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.

Anti-Trafficking Program

• IOM has provided direct assistance, including medical, psychological, legal, educational, and vocational training assistance to 1766 victims of trafficking. Out of victims assisted in 2007, 52% were trafficked for sexual exploitation, 45% for labor exploitation, 2% for mixed forms, and 1% for forced begging.
• To date, 82 NGO anti-trafficking projects were funded by USAID activities, including projects with universities, faith-based organizations, and trade unions.
• Educational materials, including a video film “Destination Point – Life” have been presented to educators in 25 oblasts; and 18,000 copies of the film have been produced for distribution to schools throughout Ukraine.
• 200 volunteers from 20 oblasts have been trained for volunteer work in countering trafficking under the Peer-to-Peer Ray of Hope Project up to date.
• Specialized Certification for Social Work course, delivered by IOM trainers resulted in 23 NGO representatives receiving diplomas in Social Work at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
• National Counter-Trafficking Essay Contest call resulted into 41 works submitted (10 academic essays, 11 pieces of artwork, 19 "open mic" works, and 1 "open mic"/artwork) by 43 students (29 female and 14 male) from 16 cities throughout Ukraine.
• A toll-free national counter-trafficking short number “527” launched and operating with  mobile operators life:), KyivStar and MTS as a result of partnership program with IOM counter-trafficking project.

Elections and Political Process

• USAID supported an international observation mission for the 2007 pre-term Parliamentary elections through the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), a coalition of election monitoring NGOs from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. More than 500 international observers from 15 different countries participated. USAID also supported a long-term domestic monitoring effort through a local NGO network, OPORA.
• In 2007, the International Republican Institute (IRI), in cooperation with the Democracy Development Foundation (DDF), conducted an extensive political party poll watcher training program. While the training took place in all oblasts, a special emphasis was given to the regions that have had past problems with electoral fraud. Overall, 108 seminars were conducted, reaching over 7,800 domestic poll watchers.
• IRI conducted a series of trainings, seminars, conferences, and roundtables, for election lawyers to provide them with current information on the electoral code, legal decisions affecting the election, and methods of adjudication. Political party and civil society lawyers were invited to take part in events that provided training and opportunities for networking among members of the legal profession. Over 370 party lawyers in the country took part in the events.
• IRI has maintained close working relationships with three regional NGOs responsible for conducting Young Political Leadership Schools (YPLS) throughout Ukraine. IRI provided subgrants to the East-Ukrainian Democracy Development Foundation (EUDDF), the Youth XXI Century (YXXIC) organization, and the Zhytomyr Oblast Center of Youth Initiatives (ZOCYI). Through this regional initiative, subgrantees were able to reach each major geographic region of Ukraine, hosting the schools in oblast capitals such as, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Odesa, Zhytomyr, Uzhgorod, and Chernihiv.
• The National Democratic Institute (NDI) trained 100 Verkhovna Rada faction staffers on communications and press operations. NDI also held 105 seminars for party poll watchers to ensure transparency in the 2007 pre-term Parliamentary elections.
• In 2007, IFES conducted its 15th Public Opinion in Ukraine Survey. It was designed to provide insights into Ukrainian citizens’ awareness of latest political developments, including early parliamentary elections, amendments to election legislation, as well as views on the economy, democracy, politics, voting, elections, human rights, the media, and religion.
• NDI continued to implement its governance program, training executive branch staffers in Poland. NDI study missions are tailored to improve intradepartmental communication and policy formation within the executive branch.
• In 2007, NDI and IRI worked with political parties and blocs across political spectrum, training party cadre on party building, message developments, communications and outreach. The trainings were held in Kyiv and Ukraine’s oblasts, engaging 1,435 party activists.

Legislative Function and Process

• The public hearing process continues to evolve and improve through USAID-funded assistance. Committee staff takes an active part in trainings and workshops provided by the Parliamentary Development Program.
• The improvement of the Parliament’s oversight function was facilitated through active support to the working group on the Law on Committees that clarified further the Parliament’s oversight functions over the Executive Branch.
• For a decade, USAID has funded an annual parliamentary internship program. Over 40 percent of former interns remain in public service. Many of them hold high elected and executive posts, including a Central Election Commission member, a Deputy Minister on Youth Policy, and a Deputy Minister of Justice.

Media Freedom and Freedom of Information

• USAID-supported NGO and magazine Telekritika won the award for “An Important Contribution to Ukrainian Mass Media” at the all-Ukrainian contest “Golden Fortune 2007” held on April 14th in Kyiv.
• Telekritika’s (TK) information and news is being used by increasing numbers of media outlets as well as by web portals such as Relamaster, Glavred.info, Ukrayins’ka Pravda, Media Business; and the websites of Ukrainian political parties, television channels, and business editions. BBC Monitoring has also quoted and referenced Telekritika in its news reports. In 2007 the number of links and references to TK has increased substantially, as has the number of unique visitors to the site itself.

• USAID assistance has helped develop three effective professional associations – the Independent Association of Broadcasters of Ukraine (IAB), the Ukrainian Association of Press Publishers (UAPP), the Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine which support the long-term growth and sustainability of Ukraine’s independent media .

