8 July 2008

The International Conference "European Commission and civil society in Ukraine: lessons learnt and new opportunities" organised by the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine will take place in Kyiv in Bratislava Hotel on 10-11 July 2008.

The main purpose of the event is to strengthen the level and scope of interaction between Ukrainian civil society and the European Commission through a more coordinated and systematic approach, as well as to assess past achievements and identify lessons learnt from the EC assistance programmes related to civil society in Ukraine.

The conference will provide an opportunity to continue the dialogue between the European Commission and civil society actors on how to enhance the role of civil society in EU-Ukraine relations and the EC assistance framework, particularly, in view of new aid delivery modalities such as Sector Policy Support Programmes and budgetary support.

The conference will gather key project partners of 14 IBPP (Institution Building Partnership Programme) projects implemented in Ukraine during 2006-2008, as well as representatives of civil society organisations from all regions of Ukraine, international donor community, embassies of the EU member states, and central executive authorities. More than 200 participants are expected to attend this event.

The new EC worldwide thematic programmes, procedures of EC calls for proposals and success stories from participants of past programmes will also be presented during the conference.

The conference is expected to improve the dialogue with civil society actors in order to ensure their involvement in policy process and in the new aid modalities within the European Neighbourhood Policy), as well as in monitoring of the fulfilment by government its commitments in the context of EU-Ukraine relations.

Representatives of mass media are invited to take part in the opening of the conference with the participation of Mr. Ian Boag, Ambassador, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine. The conference will start at 9:30 in the Galaxy Conference Hall of the Bratislava Hotel (1 Malyshko street, Kyiv).

Interested media representatives shall register before 16:00 on 9 July 2008 by phone (044) 279-85-75 or e-mail: tatiana@cecoforma.com (contact person – Mr. Timur Veysov).

For detailed information and conference agenda please, visit the website of the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine at: ../page47959.html