Functional and institutional review of Ukrainian parliament’s Secretariat launched with EU support

December 9, 2019

In support of parliamentary reform in Ukraine and in agreement with the Ukrainian Parliament, the United Nations Development Programme has entered into an agreement with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) to conduct a functional audit of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariat.

Over the next three months, the WFD will conduct an analysis of the institutional and management structure of the Secretariat, including the operating procedures and internal regulatory documents of its structural units, to identify the possible duplication of functions, and inefficient allocation of powers and responsibilities.

The experts will also analyse the available financial resources and the VRU Secretariat’s expenses on functional areas of activity over the last five years.

The efficiency of legislative procedures and of the Verkhovna Rada’s Rules of Procedure will be a particular focus of the analysis.

The findings of the analysis will be used to make recommendations on ways to restructure the VRU Secretariat, updating its framework documents and developing strategic documents for the coming years. In particular, a list of strategic directions for building the capacity of the VRU Secretariat, a strategic development plan and an action plan for the implementation of the recommendations will be produced.

The functional analysis of the VRU Secretariat is to be carried out in as part of parliamentary reform, and Secretariat Head Viacheslav Shtuchnyi has repeatedly emphasized the need for such a comprehensive analysis.

“We are grateful to our international partners for their cooperation,” Shtuchniy said. “We believe that such an analysis will help us see where we have room for improvement, and the Verkhovna Rada Secretariat will improve its performance early next year, taking into account the best international practices and Ukrainian context.”

Martin Klaucke, the head of the Operations Section of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, noted that with the launch of the functional review, the VRU Secretariat was starting an active phase of reform, which would hopefully lead to appropriate changes in terms of organisation, business processes and management practices within the Secretariat in 2020. These transformations should help improve the overall performance of the VRU as Ukraine's legislative body, he said.

“The EU has been supporting public administration reforms in Ukraine for years, and we are happy to see parliamentary reform picking up steam,” Klaucke said. “We anticipate that 2020 will become the year of parliamentary reform for the Verkhovna Rada.”

UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Ukraine Manal Fouani stressed: “Human resources are the capital assets of any institution, and they can only work well when supported by effective work procedures. This is exactly what we aim to achieve with our esteemed partner in the VR, in partnership with the EU, through a functional and institutional review of the Ukrainian parliament.”

For reference: The functional audit is being carried out as part of the EU-UNDP Parliamentary Reform project.

The Westminster Foundation for Democracy is a UK public organization founded in 1992 to promote democratic processes in the world. The WFD promotes democracy in developing countries, in cooperation with local political parties, parliaments and other institutions, non-governmental organizations and the media. The institution runs projects in over 30 countries.

For additional information, please contact Mykola Yabchenko via mykola.yabchenko@undp.org or at +38 067 290 55 01