A new brochure "Scho Neobkhidno Znaty Selyanam pro Hromads’ki Orhanizatsiyi (on NGOs/Community Organisations – Information for the Rural Dwellers) has been published by the Institute for Rural Development to continue its line “Rural Development Library” produced with the support of the DFID Ukraine Rural Livelihoods Programme.

Oleksandr Tsepko, Deputy Director of the Institute for Rural Development, became a member and attended the first constituent meeting of the Advisory Board of the US Peace Corps Economic Development Project in Ukraine.

Following the summery meeting of 15 September 2005, Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko issued a separate directive to adopt as a basis the Draft National Integrated Programme of Rural Support and Development in Ukraine. The Programme contains a section presenting a Draft Programme "Rural Development Year” (2006).

„Rural Development Library”, a line of practical guides on various aspects of rural development issued by the Institute for Rural Development on a regular basis, has been completed with a new publication.

27 July a Round Table: “Social Partnership – the Way to Success” took place in Starobelsk, Luhansk Oblast. It brought together village and rural settlement council heads, community organization leaders, business entity representatives from Starobelsk, Svatovo and Novoaydar Rayons of Luhansk Oblast and Institute for Rural Development’s experts Tamara Ostashko and Nadiya Tymoshenko.

7 July 2005 a training seminar “Legal Aspects in Activities of Local Self-Government Officials in Chernihiv Oblast” took place in Bobrovytsi, Chernihiv oblast. It was attended by experts, local rayon council and state administration officials, Chernihiv oblast council representatives, village council heads from the Bobrovytsi rayon, the press etc.

A one-day workshop to discuss the draft Agricultural and Rural Investment Strategy (ARIS) took place in Kyiv. It was co-organised and facilitated by the Institute for Rural Development. The ARIS is a joint work between the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy (MAP) with the support of the World Bank.

A co-ordination seminar on support to the development of mid-term agricultural and rural development policy in Ukraine took place in the Kyiv Agro-Industrial Exchange. It was initiated by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

A field meeting of the Rural Entrepreneurship Inter-Ministerial Workgroup was held in the house of the Chernihiv Rayon State Administration. The representatives from the Union of Small, Medium-Sized and Privatized Enterprises of Ukraine, rayon authorities and governmental agencies, political parties and NGOs, business owners etc. attended the meeting. The event was facilitated by the IRD expert team.

20-22 June 2005 experts of the Institute for Rural Development took part in the Conference „On the Way to Public Confidence: Philanthropy in the Ukrainian Community”, organised by Ukraine Citizen Action Network Project (UCAN).