The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has hosted the first meeting of the “Transformation of Ukraine” National Forum, which was attended by representatives of the European Union, NGOs, civil society activists, entrepreneurs, the youth, the clergy, and representatives of the international community.
The creation of the forum was predetermined by the depth of the current challenges Ukraine faces, namely the need to preserve its statehood, carry out effective reforms, and ensure the modern, democratic and competitive development of the country, along with successful European integration.
The Supervisory Board of the Forum includes head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski, President of the Foundation European Centre for Entrepreneurship Jerzy Kwiecinski, President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) Anatoliy Kinakh, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) Patriarch Filaret, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Patriarch Sviatoslav, and others.
As was announced by one of the forum’s initiators — head of the Anti-Crisis Council of NGOs and ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh, the forum will become an effective system to support reforms in Ukraine as it employs the mechanisms of Europe’s best practices.
“We must do everything to strengthen democracy along with the rule of law and ensure European standards of living for Ukrainian citizens. We call for the full implementation of the Agreement on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU as of January 1, 2016,” the participants of the first meeting of the National Forum said in a joint statement.
The main tasks of the permanently functioning platform will be to establish productive communication between the authorities and society; clarify the causes of changes and reforms to the public; monitor the implementation of legal and administrative decisions and their impact on the daily life of the public; and monitor and report about possible threats to the reform process in the country.
An ad hoc permanent working group will be created to analyze and evaluate ongoing and future programs and strategies for Ukraine’s development, as proposed by the government, the President of Ukraine, and other national and international partners.
The so-called sectoral forums, which will deal with issues of a particular industry, were also founded as part of the “Transformation of Ukraine” initiative, and they will be held both at national and regional levels. They will tackle such issues as the business climate, agriculture, energy, decentralization and regional development, the development of civil society, education and science, social problems, and culture. Each sectoral forum will have both national and international coordinators. Currently, there is an initiative to create an Assembly of Coordinators to ensure the horizontal coordination of their work.
“Transformation of Ukraine” members have already appealed to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko to support the Forum and join its work together with government officials.
The next meeting of the National Forum will take place in Kyiv in November 2015. You can find more details on the forum at nftu.org.ua.
