As delegated by the CoR President, Ms Niina Ratilainen (FI/Greens), member of the Working Group on Ukraine and of the CoR's Conference of Presidents, will be representing the European Committee of the Regions at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, taking place in London on 21-22 June 2023.
She will speak both in a session on the Role of Regions in the recovery of Ukraine and deliver an opening statement at the side event on Sustainable Inclusive Recovery: Fostering community capacity to meet local needs, organised by the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine and partners. Ms Ratilainen will present the recommendations from the joint workshop on 'Strengthening the Role of Local and Regional Governments in Ukraine's Recovery and Reconstruction Process, and on the Road to EU Membership'.
Background
This year's Ukraine Recovery Conference will build on the themes of the G7 Summit and Lugano 2022 URC by mobilising public and private sector tools and financing to support Ukraine's immediate recovery and long-term investment needs. The URC will focus on the role and potential of the private sector to mobilise investment at the scale needed to support Ukraine to “build back better". Breakout sessions will deal with more specific issues.
The session on the Role of Regions will explore why local and regional authorities are pivotal in Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction. Real life cases of what is being done in support of Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction will be presented, while encouraging decentralisation reform and the involvement of local and regional players in the recovery process.
The side event on Sustainable Inclusive Recovery: Fostering community capacity to meet local needs, will explore how to help communities recover while respecting decentralised governance and fostering community capacity to meet local needs.
The above events will feature high-level participants from the Governments of Ukraine, the United Kingdom, as well as from key international organisations, partner associations of Local and Regional Authorities, as well as civil society organisations.