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EU and UNDP launching new Parliamentary Reform Project

14.02.2019
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The European Union and the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine (UNDP) are launching a new "Parliamentary Reform Project" to foster internal reform and strengthen institutional capacity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine so that it could efficiently carry out its constitutional responsibilities, including timely and effective implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

The project will particularly focus on improving legislative development process, strengthening parliamentary oversight and enhancing horizontal management functions within the Verkhovna Rada Secretariat, namely, strategic planning, internal organisation and operational management, human resource management, communications, civil education, introduction of IT tools into the parliamentary processes, etc.

"The Verkhovna Rada as the legislative body plays a key role in making reforms happen, notably to implement the ambitious EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The key objective of this new EU funded project is to assist the Parliament to become an accountable, transparent and efficient institution – in line with best democratic parliamentary practices", Ambassador Hugues Mingarelli, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, said.

"UNDP realizes the importance of sustained support to the Verkhovna Rada. Like any other reform process, reform of the legislative body in Ukraine requires political consensus, focus, effective coordination and access to the best parliamentary practices in other European states. This new EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project builds on the results and lessons learned from the previous EU-UNDP "Rada for Europe" partnership. We will continue to support parliamentary reform, including by promoting implementation of the recommendations of the 2016 Needs Assessment Mission," Blerta Cela, UNDP Ukraine Officer in Charge, stressed.

The project will be implemented by UNDP in close partnership with the EU institutions, including the European Parliament.

One of the key milestones of the project is to establish a Parliamentary Reform Office – an advisory group to the Leadership and Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine that will provide support to parliamentary reform, with particular focus on strengthening Verkhovna Rada capacities for legislative process planning, human resource management, e-parliament, communication and civic education. The Office is expected to be fully operational in the second quarter of 2019.

To provide comprehensive support to the Verkhovna Rada, the project includes also the following components:

  • #Rada4Reforms, which focuses on fostering the parliament’s role in the overall reform process with a particular emphasis on improving the legislative process and parliamentary oversight;
  • #RadaPro, which supports the professional modernization of the Verkhovna Rada Secretariat, mainly focusing on its organisation and management, as well as on human resource development along the lines of broader public administration reform;
  • #Transparent&Service-OrientedRada, which integrates new technologies for communications, civic education and participation to build greater transparency and accountability links between the Verkhovna Rada and citizens with a special focus on increasing public trust in the parliament.

Background:

The Parliamentary Reform Project is financed by the European Union and implemented by UNDP in Ukraine.  The budget of the two-year project is USD 3.4 million.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations' global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP operates in more than 170 countries, helping them find their own ways of addressing global and national problems in human development.

Media inquiries: Yuliia Samus, UNDP Communications Specialist, yuliia.samus@undp.org, +38 097 139 14 75

 

Category
Press releases
Location

Kyiv

Editorial sections
Ukraine