Good governance among major reforms for Ukraine

A high level dialogue “Good democratic governance in Ukraine: achievements, challenges and the way forward in the post-war period” was held in Strasbourg at the Council of Europe Headquarters during the 2022 World Forum for Democracy.

“Good democratic governance is one of the key reform areas for Ukraine”, said First Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Oleksandr Kornienko, at the opening of the dialogue. They also praised the successful cooperation with the Council of Europe within the adjusted 2018 – 2022 Action Plan for Ukraine under the Chapter on Democratic Governance and expressed the commitment of Parliament and other national stakeholders to cooperate in this area in the future.

The Ukrainian delegation, led by Oleksandr Kornienko, was represented by parliamentarians from various political parties; Senior officials of the Ministry of Regional Development of Ukraine, including Deputy Minister Vyacheslav Nehoda; representatives of the Central Election Commission, including its chairman Oleh Didenko; Representatives from four associations of local officials, including two mayors.

The dialogue, initiated at the request of the Ukrainian Parliament, was organized and facilitated by the Council of Europe’s Directorate-General for Democracy and Human Dignity, in collaboration with the Venice Commission, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Council of Europe.

Within the talks, participants discussed the challenges and approaches to good democratic governance in the post-war period, focusing on five main areas:

• Strengthen the efficiency of local self-government and decentralization reform in the context of martial law and in the process of Ukraine’s recovery and application for EU membership;
• transition from military administration to civilian administration and mechanisms under martial law to ensure democratic processes and secure a democratic environment for elections;
• Post-war challenges and potential ways to strengthen the institutional capacity of election management bodies to organize and conduct elections;
• safeguards and mechanisms to ensure the electoral rights of citizens in the post-war period;
• Optimization of the administrative and regional setup and its impact on the regional organization and management of the electoral process.

After a two-day long discussion by the Council of Europe, the participants of the dialogue reached a comprehensive agreement on further action to improve the legal framework on multi-level governance and elections in the light of European standards and good practice. In addition, after extensive deliberations, the Ukrainian national partners began to draw up an action plan to ensure the implementation of the negotiations’ conclusions.

The activity was carried out “on” within the framework and with the support of the Council of Europe Projects.Increasing decentralization and public administration reform in Ukraine” And “Supporting transparency, inclusivity and integrity of electoral practice and processes in Ukraine – Phase III“Implemented under the Council of Europe Adjusted Action Plan for Ukraine 2018 – 2022. It was conducted within the framework of the joint initiative”Good democratic governance in Ukraine: moving forward in the post-war context“Launched earlier this year.

Policy advice on the roadmap for the recovery of local self-government from the consequences of the war The Center for Expertise for Good Governance, within the project “Enhancing Decentralization and Public Administration Reform in Ukraine”, was created by the Department of Democracy and Governance, Directorate General of Democracy II – Democracy, in response to the request of the Special Parliamentary Committee on the State Building. , local governance, regional and urban development.

Needs Assessment Report “Organizing and holding elections in post-war Ukraine. Prerequisites and challenges “(England, UKR) was prepared with the support of the Council of Europe project “Supporting transparency, inclusivity and integrity of electoral practice and processes in Ukraine – Phase III”.