On December 7, 2018 at the premises of the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights the Closing Conference of the Twinning Project “Implementation of the best European practices with the aim of strengthening the institutional capacity of the Apparatus of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights to protect human rights and freedoms (Apparatus)” took place.
The Project was implemented in cooperation with the Lithuanian institutions (Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania, Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, State Data Protection Inspectorate, Law Institute of Lithuania, Vilnius University, Central Project Management Agency) and Austrian institutions (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights) with the financial support of the European Union within the framework of European Neighborhood Instrument.
The goal of the Twinning project was to ensure effective prevention and response of violation of human rights by strengthening the capacity of the Ombudsman Institution as an effective mechanism for parliamentary control over the observance of human rights and freedoms by improving legislation and internal procedures according to international standards. The project presupposes the capacity building of the Secretariat of the Commissioner.
In a welcoming speech, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova expressed gratitude to the European side for effective cooperation within the framework of the project implementation. At the same time, it was noted that during the project implementation, two draft Laws were drafted: "On the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Human Rights" and "On Personal Data Protection".
In turn, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius emphasized that the best practices exchange between the partners of the project will contribute to bringing the Ukrainian national legal framework in line with the best practices of the EU in the sphere of human rights.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar noted that the harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with EU law is one of the priority tasks of implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, which provides for the provision of an adequate level of personal data protection in accordance with the highest European and international standards.
The Head of Section of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, Martin Klaucke, in his speech, emphasized the strategic importance of the project and stressed that, in the opinion of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, the Twinning project for the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights is one of the most successful projects.
Resident Twinning Adviser Aušra Rauličkytė expressed gratitude to the partners of the project for the high professionalism and coordinated cooperation aimed at achieving the mandatory results of the project.
Chief Public Relations Counsellor of the Seimas Ombudsmen's Office of the Republic of Lithuania Vytautas Valentinavičius, MS Project leader, Head of the Seimas Ombudsmen's Office of the Republic of Lithuania Augustinas Normantas as well as experts from partner countries of the project presented speeches.
On behalf of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union, the Senior Consultant of SIGMA and CIB projects of the Projects Management Unit Yuliia Yerchenko attended the event.
For reference:
according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ukraine “On Approval of the Procedure for Initiation, Preparation and Implementation of the Twinning Projects” as of 11 October, 2016 No 700 the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service coordinates the implementation of the institution building instrument of the European Union Twinning in Ukraine. Furthermore, in accordance with relevant legal acts the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service is the coordinator of institution building instrument TAIEX implementation in Ukraine. In order to provide effective coordination of Twinning and TAIEX the Twinning Program Administration Office in Ukraine was established, its functions are performed by the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union.
