.

Welcoming speech was presented by Dr. Dr Bohdan Hawrylyshyn, Head of the Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Charitable Foundation. All the participants were also greeted by Dr Christian Schoenenberger, Ambassador of Switzerland to Ukraine and Mr Holger Tausch, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office Ukraine.

Mr. François Lachat is a politician with significant experience. At his time he was a Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) of the Swiss Parliament, Co-founder & former vice-president of the Assembly of European Regions (AER), Head of the Swiss delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). During his speech, Mr. Lachat shared his knowledge and experience in finding consensus in controversial political and local conflicts peacefully, showing it on the example of Canton of Jura.

For Ukraine Swiss experience in conflict solving could be of great importance, especially at the current situation. This was demonstrated by the youth that was asking serious questions and provoking hot discussion.