Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine and the Council of Europe projects continue to work temporarily remotely. The unusual format of forced complete online work has created both new challenges and new opportunities. In April, various essential and useful events took place online almost every day. And they were preceded by even more intensive, multi-channel and multilevel preparatory online work of the team of the Office and Projects of the Council of Europe in Ukraine.
“Quarantine restrictions and the full transition to telecommuting have, of course, forced us to adjust our work plans in some way. But this in no way stopped the implementation of our programs and projects. We quickly converted the work to the online format and continue to work successfully. In April, various events and activities were held almost daily to implement the Council of Europe’s mission in Ukraine to protect human rights, uphold democracy and ensure the rule of law. Together with our partners, we continue to actively and effectively implement the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2021,” – emphasized Ms Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.
On 15 April 2020, representatives of the Council of Europe hold an online meeting with the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ms Iryna Venediktova. Ms Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, and Mr Tigran Karapetyan, the Head of Human Rights National Implementation Division of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, took part in the meeting. During the meeting, the participants discussed further reforms of public prosecution service and the support that the Council of Europe can provide within the framework of the project “Human Rights Compliant Criminal Justice System in Ukraine”.
That same day, representatives of the Joint Project “European Union and Council of Europe working together to support the Prison Reform in Ukraine” (SPERU Project) online meeting with Ms Olena Vysotska, the Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine. Taking into account the recent institutional changes within the MoJ including the transformation of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine into the Criminal Executive Directorate, it was agreed that priority should be given to organizing an online training on Dynamic security for the representatives of the new Directorate and its six regional Departments.
The Joint Project of the EU and the Council of Europe “EU and Council of Europe working together to support freedom of media in Ukraine” held a series of webinars in April to support local reformed print media, enhancing awareness regarding the peculiarities of working under quarantine. More than 150 media representatives took part in the webinars. The project also made approbation of the training for judges and ToT “Legal protection of professional journalistic activity”. Now judges-trainers can hold regional trainings on this course.
Council of Europe Programme “Decentralisation and Local Government Reform in Ukraine” announced Human Resources Management Digest №2 for local authorities (HRM Digest №2). The 2nd HRM Digest particularly addresses a range of questions on how to effectively organize the work of local authorities’ staff, the local council, and its executive bodies to enable the exercise of their powers during the COVID-19. The 2nd HRM Digest for local authorities will be followed by online trainings for local authorities at the request of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service to ensure that the new changes and methods of work are implemented effectively. Also in cooperation with partners started the National Media Contest on Decentralisation 2020 for journalists.
The CoE’s Project “Promoting civil participation in the democratic decision-making in Ukraine” conducted three online interactive game-based training “CivicLab UChange LIVE”. Participants are equipped with practical skills to solve their specific neighborhood problems and find solutions by using civil participation tools. They will now easily select the necessary tools to solve any problem and be able to implement their project or idea. Besides, the project has launched an online course on effective public consultations from the Consultation Institute and organized online talks to increase awareness of public officials about best practices of public consultations and the effectiveness of civil participation instruments in the time of Coronavirus quarantine constraints.
The Joint Project of the European Union and the Council of Europe “EU and the Council of Europe working together to strengthen the Ombudsperson’s capacity to protect human rights” prepared visibility materials (infographics) aimed at raising the public awareness on personal data protection standards and powers of the Ombudsperson’s Office in this sphere. Infographics were published on web-resources of the Ombudsperson’s Office and on Facebook of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, thus made available for public. The printed infographics on data protection rights will soon be disseminated by the Ombudsperson’s Office in Kyiv and regions.
The CoE’s Project “Protecting National Minorities, including Roma and minority languages in Ukraine” held an expert online meeting on the preparation of the Roma Strategy 2021-2026. The meeting was attended by representatives of the UN Women, the International Renaissance Foundation, the relevant Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The participants agreed on a clear algorithm of actions for the development of the Roma Strategy, online consultations and discussions, and agreed on the expert composition.
The CoE’s Project “Supporting the transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine” held three brainstorming sessions on the creative concept for interactive online voters’ awareness-raising program. Also, with the participation of the project, there was held kick-off meeting of the CEC working group on the introduction of new technologies into the electoral process and two meetings of thematic sub-groups. As a result, a Working group and its thematic sub-groups were formed, their strategic goals and tasks, as well as calendar work plan were defined and agreed by the members of the group.
The CoE Project “Promoting social human rights as a key factor of sustainable democracy in Ukraine” organized online lecture “European Social Charter and its application in Ukraine” by Ms Alla Fedorova, the Council of Europe consultant. Law students, lawyers, representatives of NGOs and the general public interested in the topics raised had an opportunity to get acquainted with the Charter itself, its principles, monitoring of the implementation of the commitments, as well as the application of the Charter in Ukraine, inter alia by the Ukrainian courts. The project also translated the European Committee of Social Rights conclusions with regard to the report of Ukraine of 2019. The translation is available online. The findings were also provided to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine.
“The joint synergy of the teams of the Office and projects of the Council of Europe in Ukraine involved international and national partners, and experts give a good result. Together we have established a lively and fruitful work online, which from a virtual dimension gives tangible real results for Ukraine and the Council of Europe in protecting human rights, supporting democracy and ensuring the rule of law in the extremely difficult conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. So, we continue to work remotely – actively and efficiently, and at the same time, we are preparing for a gradual return to our office”, – said Ms Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.
