Amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 671 transform the Initiatives Coordination Council and strengthen interaction between the executive authorities and NGOs.

On June 17, 2016, Transparency International Ukraine proposed a set of new open standards of good governance and building responsible partnerships at the session of the Coordination Council.  The Government’s amendments refer to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 671 as of June 13, 2012 ’Some issues of the Open Government Partnership Initiative realization in Ukraine’.

The amendments aim to improve the process of establishment and organization of the Coordination Council’s work. The Resolution approves a new composition of the Council and its statute. The new structure of the Coordination Council reduced its staff from forty to fourteen members – (seven members from the executive branch and the public respectively), and established two co-chairs: one from the Government (the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers) and another from the civil society. The Coordination Council members will be selected on a competitive basis.

During the session the Coordination Council’s objectives, functions, and scope of work were defined.  Specifically, meetings between representatives of the executive authority and the civil society institutions have been identified to discuss problems related to the implementation of the Initiative.

«The first step of fundamental change in governance was established. Nevertheless, it will take time to determine whether the proposed mechanism of the responsible governance is effective or not. For us, in Ukraine, it is a powerful challenge.

We will test this mechanism and apply it to the collective responsibility issues as it relates to the “Paris Declaration”, in other words, the development of mechanisms to facilitate a continuous dialogue and to improve coordination within the civil society for an advanced change,» stated expert in governance Olesia Arkhypska.

Note: on September 20, 2011, eight countries – co-founders (Brazil, the United States of America, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa and the United Kingdom) started the Open Government Partnership Initiative and signed the Partnership Declaration as part of the UN General Assemble session. As of February 1, 2017, seventy-five countries joined the Initiative.