Proposed reform paths for the government

Issues related to fully safeguarding people’s rights to freedom of movement and free choice of their place of residence are becoming increasingly relevant in the context of globalization and the high level of people’s mobility, both inside Ukraine and abroad. In Ukraine, however, the exercising of this constitutional right, and other human rights and freedoms, is limited. This is due to the specifics of the domicile registration system. Reforming this system is not only an imperative of our time, but also a precondition for successfully implementing other important reforms, such as decentralization.

This White Paper is yet another step in creating a new system for registering a place of residence in Ukraine. It draws on the findings of a national sociological study into the impact of registration on the exercising of human rights and the pursuit of vital interests. This paper also relies on the results of a detailed study into the influence of the registration of a place of residence on various spheres of public administration, and on some categories of people.

The publication was prepared within the implementation of UNDP project “Civil Society for Enhanced Democracy and Human Rights in Ukraine” with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.