Talks focused on means to build resilience into Ukraine’s response to current and future crises.

Kyiv, 8 July 2021 – Officials from the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine and Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a top-level meeting today to discuss their current and future joint efforts to ensure sustainable transformation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and strengthen its capacity to effectively respond to crisis situations. 

Meeting with Foreign Ministry State Secretary Oleksandr Bankov, who coordinated the ministry’s work with UNDP in the Crisis Coordination and Management in Ukraine (CCMU) Project, UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine Dafina Gercheva said UNDP was honoured to partner with the ministry in various areas of its development.

“Through our partnership, we can provide the ministry with firm support as it increases its organizational efficiency and effectiveness through the further implementation of public administration and civil service reform,” Gercheva said.

UNDP’s partnership with the ministry in the CCMU project had allowed it to support the ministry in quickly reacting to the highly volatile COVID-19 crisis, she added.

For example, the MFA – with the support of UNDP and the British Embassy in Ukraine – created a special interactive online map showing current travel restrictions in place around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 7 million Ukrainian citizens have used the developed interactive online map to get information about current travel restrictions. Moreover, as part of the CCMU project, UNDP supported the development of MFA’s capacity in crisis communications and countering disinformation. 

Bankov expressed appreciation for UNDP’s consistent support to MFA, and welcomed the agency’s readiness to expand and deepen cooperation in the transformation processes of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including further digitalization of the ministry, cybersecurity issues, and further capacity strengthening for its financial, administrative and HR processes.

Gercheva also expressed UNDP’s readiness to provide the necessary expert support to MFA through its ongoing RESURFACE project for ensuring access to the best international practices and global knowledge on making structural changes to government institutions.

The RESURFACE Project is a mix of rapid response to the highly volatile situation and a longer-term resilience-driven transformation of Ukraine's crisis decision-making and adaptation to extraordinary circumstances. The project is being implemented for 12 months from March 2021.

Also attending the meeting were Programme Specialist, Democratic Governance (Team Leader) Olena Ursu and SDGs Financing Project Manager Nazar Grom from UNDP, Head of Protocol Department of MFA Myroslav Kastran, and Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Lypiatska.

For additional information, please contact Yuliia Samus, UNDP Communications Team Leader at yuliia.samus@undp.org.