The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko, the Vice Speaker Olena Kondratiuk, and the Chief of Staff of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Viacheslav Shtuchnyi attended the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the USAID RADA: Next Generation Project.
The parties discussed the work done to improve the work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, ways of further cooperation, in particular, the development of the Educational Centre and the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, as well as the continuation of parliamentary reform. The topics of the conversation included the plan of cooperation for the next calendar year 2023-2024 and cooperation on the path of Ukraine’s integration into the European and Euro-Atlantic space.
“Ukraine is on the European integration path, we have the status of an EU candidate. We have also started the parliamentary track to join NATO. These are challenges for both the Ukrainian people and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,” said the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
He stressed that the society and the world have high expectations, so the Parliament needs to meet these high criteria: “To do this, we have to move together with our partners and flexibly develop cooperation on parliamentary reform and other areas in line with today’s challenges.”
“Our main task is to ensure the institutional capacity, transparency and trust in the activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,” stressed the Vice Speaker Olena Kondratiuk.
She also added that, to this end, the development of the Communication Strategy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for the period up to 2027 was initiated. In particular, the concept of the relevant document has already been developed, and work in this direction will continue on the basis of a working group involving the leadership of the Parliament, the Secretariat and experts of the RADA: The Next Generation programme.
The Chief of Staff of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Viacheslav Shtuchnyi, thanked the partners for their assistance in addressing the challenges faced by the Parliament of Ukraine during russia’s unprovoked full-scale war against Ukraine. “We have to be flexible in the context of martial law, respond promptly to challenges and make appropriate decisions,” he said, expressing hope for further fruitful cooperation.
For his part, Marc Ellingstad, the Director of the Office of Democracy and Governance at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ukraine, assured his Ukrainian colleagues of further support, as it has been for the past 20 years, in particular, in providing technical support to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to improve its work. “The role of the Parliament is crucial. Our main big task is Ukraine’s path to the European Union, which requires the effective work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,” he said.
Confidence in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is growing – and this is the main result, the partners stated and assured that support will continue to expand.