To Help a Nation, Equip a Mayor

When a nation is consumed by crisis, headlines focus on presidents and prime ministers. But the people struggling to survive tend to focus on someone else: the mayor. That is true whether the crisis is a war, hurricane, global pandemic, or any other event that upends people’s lives. While global attention and international aid flows to national governments, it is no less important to equip mayors to lead their cities through crisis – and Kyiv helps illustrate the stakes.

Cities don’t wage war, but they often bear the brunt of it. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kyiv has been the target of regular assaults and bombardments. Homes, hospitals, schools, and other critical infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed. 

Thousands of Kyiv residents have been injured and tragically, more than 200 have been killed. Adding to that toll is the immeasurable emotional strain its residents have been under for more than two years of uninterrupted war.

Amidst grief and hardship that were unimaginable just a few years ago, it is the mayor’s job not only to help rally spirits, but to adapt services – ensuring that schools and businesses can stay open, that local transportation still runs, and that people can access government benefits. In short, making sure that life goes on.

Soldiers are fighting to protect the lives and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens, but that cannot be achieved on the battlefield alone. Local governments must do their part, too, including by minimizing the interruption of critical services that people, especially the most vulnerable, rely on every day. Those interruptions can be deadly, and while such deaths do not appear on casualty counts, make no mistake: They are also the part of the war’s toll.

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[VIDEO] Ukrainian Band Okean Elzy Shifts Concert to Subway as Sirens Rang Across Kyiv

Ukrainian band Okean Elzy’s 30th-anniversary concert moved to the underground bomb shelter, with fans joining in on the chorus as air raid sirens blasted across the Ukrainian capital.

Kyiv, of course, is not the only city on the front lines of a war – nor is war the only crisis cities are facing. Take climate change. When extreme weather threatens communities, residents depend on mayors and local leaders for life-saving information and resources, not elected officials in far-off capitals. When violent storms, wildfires, and flooding leave trails of destruction, mayors and local leaders are the first level of government to respond. They are responsible for ensuring that people are safe and that their needs are being addressed. And in the aftermath, mayors must lead the rebuilding process. 

The list of international challenges that mayors must address continues to grow, from surging migration that leads people to cities in search of opportunity, to the spiraling epidemic of drug overdoses, to a global phenomenon that is imperiling democracy: the spread of misinformation.

The good news is: As the elected officials closest to the people, mayors can serve as the front line of government innovation and a bulwark against the forces pushing us backwards. Compared to other levels of government, city halls are inherently iterative, accustomed to immediate feedback from residents. But at the same time, they are often the least well-resourced with the dedicated teams, skills, and resources needed to adapt to change and get the job done.

Take, for example, digital technology, which offers city leaders powerful new tools to deliver better service and communicate most effectively with the public. Despite strong and widespread interest in harnessing these approaches, only the most well-resourced or exceptionally forward-looking cities have made big headway.

Fortunately, Kyiv is one of them. Well before Russia invaded Ukraine, the city of Kyiv had invested in its digital infrastructure to improve customer service. Digitization significantly improved the City’s delivery of daily service needs by removing obstacles that often stood in the way, including cumbersome paperwork, time and transportation costs, processing delays, and language barriers.

That digital foundation proved its worth after the Russian invasion. From providing air raid alerts to identifying bomb shelter locations and available food and medical supplies, to being the trusted on-the-ground face of government, an app – called Kyiv Digital – has now been downloaded by over 3 million residents, 90 percent of Kyiv’s population. It is a lifeline.

Bloomberg Philanthropies has been working with Kyiv to support further expansion of the city’s digital infrastructure. Together we are helping connect residents to essential services, including information about where to find safe shelter in an emergency, as well as mental health programs that help people cope with the effects of war.

Based on the success of the program, Bloomberg Philanthropies is expanding support to five other Ukrainian cities that have been at the forefront of the Russian invasion: Lviv, Vinnytsia, Chernvtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Bucha.

The success of Kyiv’s local response to the crisis consuming its nation illustrates why it is more important than ever for city halls to invest in their innovation and digital capabilities. That’s what hundreds of mayors, urban leaders, and innovators will come together to discuss this week at Bloomberg CityLab 2024 in Mexico City.

As mayors become increasingly influential leaders on the world stage and their cities become the front line of global challenges, there is much more that national governments, international organizations and foundations can be doing to empower them to tackle the crises they face. One of the best ways to support a nation is to equip a mayor.

Kyiv Post has been exclusively provided with the text of this statement.