Welcoming remarks by Dafina Gercheva, UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, 25 November 2021

Distinguished representative of the Ukrainian Civil Service, dear participants, and partners,

I would like to take this opportunity and express my great admiration and respect for the public servants whose tireless efforts are instrumental for the advancement of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of its Global Goals.

Dear public servants, you are on the front line in the battle against poverty, inequality and exclusion, and your work is dedicated to improving livelihoods and living standards of the people of Ukraine so that no one is left behind.

We at UNDP are supporting your efforts through top-notch policy advice and targeted capacity development interventions at national, regional, and local level. Our strategic intent is to enable and empower state institutions to co-design and deliver public services, which are human rights and gender responsive.

We highly value the strategic partnership with the National Agency for Civil Service, and we are looking forward to further strengthen it.   Since 2016, every other year UNDP, the National Agency for Civil Service, the ZMINA Human Rights Centre, and the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, conduct a sociological study entitled “What Ukrainians know and think about human rights.” This initiative is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and includes a special component dedicated to assessing perceptions of human rights among civil servants.

The most recent survey, performed in 2020, revealed that freedom, justice, dignity, security, and equality continued to be the top priorities for civil servants. More than 50 percent of civil servants are familiar with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are aware that, according to that Declaration “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” and that everyone is entitled to these rights “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

To help further raise awareness and understanding of human rights among civil servants, together with the National Agency for Civil Service we developed a comprehensive educational online course. We also trained professional instructors who further strengthen the capacity of public servants for advocating for full protection and promotion of human rights.

In partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Better Regulation Delivery Office, and the National Agency of Civil Service of Ukraine we developed educational online series called ‘Public Policy and How It is Shaped.’  The series, released three months ago, emphasize the importance of human rights-based approach and inclusive policy options.  As of today, more than 6,000 people have already successfully completed the course.

Under the framework of EU funded and UNDP implemented Parliamentary Reform Project, we enhanced the capacity of human resources personnel in the   Secretariat of the Verhovna Rada through numerous trainings and knowledge acquisition events. 

This year, UNDP supported the development of the National Strategy for Building a Barrier-Free Ukraine for everyone. The Strategy caters for the needs of all social groups, including youth, parents of children under the age of six, people with disabilities, and the elderly.   The National Agency for Civil Servants plays a critical and instrumental role in lifting and eliminating barriers to public service thus making them more accessible, affordable, and inclusive.  

In closing, I would like to express my deepest and most sincere gratitude to you, Ms. Natalia Aliushyna, and to your team of dedicated professionals at the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service for your unwavering commitment to promote human rights and barrier-free values in the national civil service.

We look forward to continuing this fruitful cooperation in the years to come. 

Thank you.