Since independence in 1991, Ukraine has taken measured steps toward building democratic political institutions. USAID programs and activities have focused on reinforcing pluralism and transparency in the political process, implementing the rule of law, strengthening civil society and NGOs, assisting in local government development, and supporting independent media.
• Outreach efforts to inform schoolchildren and students about the dangers of trafficking. As a result, 10,000 copies of IOM’s film – Destination Point - Life, along with 10,000 teacher’s guidance booklets were distributed to schools. A Counter Trafficking Educational Course was introduced to university social work students, and a textbook was published.
• Initiatives to engage the private sector in combating trafficking. IOM signed six private-public initiatives with private companies – Microsoft Ukraine, Joint Stock Company Concern Galnaftogas, Western Union and Leo Burnett - to inform women about the dangers of trafficking.
• Eight-hundred twenty newly registered victims of trafficking (VoTs), who received direct assistance and different combinations of reintegration support, including access to medical, psychological, legal, and vocational/ employment assistance through IOM facilities and regional NGOs. Since the start of the Project in July 2004, 1,890 VoTs have been assisted. The network of NGOs providing direct assistance to victims of trafficking has been expanded to 30 organizations.
• Introduction of an effective referral and assistance system for victims of trafficking . The success of the system is best demonstrated by the results of victim reintegration, with 88% of assisted VoTs either employed or reinstated into the educational system and with less than 2% of VoTs disappearing from the reintegration network.
• A toll-free national counter-trafficking “527” number launched with mobile operators Beeline, life:), KyivStar and MTS.
• USAID assistance strengthened the internal organizational capacity of over 150 civil society organizations. Around 300 civil society representatives have participated in capacity building trainings as a part of the UNITER program.
• Under the UNITER project, 75 grants have been issued at the local and national levels throughout Ukraine totaling over $3.3 million. Among these, 34 grants were awarded in Crimea totaling about $ 470,000. Thirty young Crimea civic activists studied at the Civic Innovation Fellowship trainings.
• More then 40 public policies and laws were adopted on the local level, 5 –on the national level and 3 – in Crimea.
• In 2009-2010 EEF’s Corporate Social Responsibility program, supported by USAID, attracted co-funding of more than $200,000 from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Telenor, and the Finnish Norwegian and Switzerland governments for the Municipal Partnerships for Better Energy Use project. With these funds, EEF is supporting 7 projects in 4 regions.
• With USAID support, EEF also provided 7 grants to local NGOs in the Poltava, Zaporizhia and Sumy regions under the Community Centers for the Elderly project. EEF provided support for seven community centers that service more than 1,500 citizens monthly.
• As a result of UNITER and EEF’s work to increase NGOs’ financial sustainability, 9 of the 19 organizations receiving USAID funding for local projects have attracted at least 10 percent of their funding from community businesses and local governments.
USAID assisted in increasing judicial independence, impartiality and professionalism through support for such things as:
• The adoption of Rules of Conduct for Court Staff and the creation of the Council of Judges (COJ) Committee on Judicial Ethics.
• The publication of the Courts and Media Handbook, a resource manual that includes guidelines on how to interact with the public and media.
• The publication of the COJ Judicial Self-Governance bulletin, establishment of the COJ’s Committee on Collaboration with Media, and introduction of a public information officer position in the appellate courts.
• The development of a judicial misconduct complaint form and publication of decisions on judicial misconduct handed down in 2007.
• The piloting of an objective and standardized test for judicial candidates.
• Training, technical assistance, and information support that increased the capacity of 27 courts and three judicial institutions in Crimea. One hundred Crimea-based judges have been trained in the following areas: judicial selection and discipline, professional ethics, administrative law, human resource management in courts, court-media relations, and judicial opinion-writing skills.
USAID increased transparency, accountability and efficiency through support for:
• A public court monitoring program with USAID-trained civil society organizations, which expanded from 49 courts in 2007 to 99 in 2010. Based on CSO recommendations, 36 courts implemented service improvements.
• Training of 2,473 justice sector personnel, from 484 courts across Ukraine.
• The implementation of random case assignments in six selected courts from across Ukraine.
• The development and approval by the Council of Judges of a strategy for automating all courts in Ukraine.
