Your Excellency, Mr. Ken Saitō, Minister of Justice of Japan, 

Your Excellency, Mr. Denys Malyuska, Minister of Justice of Ukraine  [Via Video Connection],

Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Mr. Andriy Kostin,

Excellencies, Distinguished Ministers, 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great privilege to join this G7 Justice Ministers Meeting hosted by Japan.

At the outset, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to partners such as Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom that are supporting UNDP in implementing vital early recovery efforts across Ukraine.

These efforts range from supporting the State Emergency Services to removing over 500,000 landmines and pieces of unexploded ordnance; to rebuilding homes and energy and social infrastructure facilities; to supporting the domestic private sector, paving the way for an inclusive economic recovery process. 

Last month, I visited Ukraine, where I met with people who have had their lives and livelihoods shattered by war. 

But I also witnessed the impressive resilience and determination of the Ukrainians.

The war also impacted the country’s justice and administrative systems --not least the fact that some 13 courthouses have been destroyed and 97 have been damaged.

People are facing challenges in access to justice services. 

Three Streams of UNDP Support

1.  First, During UNDP’s Annual Meeting on the Rule of Law and Human Rights held last month, the Head of the Department of Combating Crimes in Armed Conflict, General Prosecutor Office of Ukraine Mr. Yuriy Bielousov, detailed the current efforts to strengthen national mechanisms for prosecuting such crimes. 

As he outlined, this requires a variety of tailored support.

That includes enhancing the capacity of national justice actors -- encompassing the implementation of a national strategy for prosecuting international crimes; and the provision of IT solutions and equipment to do their work more effectively.

2.  Second, there is a need to drive an early recovery and continued reform, in line with Ukraine’s EU aspirations, of the justice sector in Ukraine to set the conditions for stability.

In the next ten years, recovery and reconstruction needs in the justice and public administration sector are estimated at $646.9 million, of which $265.3 million is required for the judiciary.

This will enable and support Ukraine’s efforts to transition towards a modern public governance system with strong institutions underpinned by the rule of law. 

3. Third, UNDP’s experience from other conflict and post-conflict settings has shown that addressing people’s immediate needs and rights impacted by conflict and war is critical as a baseline to improve the overall justice system and governance.

This includes making justice gender-responsive, digitalized, resilient to corruption, and user-friendly.

That has been the focus of UNDP’s efforts in Ukraine where UNDP has worked for years with the Government in supporting the rule of law, human rights, and access to justice, and, since 2015, with an additional focus on transitional justice.

For example, UNDP has developed over 30 e-services, including social e-services, IDP e-services, pension e-services, and e-services for veterans. More than 9 million people have received access to e-services on the national Diia portal where they apply for financial assistance and housing subsidies, and receive pensions and other social benefits. 

That included processing 4.6 million IDP applications -- including one million online -- and providing information on critical services to people in need.

A recent UNDP report found that the free legal aid system in Ukraine -- which UNDP has long supported since before the war -- has demonstrated a high level of stability in the context of war.

Legal aid bodies and organizations are adapting rapidly, ensuring that legal aid services continue.

Indeed, UNDP’s work on the rule of law; access to justice; and human rights is a defining feature of our Resilience Building and Recovery Programme for Ukraine that aims to preserve hard-won development gains; mitigate the risks of deterioration of governance and service delivery; and facilitate early recovery and the continuation of reforms.

We welcome international efforts to support Ukraine in upholding the rule of law and anti corruption and we will continue to support these efforts, including the initiative to establish a Task Force, working closely with our Ukrainian partners.

Excellencies, Distinguished Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As clearly articulated by Minister Malyuska today -- even amidst war, the Government of Ukraine is diligently working to restore and rebuild the justice sector and promote accountability and access to justice.

However, Ukraine will require commensurate levels of financial and technical support to tackle the immense challenges that lie ahead.

That includes everything from restoring and equipping essential justice system infrastructure, to building national capacities to investigate and prosecute war crimes and expanding people’s access to justice. 

At the Hiroshima Summit in May, the G7 leaders committed to supporting Ukraine’s efforts to advance necessary institution-building as well as substantive legal reform -- especially in the judicial sector and for promoting the rule of law.

The leaders also said that there must be no impunity for war crimes and other atrocities, such as Russia’s attacks against civilians and critical civil infrastructure. 

UN stands ready to support all meaningful efforts to bring just and sustainable peace to Ukraine.

In this regard, we are guided by the UN Charter, international law, and relevant General Assembly resolutions.

Our current efforts include building a people-centred and rights-based justice system, pivoting on a principle that recovery cannot wait until tomorrow.

We are connecting Ukrainians’ resilience with the tools that people need today to invest and rebuild towards the futures they want – the future that we all want.

Thank you.