INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN UKRAINE: ASSESSING THE STATE OF AFFAIRS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES”

Thursday, 16 November 2017 13:38

On 16 November, 2017 at the premises of the Club of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine international conference “Public Administration in Ukraine: Assessing the State of Affairs, Achievements and Challenges” (hereinafter – the Conference) started. The event was organized by the European Commission and the OECD / SIGMA Programme in joint cooperation with the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service and the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union.

The goal of the Conference was to discuss the progress of public administration reform in Ukraine as well as consider key objectives and challenges being faced by the Ukrainian side in this process.

This Conference will become the official launch of comprehensive and profound assessment of current state of affairs of public administration system with the involvement of the OECD / SIGMA Programme. Organization of the Conference was envisaged by the Action Plan of the Strategy of Public Administration Reform in Ukraine for 2016–2020. The main outcomes of the assessment carried out will be made public in July, 2018 that will allow to update the core objectives and activities of the Strategy of Public Administration Reform in Ukraine.

The Prime-Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groisman, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli and the Head of NAUCS Kostiantyn Vashchenko presented opening speeches.

The Prime-Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr GROISMAN in his welcome address drew the attention of those present to the fact that the public administration reform is one of the most important reforms in Ukraine. The main objective of civil service reform, launched in 2014 and widely implemented in May, 2016, is to bring new actors, new people that are capable for initiating changes and faithful serving to the state in power.

The Head of Government underlined that the civil service until recently was one of the most conservative and closed systems. Instead, fundamental changes would have been next to impossible to carry out without proper quality management.

“Our commitment is to build a strong state, – the Head of Government admitted. – And today we face two tasks: to create a new system of governance and to bring into power those who are capable of change, to serve the state in good faith and to deliver quality services”.

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to the partners of Ukraine and the expert community for supporting the civil service reform.

The EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine Hugues MINGARELLI within the framework of the opening speech pointed out that Ukraine was considered to be one of the priority countries for the EU.

Hugues Mingarelli underlined that public administration reform can make the transition period in the process of country's reform successful one. “For this purpose three things are to be done”, – Hugues Mingarelli said. – “First of all, it is necessary to pour into the state structures “fresh blood”, and this process is actually being carried out in Ukraine through a pilot project implementation in 10 ministries and two state agencies. Mr. Mingarelli pointed out that these government authorities provide 200 vacant positions for reformers, and it is very important that new people are recruited on the basis of their personal qualities and merits.

The second condition, according to Hugues Mingarelli, is to restructure ministries in such a way that their structure and functions to be adapted to the requirements of a market economy.

And the third one – sustainability. To do this, it is necessary to foresee in the state budget all the necessary resources to support the public administration reform”. “Be politically and financially committed to this issue, and on our turn we will try to do our best to mobilize all the resources for your support”, – Hugues Mingarelli underlined.

Johannes HAHN, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations in his video-address to the participants of the Conference noted the dynamics of reforms in Ukraine in the recent period and confirmed the EU support to the aspirations of Ukraine to reform their public administration. Neutral and professional civil service serving the interests of all Ukrainian citizens is an important prerequisite for a responsible and transparent government. And the EU will continue to provide comprehensive support to internal transformations aimed at further rapprochement with the EU.

The Head of the NAUCS Kostiantyn VASHCHENKO in his introductory speech congratulated the participants on the occasion of the kick-off Conference and underlined that public administration and civil service reforms are of vital importamnce. They systematically affect the whole structure of governance in the country, its functioning, the ability to provide services, as well as relations with the citizens. Public administration reform is the fundamental element that ensures the democratic functioning of the state and is aimed at improving three key interdependent components of the system: the institutions, rules and procedures that regulate their internal work, as well as the processes and mechanisms for coordinating their cooperation, and staffing.

Kostiantyn VASHCHENKO underlined the exclusive role in this process of the OECD / SIGMA programme, that was actively involved in the process of development of the Law of Ukraine “On Civil Service” and the secondary legislation to it in order to ensure the implementation of the civil service reform.

Within the framework of panel discussions, the participants of the Conference discussed main achievements and challenges in the process of public administration reform implementation in Ukraine.

Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oleksandr SAIENKO stressed that successful implementation of legislative initiatives in Ukraine is impossible without establishment of an effective system of public administration.

Oleksandr Saienko admitted the public administration reform within the Strategy of Public Administration Reform in Ukraine for 2016–2020 consists of three key components. “The first is strategic planning, prioritization and coordination of resources around the priorities that are set by the President, the Parliament, the government today… The second is the issue of procedures. The effective communication had significant influence on the success of reforms in the Parliament. Previously, solutions were being prepared in private cabinets, and now we are moving to a procedure where we involve in the development of political decisions all key stakeholders whom this decision can affect to”- the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine said.

The third component, according to Oleksandr Saienko, is the work of ministries.

“We must strengthen political responsibility and give the ministers all the tools to fully implement changes and reforms in their area of political responsibility”, - the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine noted.

Peter WAGNER, Head of the Support Group for Ukraine in the European Commission, in his speech outlined that today Ukraine is implementing complex but necessary steps to modernize the civil service and create an efficient and transparent government that meets the needs of citizens. Professional civil service is the basis for the successful implementation of all other reforms. Serhii VLASENKO, People's Deputy of Ukraine, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government, Valeriy PEKAR, Co-founder of the Civil Platform “Nova Kraina”, and Kostiantyn VASHCHENKO, Head of the NAUCS, presented the main achievements and challenges in realization of the public administration reform in Ukraine, in particular, the civil service reform and the procedure for the selection of personnel.

At the same time, the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Maksym Nefyodov and Deputy State Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Tetiana Kovtun presented the main achievements and challenges facing Ukraine in reforming of the Ministries and the system of administrative services. Furthermore, in the framework of the Conference Head of the OECD / SIGMA programme Karen Hill in conjunction with the Head of Unit “Thematic Support, Monitoring and Evaluation” in the European Commission Bernard Brunet presented the principles of public administration of the OECD / SIGMA Programme, presented the main approaches and outlined the technical aspects of the future evaluation of public administration in Ukraine.

Ministers and People's Deputies of Ukraine, State Secretaries of Ministries, official representatives of the Euporean Union, SIGMA Programme, civil society, expert environment, international organizations and diplomatic corps take part in the event.

For reference: SIGMA programme (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management) — is considered to be one of the most prestigious analytical centers of the European Union that was launched in 1992 with the initiative of the OECD and the EU.

2017 sees the 25th anniversary of SIGMA, the result of a successful long-term partnership between the OECD and the European Union (EU). In that period, SIGMA has developed into a recognised centre of excellence of public administration reform (PAR) and has worked with more than 30 partner countries to help them to establish professional public administrations, effective financial management and economic development. The most active cooperation was with Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine.

The main goal of the OECD / SIGMA Programme is:

- strengthening the foundations for improved public governance;

- support socio-economic development through building the capacities of the public sector;

- enhancing horizontal governance;

- improving the design and implementation of public administration reforms.

Technical assistance of the OECD / SIGMA Programme is carried out within the framework of 6 areas:

- public financial management, public procurement and external audit;

- public service and human resource management;

- policy development and coordination

- public administration reform;

- service delivery

- accountability.