Iryna Akymova: the participants of the internship in Harvard are already working on implementing reforms in Ukraine
(Kyiv, Ukraine, October 6, 2011) – “Representatives of the state administration and corporate sector, who have participated in a week long internship program at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, are already working on implementing reforms in Ukraine”. This was stated by the Deputy Head of the President’s Administration Iryna Akimova at a special press conference on the program’s results. The program “Management and Leadership” took place on September 18-24, 2011. The objective was to enable the participants study public administration and improve their skills of implementing economic reforms. All in all 32 participants took advantage of the program; they were selected from the group of experts who currently advise on economic reforms, among the representatives of various government departments and ministries, as well as professionals with experience in the corporate environment. “Majority of the interns under the Harvard program are already working in the public sector focusing on priority projects. The selection board has also chosen professionals with experience in the corporate environment for participation in the program. They will be involved into implementing the reforms,” stated the Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine. According to the President of the Ukraine Economic Reform Fund Lyubov Rudyuk, the Harvard program is a pilot project of the Presidential Personnel Reserve Program. The faculty of the Harvard University designed the curriculum specifically for the Ukrainian delegation taking into account the specifics of the current situation in Ukraine. “The John F. Kennedy School of Government brings up leaders in the public service worldwide. The faculty stuff of Harvard University are the outstanding political figures and reform consultants, who passed their experience of reform implementation in the USA and other countries to the Ukrainian participants of the Program. This constitutes the ultimate value of the Program,” said the President of the Ukraine Economic Reform Fund Lyubov Rudyuk. The Presidential Administration together with the Ukraine Economic Reform Fund introduced the Program in Ukraine and remained in charge of the selection process. The Program candidates included the representatives of the public sector and several participants with a corporate environment. The Ukrainian state authorities plan to engage these participants in the reform process in Ukraine. “Harvard is the inexhaustible source of practical experience in solving problems in public administration. As part of the course we studied the experience of other countries and sought for opportunities to implement it in Ukraine,” said one of the participants of the Harvard program Kyrylo Bondar. The video about the Program can be seen here http://vimeo.com/30097915. The Ukraine Economic Reform Fund is an international organization supported through the contributions from the private companies all over Ukraine. The Fund’s activity is focused on supporting projects aimed at successful implementation of economic reforms, stabilization of the Ukrainian economy, and improving Ukraine’s image internationally. The Fund was founded in 2010. The official presentation of the Fund took place on January 14, 2011. For further information please contact: Shulevska Natalia, PR-manager of the Ukraine Economic Reform Fund Cell: (063) 377 66 45 Е-mail: info@uerf.org