With USAID’s support, MPs are working to rebuild connections with constituents, ensuring their voices are heard despite the challenges of martial law. The USAID “RADA: Next Generation” Program has developed innovative communication models to strengthen interaction between MPs and voters, with plans to scale these approaches nationwide. Read about the results in our success story.
For the second year running, the USAID "RADA: Next Generation" Program facilitated and supported a six-month internship with the Parliamentary Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. USAID aims to empower young Ukrainians to participate in state institutions and influence policy. Beyond providing a valuable opportunity for young people, the internship prepares to become future professional staff who would strengthen the Research Service's institutional capacity and bolster the Ukrainian parliament's analytical prowess.
The gender sensitivity of the Verkhovna Rada was assessed by experts of the JurFem Analytical Center with the support of the USAID "RADA: Next Generation" Program. The Ukrainian parliament received 42 points, which is the average score for the parliaments of EU member states. The assessment helps to understand how gender equality issues are actually reflected in the daily activities of the Parliament; how equal opportunities for women and men to be elected to parliament are ensured; what steps are needed to implement gender-sensitive practices in the parliament.
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The Program provides support to all VRU committees, but each year the Program selects a few committees to work with in a more in-depth format. This document contains some of the best practices of cooperation with the “model committees” with the aim of sharing this experience with other parliamentary committees.
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Within the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program grant initiative, the NGO “Institute Respublica” helped Olena Shuliak, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, organize public consultations on “Effective and Transparent Recovery Policy”, which were attended by more than 600 people. The proposals received were formalized in a report and will be submitted to the Ministry of Infrastructure.
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In June 2024, the VRU adopted the Law of Ukraine "On Public Consultations," which legally established the place of public consultations in lawmaking and their mechanism. The USAID RADA: Next Generation Program has prepared methodological recommendations for conducting consultations that can be used by MPs, their assistants, VRU Secretariat staff, other entities and stakeholders.
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Partners and experts of the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program support parliamentary committees by conducting analytical studies for them, allowing them to better understand complex EU legal norms and adapt them to the Ukrainian context. This contributes to the quality of the legislative process and ensures the consistency of reforms aimed at Ukraine's integration into the European legal framework.
USAID RADA: Next Generation Program works closely with the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech and provides analytical support to adapt media policy to the realities of martial law and keep pace with international best practices.