Today, rural areas in Ukraine are in the process of transformation triggered by development of new technologies in agriculture production and structural changes in the national economy. Currently, major tasks of rural areas are to reduce unemployment, encourage small business development, and improve living standards of the rural population. Rural communities have been suffering greatly with undeveloped infrastructure during the recent decade. For example, many Ukrainian villages lack kindergartens, secondary schools, leisure activity and cultural centers. Not all populated areas have their own hospitals and ambulance services. Moreover, there is no centralized water/wastewater or gas supply systems in most Ukrainian villages. In order to solve these and other problems, Ukraine needs a realistic rural development strategy which would be based on modern approaches and principles and aim at development of rural territories and satisfaction of rural communities' needs. The national rural development strategy should combine Ukrainian and EU countries' experience. Under current development conditions, there is an urgent need not only to develop rural development strategies and programs but also to design and implement effective mechanisms and tools for putting them into them.
Therefore, the Rural Development Component focuses on accomplishing the following tasks:
