Decentralisation requires strengthening the administrative capacity of public authorities, as well as professional and competent public servants. A modern and efficient public service is crucial for the implementation of democratic reforms. This was the main idea behind the annual high-level Richelieu Forum “Public Service 3.0: foresight and transformation” that took place on 24 September 2021 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The event was organised by the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service in co-operation with the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance of the Council of Europe and its Programme “Enhancing decentralisation and public administration reform in Ukraine”, jointly with other international partners.
Steen Nørlov, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, welcoming the Forum participants, underlined that the 12 principles of good democratic governance recommended by the Council of Europe, as well as the package of its tools on Democratic participation, Human Resources, Leadership, and Best Practice are being successfully implemented in Ukraine. The active incorporation of the European standards and best practices in the national laws and procedures has contributed to significant increase in the appreciation of decentralisation reforms in Ukraine. The comprehensive Council of Europe support provides a possibility to strengthen the rule of law and human rights and reinforce the pluralistic democratic values at all levels of government.
Summarising the discussion of the Forum, Natalia Alyushyna, the Head of the National Civil Service Agency, underlined that the European standards and principles of anthropocentrism, culturalism, cognitivism and dataism must be the cornerstones of the creation of the modern public service in Ukraine.
The Forum created a joint platform for the dialogue among representatives of the public service, the international community and experts, in order to find common solutions and generate ideas on further implementation of the national Public Administration Reform, being one of the elements of the Council of Europe Action Plan 2018-2022 for Ukraine
