Lugano: the conference that set the rules before the money

The instinct at a recovery conference is to count the pledges. I would look elsewhere. What Lugano produced in July 2022 was a set of principles, and principles agreed early are worth more than money promised early.

The framework rested on transparency, accountability and the rule of law; on reform as an integral part of recovery rather than something deferred until after it; on democratic participation, with communities involved in deciding what gets rebuilt; and on local ownership, meaning Ukraine leading rather than being administered.

Why that sequence matters

I have worked on internationally financed projects for twenty years. The governance rules are always written at some point. Written first, they shape every contract that follows. Written afterwards, they are a retrofit that nobody quite complies with.

Agreeing them at Lugano, before large-scale financing began, is why reconstruction procurement in Ukraine has been unusually visible — open registers, published pipelines, community involvement — compared with post-conflict rebuilds elsewhere. It also set the standard that Ukrainian institutions have since been held to, which was the point.