UCORD Project

Ukraine’s Cohesion & Regional Development Project, UCORD, is implemented with the support of Switzerland via the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), by NIRAS Sweden AB, since December 2022. The ongoing Phase 1 will continue until November 2026, implemented in three components: Component 1, “Regional Development”, provides practical assistance to Ukraine’s recovery and development and supports the regional policy development in Ukraine through supporting and strengthening the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in the UCORD’s pilot regions. Component 2, “Capacity Development and Environmental Services,” seeks to improve public services delivery in WASAW (water supply, sanitation, and waste management) sectors with a focus on environment preservation. Component 3, “Social Cohesion through Culture and Engagement of Citizens”, aims at constructing social cohesion through dialogue and implementing projects in culture and creative industries. The objective of the UCORD project is that сitizens, businesses and public authorities contribute to and equally benefit from coordinated recovery actions and coherent regional development that fosters improved quality of life, resilience, peace and social cohesion in Ukraine. In 2022-2023 the UCORD project took upon a rigorous competition process and selected RDAs of Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Ternopil, and Vinnytsia oblasts (regions) as pilots. For the initial 4 months, the UCORD project will provide institutional support to respective RDAs to facilitate the development of all necessary policies and procedures, the recruitment of staff and the preparation of a business plan. After this, the format of support to agencies and cooperation with regions will be defined in detail according to the respective needs as well as UCORD project objectives. Follow our social media pages, learn more about regional development and RDAs in the project’s pilot regions, and join Ukraine’s recovery and development!