KYIV, 23 August 2022 – For the first time in three decades, government regulations in Ukraine governing data collection, storage and use have been updated to conform with the norms of the European Union and international best practices. The State Statistics Service of Ukraine (SSU), operating under the direction of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and supported by the United Nations Development Programme, had been working on the draft regulations since 2019 together with a group of public experts and analysts from VoxUkraine.

Public expert groups analyzed the draft law for compliance with international standards and conducted a series of discussions on the draft law “On Official Statistics” with the involvement of journalists, experts, the government and politicians.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation, said the new law would be important for the country in normal times, but since the invasion of February 2022, “all government decisions must be made even faster and more efficient. The adoption of the new Law on Official Statistics is a logical step in this process, making all data available in real time, efficiently received and processed immediately.”

Manal Fouani, acting UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, said to fully implement and monitor progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, and to promote good governance, policy makers need data and statistics that are sufficiently disaggregated, relevant, accurate, timely, and accessible.  “Statistical capacity is also needed and data literacy must be enhanced at all levels of decision-making,” she said. “It is imperative that, despite the war, Ukraine continues its work on digitalization and to implement the best international standards in data collection.”

Ksenia Alekankina, head of the “Index of Reforms” project of the NGO “Vox Ukraine” said the draft law was developed to implement Article 355 of Chapter 5 of Chapter V of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. “It will provide researchers with access to microdata, facilitating deeper scientific research using the latest methods,” she said. “This, in turn, will increase the validity of created policies and adopted decisions, making it possible to strengthen analytical interactions between scientists, researchers and the government.”  

The initiative was implemented with the support of the project of the UN Development Program in Ukraine with the financial support of the Government of Denmark.

Media inquiries: Yuliia Samus, UNDP Communications Team Leader at Yuliia.Samus@undp.org