• Creation of a Web site that provides information on disciplinary procedures initiated against judges, stating the age of the judge, the number of years that he or she has been on the bench, and the type of violation alleged.
USAID support helped improve the public’s trust in the judiciary through support for:
• The publication and distribution of a manual for journalists on court reporting, which promotes accurate coverage of court proceedings with respect to the human right to a fair trial, privacy protection, and the presumption of innocence.
• The introduction of public awareness materials on judicial processes and procedures, including the role of the judiciary in a democratic society.
• Since 2008, the USAID U-Media program has awarded 99 grants totaling $3.46 million to 59 local media NGOs, research institutions, media outlets and civic organizations throughout Ukraine. Over 1,600 journalists were trained in professional standards, investigative journalism, new media tools and advocating for media sector legislation.
• In 2009-2010, USAID significantly expanded the U-Media program in Crimea in order to increase access to information for Crimean residents and their participation in local decisionmaking. U-Media has awarded 27 grants to 18 organizations or media outlets in Crimea with an estimated overall budget $513,000. During 2010, U-Media grantees trained more than 70 young journalists in Crimea who producing more than 640 feature stories and news spots published in local newspapers and broadcasted on radio and TV.
• USAID support enables the Legal Reform Assistance Coalition to work to ensure that media laws meet European standards. In 2010 Coalition partners proposed legislative amendments to improve television and radio licensing and the TV digitalization process, and drafted legislation to protect the editorial freedom of municipal newspapers. Partners’ legal hotlines provided more than 180 oral and nearly 40 written consultations for journalists and editors.
Parliamentary Development Program (PDP II)
USAID expanded training in policy analysis to include staff from the executive branch agencies and through legislative working groups introduced methods and mechanisms to increase dialogue and improve legislative policy development. As a result of PDP II training for Parliament members and staff, legislative and executive staff and civil society experts have incorporated strategic legislative drafting methodology in their work.). The Parliament’s capacity for transparency notably improved as a result of USG assistance. In 2010, Radacommittees conducted 85 public fora. Web design assistance resulted in three new committee Web sites in 2010; 13 committees are now online. 195 public libraries, including eleven in Crimea, established Citizen Access Points to increase transparency by expanding public access to government information and promoting its effective use. In regional trainings, 349 civil activists learned how to work more effectively with the legislature.Since its inception in 1995, USAID has supported a parliamentary internship program, which has provided 1,011 promising young graduates of Ukrainian universities with opportunities to be engaged in parliamentary processes. While the program has contributed to further opening the Parliament’s operations to the public, it also has opened new doors for program alumni. Over 40 percent of former interns remain in public service, and many of them now hold high elected and administrative posts. The program expanded to central executive authorities in 2008. The association of program alumni, the Interns’ League, found sponsors to fund intern 33 stipends for 2010-2011 and is negotiating a formal agreement with the Verkhovna Rada, to ensure the sustainability of the competitive merit-based program.
Political Process Program in Ukraine
• USAID partners, the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), have trained 706 political party activists. As a result, local activists applied innovative outreach techniques to build closer ties between their political parties and civic groups in their communities. Training increased party skills in strengthening contact with voters, developing issue-based platforms, using new media, and understanding and planning for changes to build closer ties to citizens.
• Activities also involved youth from all major political parties to expand political dialogue, help bridge regional divides and cultivate future political party leaders.
• IRI provided trainings for 57 locally-elected officals on increased communication with civil society, responsiveness to and representation of constitutents; training sessions for 105 political party and civil society lawyers to be more prepared to participate in legal challenges during elections; and seminars for 246 youth activists and ethnic minority groups on political processes and public activism.
• In 2010 IRI cooperated with local authorities to conduct 9 public hearings in Crimea. IRI’s Crimea office works with local elected officials to help them seek citizen input into the government decision making processes. IRI has trained over 930 citizen activists and elected officials on how to plan the hearings and select issues that are important to local citizens.
• Since 2004, IRI has been conducting Youth Political Leadership Schools to increase youth engagement in political processes. In 2010, 125 individuals graduated from IRI’s intensive three-month schools.
• NDI trained OPORA, a national network of young, non-partisan grassroots activists, which has quickly grown to include 45 organizations across Ukraine and raised public awareness about 2010 Presidential and local elections by placing 174 long-term and 1,003 short-term independent election observers across Ukraine.