Ensuring no one is left behind: the EU and UNDP deploy the Administrative Service Centre in war-torn Borodianka

New centre seeks to provide unimpeded access to public services

March 16, 2023

The Administrative Service Centre in Borodianka, Kyiv Oblast, is already fully operational.

Photo credit: Andrii Krepkykh / UNDP in Ukraine

Kyiv, 16 March 2023 – The town of Borodianka, a small community of 24,000 people 50 kilometres northwest of Kyiv, was hit hard in the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The settlement was devastated, and its residential blocks left in ruins. In total, more than 1,600 buildings were destroyed in the community.

The people of Borodianka are reconstructing their homes and rebuilding their lives, trying to return to as much a sense of normalcy as is possible as the war drags on. To help ensure they have access to and receive high-quality public services, the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme opened and equipped a new modular Administrative Service Centre (ASC), which replaced the previous one, heavily damaged at the beginning of hostilities.

The new ASC is already fully operational, providing more than 230 types of services such as subsidies, business and property registrations, birth certificates, and pension services. It has 27 workplaces and all the necessary facilities and resources, including furniture, equipment, and, most importantly, competent and trained personnel. The building is also fully accessible for low-mobility population groups.

Chloé Allio, Head of the “Economic Cooperation, Energy, Infrastructure and Environment” Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, said the newly deployed ASC is of utmost importance for war-torn Borodianka, as it is contributing to rebuilding the community and supporting its people, including those who are returning. “It is impressive to witness and be part of this project where we all came together to deliver and make the ASC operational,” she said. “This is one of our first projects of this kind, and it was completed in record time, despite the Russian war of aggression, relying on our longstanding partnership with UNDP.”

Nils Christensen, United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) Manager, said the Government of Ukraine, the EU and UNDP have been systematically working to ensure that timely and highly-quality administrative and legal services are available for women and men. This includes making sure best practices are applied in the provision of public services. “One of the main principles of administrative reform in Ukraine is for public services to be as close as possible to the people they are meant to serve,” he said. “The centre opening in Borodianka is a clear example of this, and why it is particularly important in areas affected by the war.”

Background

UNDP, in partnership with the EU and other international donors, has selected Borodianka as one of the communities in Kyiv Oblast for targeted support. Given the scale of damages, UNDP will soon commence debris removal works supported by the EU and oversee the reconstruction of multistorey buildings there under the United24 initiative.

The new ASC in Borodianka exemplifies UNDP’s comprehensive approach to recovery applied within the framework of the UN RPP, with financial support from the EU.

Four United Nations agencies are implementing the UN RPP: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Eleven international partners support the UN RPP: the EU, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Media inquiries: Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Head of Communications; e-mail: yuliia.samus@undp.org

The EU and UNDP deploy the Administrative Service Centre in war-torn Borodianka