The challenges facing the region of East Slovakia includes ending poverty and spurring development. According to Katarína Vajdová of the Civil Society Development Foundation in Slovakia, sustainable economic and social development will only come about if local stakeholders are directly involved in development projects and cross-border cooperation with Ukraine.
In March 2008 the Civil Society Development Foundation took on the task of managing a €2.1 million fund under the Norway Grants that supports small-scale projects by local communities in the Slovak-Ukraine border region.
15 ongoing projects
So far, 15 projects have been awarded support under the fund. These range from projects monitoring the Slovak-Ukraine border, as part of the country's duties as a Schengen member, to small projects promoting active tourism to the region. In one of these, called "Green Artery of Tourism", 15 jobs have already been created, and several more are foreseen as eco-friendly tourism in the area develops further.
According to Vajdová the fund has two advantages. "Improving the capacity for creating sustainable development in the region is of major importance. This gives a boost to the public's belief in and ability to help themselves. Secondly, the fund contributes to a culture of transparency, in that public funds are allocated through an open and rule-bound process", she said.
Local government cooperation
Cooperation between Slovakian and Ukrainian local governments is another important aspect of the fund. Cross-border cooperation is rarely as direct and committed as in projects concerning water management of shared rivers between the neighbouring countries. The repeated struggle with flooding rivers in the region makes the support from the Norway Grants to assist local governments with flood prevention projects important.
Two open calls have been completed, with one further call for allocation of the remaining funds to be held this autumn. According to Vajdová, the funding has been welcomed enthusiastically in East Slovakia. "Especially in the current global economic crisis, the support from Norway is highly sought after", she said.