According to the results of the contest to participate in the LGI Policy Fellowship for Russian-Speaking Experts for 2007–2008, organizers selected five researchers from Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia, and Ukraine. These researchers will study the problems of providing residential services to low-income population groups at the local level and will develop recommendations for improving the provision of residential services.

As part of this project, the opening seminar took place at the ICPS premises on 14 and 15 April 2007. At this seminar, fellows presented their project proposals. Also, they participated in a workshop on public policy principles and the skill to write effective public policy documents.

With the help of group mentor Volodymyr Hnat and trainer Volodymyr Nikitin, fellows developed detailed terms of reference for their research.

 Meanwhile, the LGI Policy Fellowship for Russian-Speaking Experts for 2006–2007 is nearly over. According to group mentor Duncan Leitch, all policy papers written by the fellows were prepared at a very high level and, thus, the pilot project can be viewed as a success.

In 2006, the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI) launched its first fellowship for Russian-speaking experts. Its goal, same as the goal of the LGI Policy Fellowship for English-Speaking Experts that was set up earlier, is to support practical policy reforms at the local level, to raise the capacity of gifted individuals who have the possibility to influence policies, to set up a network of international experts, and to support the LGI mission.

For additional information, contact Olha Shumylo by telephone at (380-44) 484-4400 or via e-mail at: oshumylo@icps.kiev.ua