The illegal invasion of Ukraine is devastating, and the consequences will be far reaching. Ukraine has been on a journey strengthening its democracy for the good of its people and WFD is proud to have provided support along this road. Over the past years, WFD’s work focused on helping the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU) to strengthen its role in scrutinising government, improving accountability for legislative and financial matters, and making society more inclusive of women and underrepresented groups.

Before the Russian invasion, WFD worked with three parliamentary committees, in 2021, to improve their capacities for post-legislative scrutiny. The Devolution Committee’s Call for Evidence received more than 1,000 responses, which were discussed at a committee meeting and shared with government representatives who were present.

Despite the outbreak of the war, WFD continues to work with parliament on a range of initiatives, including post-legislative scrutiny, improving support to law drafting, full policy cycle, hybrid and online procedures, and co-operation between parliament and the government.

The USAID-funded Rada Next Generation (RANG) programme in Ukraine works in partnership with the VRU, and was in the early phases of implementation in February 2022 during the Russian military assault on Ukraine.

It took a week for parliamentary partners to adapt to circumstances and for WFD’s team to relocate, but the programme has not missed a day of implementation. The VRU quickly communicated its revised needs and WFD, as a member of the consortium delivering the programme, was able to adapt to these.

WFD’s component of the programme focuses on the VRU’s institutional capacity, primarily around accountability and oversight procedures. The programme is delivering reports with recommendations on improving civil society engagement, as well as providing a comparative study on how parliaments in seven countries apply PLS in oversight and public engagement efforts.