Investing in the Human Spirit

 

C   E   D Ukraine

 

 

Volume 1, No. 1                                                                                     April, 2004

 

Welcome to the first issue of our bi-monthly project newsletter! The Community Economic Development (CED) Project, which is being implemented in Ukraine, is financed by the Canadian International Development Agency and managed by the Canadian Bureau for International Education.   The CED Project started in January 2004 and will end in December 2007.

 

What is Community Economic Development?

 

Community economic development (CED)  is a process by which communities can initiate and generate their own solutions to their common economic problems and, by doing so, build long-term community capacity and foster the integration of economic, social and environmental objectives. (Based on Ross/McRobie Report, 1987, which formed the basis for the establishment of Simon Fraser University’s Community Economic Development Centre).

 

About the Project

 

Our project goal is to strengthen, through social and economic action, sustainable local communities which work with local government and small businesses, using principles and practices of good governance to improve the quality of economic, social and environmental life of these communities.

 

By providing Canadian experience and proven practices in Ukraine, the CED Project  will help to empower selected communities to mobilize their own resources, embark on community economic and social initiatives, and successfully work together as a community with local authorities. CED will initially work in three areas  of Ukraine (Zakarpattiya, Lviv, and Cherkasy Oblasts) where Ukrainian communities have already strongly demonstrated their intent to improve their economy and living environment. 

 

 

Our Canadian partners are the Community Economic Development Centre at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver,British Columbia, and Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.

 

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

 

The Canadian International Development  Agency is the Canadian government’s official agency financing development and technical cooperation projects and programs in countries around the world.

 

CIDA supports sustainable development in developing countries and also in countries in transition, such as Ukraine, in order to reduce poverty and to contribute to a more secure, equitable and prosperous world.


Development is a complex, long-term process that involves all of the world's people, governments and organizations at all levels. Working with partners in the private and public sectors in Canada and in developing countries and countries in transition, and with international organizations and agencies, CIDA supports foreign aid projects in more than 100 countries of the world. The objective is to work with developing countries and countries in transition to develop the tools to eventually meet their own needs.

 

Thr Honourable Aileen Carroll is the Minister for International Cooperation, with responsibility for CIDA. CIDA’s Ukraine Program falls within its Central and Eastern Europe Branch.

 

 

 

Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE)

The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) is an umbrella non-governmental organization comprised of 200 colleges, universities, schools, school boards, educational organizations and businesses across Canada.

Nationally, CBIE engages in policy development, research, advocacy and public information. CBIE is both a leader in shaping Canada's international education agenda and a highly recognized provider of professional development programs for Canada's international educators. CBIE manages vital services for foreign students in Canada.

Internationally, CBIE engages in cooperative projects in capacity building, institutional strengthening and human resource development. Our focus is on education at all levels, specialized training programs, civil society and public administration.

CBIE works in partnership with educational institutions, community-based organizations and governments in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the Americas, the Former Soviet Union, and Central and Eastern Europe. CBIE has been managing technical cooperation projects in Ukraine since 1993.

An elected Board of Directors from across Canada governs CBIE. The President-CEO and a multilingual team of professionals administer CBIE activities from its headquarters in Ottawa, Canada's capital city. CBIE was founded in 1966, although its antecedents date to the 1940s.

CBIE's Patron is Her Excellency the Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada.

 

 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

 

(The ideas and opinions expressed  below  represent  only those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of CBIE or CIDA.)

 

Community Economic Development and Economic Security

 

What is the difference between communities and capital? They are conceptually distinct from one another. We can understand capital in two ways. First, it is the financial means to carry out economic development. Second, it is a group in society that controls economic resources and shares an interest in maintaining control over these resources.  Here in table form are some of the differences  between communities and capital:

 

Communities

Capital

  • want development
  • wants profit
  • want well paying jobs for their people
  • wants the lowest possible wages relative to capital costs at given levels of productivity
  • want a life-sustaining ecology
  • seeks an environment free of costly regulation
  • are defined by place and stability
  • is concerned with location  firstly as a factor in transportation and transaction costs

 

(Paraphased from  Reclaiming Capital Democratic Initiatives and Community Development, Christopher Gunn, Hazel Dayton Gunn, Cornell University Press 1991)

 

“Access to capital and financial services is essential to modern life and is a basic community need. By the time they are enacted, the statutes and regulations governing banks usually only serve the interest of the industry they are designed to regulate. In progressive forms, financial services regulations can shift power from capital to a broader mix of community members. If we ever hope to reverse the ongoing trend of capital concentration into the hands of the few, we need to have progressive financial sector regulation.” (Katherine Turner, LL.B.,  and Andrew Bolter, LL.B. , Submission to the Task Force on the Future of the Canadian Financial Services Sector, November 10, 1997)

 

“Access to microcredit has the potential to help people out of the cycle of poverty.

 

Adequate access to financial services does not consist simply of access to a basic account. An individual without access to credit will be unable to own a home and thereby begin to acquire some assets, cushion temporary cash shortfalls with overdraft protection or start their own small business if they lose their employment.

 

Every day we see people who attempt to move themselves beyond their present circumstances through the avenue of self-employment but struggle to deal with credit issues and, when on assistance of some sort, regulatory barriers. Our society encourages creative, self-initiated action such as small business development but without credit tools the barriers are enormous.

 

 

It is as expensive for financial institutions to process a large loan as a small one. Consequently, requests for small amounts of credit are answered by suggesting that the fledgling entrepreneur attempt to finance their  initiatives on a credit card. This leaves small business struggling from the very beginning with both inadequate financing and high interest rates.

 

As stated in the declaration of the Microcredit Summit, “Such obstacles exist not because policymakers and large financial institutions have been opposed to microenterprise development, but rather because the political and business culture of economically advanced states rarely view low-income people as willing or capable of contributing to their economies through self employment.”

 

This perception must be challenged.” (Katherine Turner, LL.B.,  and Andrew Bolter, LL.B. , Submission to the Task Force on the Future of the Canadian Financial Services Sector, November 10, 1997)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contacts

 

Our Web Site

 

Our project web site is currently under construction. Some items are already available for you to read. We invite you to visit the web site: www.ced.org.ua

 

 

Our Management Team in Ukraine

 

Tony Berezowecki

Director

 

Tony Berezowecki has been working for CBIE managing projects in Ukraine since 1996. These projects were the Partners in Civil Society Project (Feb. 1996 – June 1998) and the Civil Society Community Roots Project (July 1998 – December 2002).

 

Olena Goryeva

Manager – Ukraine

 

Olena Goryeva has been working for CBIE in Ukraine since 1993. The projects she worked for were the Partners in Civil Society Project I (January 1995 – January 1996), Partners in Civil Society  II (Feb. 1996 – June 1998) and the Civil Society Community Roots Project (July 1998 – December 2002).

 

          

Svitlana Pchelina

Deputy Manager – Ukraine

 

Svitlana Pchelina has been involved in CBIE projects since 1996 (partner organization for the Partners in Civil Society Project (Feb. 1996 – June 1998), and worked for the Civil Society Community Roots Project starting form 2002.

 

The Latest News

 

The Project team has already visited  oblast and rayon capitals, small towns and villages in the three areas to make a preliminary survey of local initiatives there.

 

Upcoming events

 

Our first major event will be a workshop, Introduction to Community Economic Development, delivered by Canadian experts, between May 11 and May 15 2004.

 

At the beginning of June, a team from our major Canadian partners will come to Ukraine on an inception mission. They’ll be visiting the various sites in which the CED Project intends to work.