Simferopol, July 22, 2011: A partnership agreement between the Supreme Council, the Council of Ministers of ARC and UNDP was signed, in the framework of CBA-II implementation. The Agreement was signed by V.A. Konstantinov, Chairman of the ARC Supreme Council, P.M. Burlakov, First Deputy Chairman of the ARC Council of Ministers, and Olivier Adam, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine.

Partnership Agreement  is one of the first steps in implementation of the second phase of the "Community-Based Approach to Local Development" project in the ARC. The project, which has been working in Ukraine since 2008, is aimed at supporting rural communities in addressing the critical needs of their development and at improvement of living conditions. In June 2011, the first phase of the project was completed; its outcome was 1,303 micro-projects in rural communities, which brought benefits for 1.2 million citizens in all regions of Ukraine.

On June 25, 2011, the second phase of the Project in Crimea was launched, and a contest among rayons for participation in the project was announced. Applications were submitted by 13 rayons; by the end of July a joint decision concerning the pilot rayons will be made by the Project and the ARC administration.