Today, the Council of Europe and the European Union have presented to media in Kyiv the results of their projects for Eastern Partnership countries, including Ukraine.
The five country-specific projects carried out in Ukraine under the Partnership for Good Governance in 2015-2017, focused on strengthening human rights standards, penitentiary reform, freedom of media, fighting corruption, and supporting free and fair elections. The total budget of these projects is 3.2 million Euros. The projects are funded by the EU and the Council of Europe, and are co-funded and implemented by the Council of Europe. In addition to these country-specific projects, Ukraine also participates in 14 regional initiatives covering all Eastern Partnership countries.
The projects were presented by Pilar Morales, Head of Programming Department of the Council of Europe; Martin Klaucke, Head of Operations Section on good governance and democratization of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, and Serhii Saienko, Partnership for Good Governance National Coordinator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The aim of the projects conducted in Ukraine was two-fold: to provide support to the implementation of the domestic reform agenda in Ukraine; and to bring the national legislation and practice in line with European standards in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy.
Among the results of the projects highlighted during the event are the following:
- providing support to the authorities to prepare legislation in several areas, such as police, anti-corruption, media freedom, penitentiary and elections;
- developing the Code of Ethics for Prison Staff;
- helping to set up a dedicated Human Rights Department at the national Ukrainian police to better prevent ill-treatment;
- providing support to the National Agency of Corruption Prevention and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine;
- building capacities of the local media outlets through expert consultations, regional trainings and launch of the on-line course to effectively implement the reform of state and communal print media.
In the implementation of the project, the Council of Europe has closely worked with the governmental bodies at all levels, Parliamentary Committees, public agencies with specific responsibilities in such areas as anti-corruption and anti-money laundering, the Ombudsman, the judiciary, penitentiary institutions, media, and civil society.
The Partnership for Good Governance will be extended until the end of 2018. The work in Ukraine will continue mostly in the same areas; it is also foreseen to launch a project on the protection of national minorities. These projects will be a part of the implementation of the new, 3rd Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Ukraine for the years 2018-2021 which has been agreed with the Ukrainian authorities and is now being examined by the Committee of Ministers.
As for the regional projects covering all Eastern Partnership countries, including Ukraine, the work on them is to be continued, too. New region-wide projects will include, for example, facilitating access to justice for women victims of violence.
Factsheet about country-specific projects for Ukraine
Media contact: 
Tatiana BAEVA, Spokesperson/Media Officer, +33 (0)685 11 64 93
In April 2014, the European Union and the Council of Europe agreed to implement targeted cooperation activities with EU’s Eastern Partnership countries to bring them closer to European standards in the fields of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The projects under the Partnership for Good Governance, are funded primarily by the EU, and co-funded and implemented by the Council of Europe.