EU-UNDP PRP steering comm approves annual report, makes future plans
24 June 2020, 17:00
Steering committeemen of the EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project have approved an annual report and discussed further cooperation.
On June 24, 2020, there took place a meeting of the Steering Committee of the EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project (EU-UNDP PRP) where the project performance report (Feb 2019-Feb 2020) was approved.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov underscored that the Parliament is poised and willing to cooperate, and the changes should be gradual and sustained.
The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk emphasized the role of parliamentary procedures and the importance of legislative planning.
Olena Kondratiuk, the Deputy Chairwoman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, stressed the importance of gender auditing and gender self-assessment by parliamentarians.
Martin Klauke, Head of Operations Section 1 "Good Governance and Democratisation" of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, thanked the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada for the cooperation and noted the progress in transforming the Ukrainian parliament.
Dafina Gercheva, UNDP Resident Representative to Ukraine, in turn, pointed out the importance of the processes taking place at the Parliament.
The EU-UNDP PRP annual performance report was presented by Nataliia Yevchenko, the project coordinator. Among the most ponderable achievements there were named the functional and institutional analysis of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the making of the strategic plan which is afoot, the recommendations for 40 bills and other related documents aimed to streamline the legislative process and the parliamentary reform in Ukraine, the new HR strategy for the VRU Secretariat, the gender audit of the Secretariat staff, the set of methodical recommendations on how to develop the corporate culture, the revamped design of the official website, the new style and reconceptualization of the press centre, etc.
The committeemen focused upon an information component and a greater openness of the Parliament and its committees, as well as the importance of reciprocal communication with society.
The Chief of Staff of the Verkhovna Rada Viacheslav Shtuchnyi thanked EU and UNDP representatives for their support of the Parliament and for the effective cooperation. "Thanks to the joint work, we have had the opportunity to analyze and introduce best European and world practices into VRU Secretariat’s work and the Parliament as a whole. Every day we are in a close contact with PRP experts, which enables us to quickly respond to new challenges and implement joint projects," V. Shtuchnyi highlighted. The Chief of Staff then emphasized the acute need to establish a parliamentary training center.
Participants of the sitting took particular heed of the pressing need for technical re-equipment of the Verkhovna Rada’s press centre and the launch of a community liaison office (CLO).