Kyiv, 24 June 2020 – The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the country’s parliament, hosted a Steering Committee meeting of the EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project, during which the results of the project’s activities from February 2019 to February 2020 were presented.

Verkhovna Rada Chairperson Dmytro Razumkov expressed gratitude to the Rada’s partners from the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine and the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine for their assistance and support in implementing the reforms. Razumkov listed all the areas in which cooperation with the project is being conducted and in which the Parliamentary Reform Office is currently providing expert support.

“We see and understand that this cooperation helps us move forward, so we hope for the development of further cooperation for the comprehensive implementation of the initiatives we have already started” Razumkov said.

“The main thing is to continue moving in the right direction so that changes take place continuously.”

First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk noted the role of the Parliamentary Reform Office in reforming parliamentary procedures, which includes amending parliament’s rules of procedure, introducing legislative planning, coordinating legislative work with the government, and more.

Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk noted the work being done to update the official website of the Parliament, the changes made in its communication strategy, the technical re-equipment of the Verkhovna Rada’s press centre, and the development of proposals for rebranding the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Martin Klauke, Head of Operations Section 1: "Good Governance and Democratisation” of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, said that the European Union was pleased to see such progress in the implementation of parliamentary reform and was happy to support such transformations.

UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine Dafina Gercheva confirmed to the political and administrative leadership of Ukraine’s Verhovna Rada that UNDP stood ready to further support parliament in enhanced law-making, e-parliamentarism and public engagement.

The Steering Committee unanimously approved the annual report of the EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform Project, and the Verkhovna Rada leadership expressed the need for further joint work in a number of areas.

“We hope for further support from both the project and the Parliamentary Reform Office for the next three years," Razumkov said.

Media enquiries

Mykola Yabchenko, Communications Specialist, mykola.yabchenko@undp.org or +38 067 290 55 01.