Series targets public officials to raise awareness of legislation on access to public information.

Kyiv, 24 September 2020 – To commemorate the International Day of Access to Information on 28 September, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, supported by the UN Development Programme, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and the National Agency for Civil Service, has prepared a new series of educational videos for public officials. The online series, launched today, aims to raise awareness of relevant legislation and best practice in order to prevent possible violations.

Valeriia Ionan, Deputy Minister for European Integration at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, underlined that the information holders bear all the responsibility to ensure the right to information. “Sometimes it happens that in the work of public officials something doesn’t go as planned – such violations of the constitutional right to information do happen,” Ionan said. “That’s why the Ministry of Digital Transformation, together with partners and leading experts on access to public information, is presenting this new online series of educational videos.”

Manal Fouani, UNDP’s Deputy Resident Representative in Ukraine, said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought this issue to the forefront by demonstrating the critical importance of reliable and timely public information to promote the safety and security of the public.

“I trust that the educational series will give civil servants a deeper understanding of the importance of access to public information and the need to actively engage with the citizens,” Fouani said.

“Thanks to the joint efforts of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Ombudsperson’s Office, and UNDP Ukraine, the state authorities will become even more transparent, accountable and effective,” she said, adding: “What matters most is that the right public information reach the right people at the right time, so they can take the right informed actions needed for everyone to benefit.”

The educational series is the result of the strategic partnership between the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and UNDP, which has the aim of enhancing digital solutions for democracy and promoting digital literacy in Ukraine. It was developed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation with the support of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the National Agency for Civil Service, and the Human Rights for Ukraine (HR4U) project, which is implemented by UNDP in Ukraine with financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and will run from 2019 to 2023.

The educational series is already available on the online platform Dia.Digital education.

https://osvita.diia.gov.ua/courses/access-to-public-information

Background:

The Ministry of Digital Transformation and UNDP Ukraine have cooperated closely since the ministry was formed in August 2019. Thanks to this partnership, a number of joint initiatives have been implemented, including #HackCorona, which engaged IT experts, civic activists, start-ups, journalists in developing IT-projects to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. It also contributed to the development of the Diia.Business platform for small- and medium sized enterprises, designing mobile solutions for administrative services provision in eastern Ukraine.

In June 2020, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, in partnership with the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and with UNDP support, launched the “Personal data protection” series of educational videos.

Media enquires:

Yuliia Samus; UNDP in Ukraine Communication Officer communications.ukraine@undp.org, +38 044 254 0035

Photo: Anton Filonenko