The sixth DSC working meeting took place on April 22nd-23rd, 2017. During this session which was devoted to reforms and policy- making, the 29 fellows had the opportunity to spend two days listening to outstanding individuals committed to reforms and reform implementation in Ukraine. Four leading experts came to the Centre to share their experience and to talk about reforms in Ukraine in specific areas.
The first lecture was presented by Former Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oleg Derevianko. Mr. Derevianko talked about reforms in education. He started by saying that education is one of the most difficult areas to reform. Three years after the Revolution of Dignity, there are still only talks about education reform in Ukraine. Oleg, who is also an author and founder of School Angels initiative, talked about major obstacles to the education reform and shared his visions on how to reform education in Ukraine effectively and efficiently.
Advisor to the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Daryna Marchak was the second speaker on Saturday. Daryna is a journalist who has more than 10 years of experience in Ukrainian economic media and communications. She was a Head of Communications in the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and Head of Communications and Government Relations at Ukrposhta. Now she leads a project called “Quality of the governmental decisions” in the framework of public administration reform. In her lecture, she mainly focused on the public administration reform, shared her insights on reform of decision- making processes and spoke about how a good reformist team should look like.
The third speaker of the day was Head of International Relations department of the Reanimation Package of Reforms Olena Halushka. Olena gave an impactful lecture on RPR’s role in decision-making process. She talked about the ways the RPR influences Ukrainian authorities to do reforms and the role of CSOs in shaping public policy. “To be a good reformer you have to believe in what you do,” said Olena, “you have to be optimistic about Ukraine’s future!”
After such stimulating lecture, the fellows proceeded to work in their groups. Almost all projects are being finalised and will be ready to see the world soon!
The second day started with the inspiring breakfast with Yaroslav Yurchyshyn. Yaroslav is a CEO of Transparency International Ukraine. Yaroslav invited fellows to join an interactive activity about corruption. Perception of corruption, petty corruption and effective ways to fight corruption were among the main topics. “Until people stop perceiving themselves as clients of government, and start considering themselves as owners – it is hard to fight corruption,” concluded Mr. Yurchyshyn, “But it is not entirely impossible. Start with yourself and encourage others.”
You can find the programme here