• Internews Ukraine played a key role in the promotion of a public broadcasting system in Ukraine by helping to implement a national public broadcasting initiative and creating an interdepartmental working group to develop the concept. A first critical step was the Declaration of Cooperation, signed on March 15, 2007 by Eduard Prutnik, head of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting; Vitaliy Shevchenko, head of the National Council for Television and Radio; Taras Petriv, head of the National Commission for Freedom of Speech and the Information Sphere under the President of Ukraine; and Andriy Shevchenko, head of the Parliamentary Committee for Freedom of Speech and Information.

• Internews Ukraine distributed 2,000 copies of a practical guide for journalists called Effective Production of TV News: News Broadcasting Standards. Professional Ethics of the News Journalist, was written by Ihor Kulyas and Oleksandr Makarenko, both leading Internews Ukraine trainers. This guidebook is one of the first domestic publications devoted to news journalism standards in Ukraine.

• Media Law Institute (MLI) provided a number of consultations to the Ministry of Justice for drafting the Law on Transparency of Media Ownership. This draft was officially registered and supported by the Parliament of Ukraine in the first reading in February 2007. MLI continued its work on the draft with the Freedom of Speech Committee. MLI cooperated with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to work on the new wording of the Law on Information.

• IREX’s Training of Trainers (TOT) program is helping to amend the lack of print journalism training for the local press. More than 15 qualified trainers now provide training services for media all over Ukraine, as more and more publishers understand the importance of educating their staff and demand is growing. In 2007, over 50 trainings were conducted.

Rule of Law 

• USAID rule of law activities increased access to justice by the public, apprising the Ukrainian population of its rights while also providing a means of protecting those rights. In 2007, advocacy partners provided more than 8,000 legal consultations, filed nearly 1,800 administrative actions, and represented clients in nearly 1,400 lawsuits throughout Ukraine.
• The President and Verkovna Rada Judiciary Committee approved half of the changes recommended, as a result of the UROL project, to draft laws related to the judiciary, including limiting the administrative and judicial appointment powers of chief judges and mandating financial disclosure for judges on an annual basis.  

• Together with the Supreme Court, Council of Judges, and State Judicial Administration, USAID is implementing and testing an automated random case assignment and management system in selected pilot courts as part of a national strategy to automate the courts.   

• With support from USAID, the High Qualifications Commission of Judges and Academy of Judges conducted a pilot anonymous test for judicial candidates to promote the merit-based selection of judges. A pilot project introducing Judicial Complaint Forms was also launched.  

• USAID is improving access to court decisions by strengthening the judiciary’s ability to electronically transmit and post decisions on the Web through the Registry of Court Decisions.  

• A total of 840 judges were trained on judicial ethics, human rights law, court administration and case management, administrative law and procedures, and media relations. In addition, the Academy of Judges incorporated a USAID-supported judicial ethics curriculum into ongoing judicial education programs.  

• UROL project is implementing the Civic Court Monitoring Program, aimed at helping courts streamline processes, save costs, and implement changes that positively impact both courts and users of the court system. Activities in 49 courts covering 7 regions of Ukraine were monitored in 2007.

• Clinical legal education has been incorporated into the law school curricula, including the publication of two textbooks endorsed by the Ministry of Education.

• An internet resource for legal clinics, a “Street law”- manual and 2 Regional Training Centers for advocacy partners were established through the ABA-ROLI program.

Strengthen Democratic Civic Participation

• USAID provided technical assistance, training and grants to approximately 1,100 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). Efforts focused on CSO organizational capacity, professionalism, governance and advocacy; engaging citizens in addressing issues, including local development and anti-corruption; youth leadership; reform of the CSO enabling environment; and promotion of ethical standards for CSOs.

• During 2007, the Ukraine Citizens’ Action Network (UCAN) project awarded 14 additional grants totaling $170,774.02 through three grant competitions to CSOs in eight oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. As of September 30, 2007, the project has cumulatively provided 294 grants totaling $5,550,570.31 to Ukrainian CSOs from 24 oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

• UCAN, International Center for Non-Profit Law (ICNL), and Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research contributed to Ministry of Justice regulations making CSO registration easier. Specifically, Ministry Order 92/5 eliminated discrepancies in registration fees, reduced required paperwork, and reconciled contradictions among public registrars.

• A coalition of Ukrainian NGOs collaborated with Justice Ministry officials on a draft Law on Public Associations that is aligned with European legal standards and resolves conflicts in existing legislation. The bill awaits consideration by Parliament.

• UCAN-funded think-tanks and analytical CSOs provided the first independent critical assessment by civil society of national and local government transparency and accountability a year after Ukraine introduced its new proportional electoral system. Its widely publicized conclusion was that the government has become more closed and less responsive to citizens.

• The Ukrainian Center for Common Ground, a UCAN grant recipient, led the movement to establish a commonly understood and widely used CSO code of ethics. As of September 2007, 94 CSOs signed the ethics declaration, an 84 percent increase over last year.

• UCAN grantees have advanced their organizational capacity; while in 2003, 44 percent of CSOs were categorized as “beginners,” today only 10% of CSOs are.

• UCAN promoted social entrepreneurship as a means for organizations to raise money and support their missions through income-generation activities; six UCAN grantees completed projects this year, earning total revenue of $16,200, providing employment for fourteen people, and thereby creating a foundation for financial sustainability.

<< Back to Accomplishments