The experts of the Legal Development Network will discuss with local authorities ways of improving the protection of human rights

Publication date: October 5, 2018

An expert group of the Legal Development Network (LDN) met in Kyiv. The participants of the event, which took place on October 28, 2018, discussed the results of the monitoring of local self-government bodies. It had been carried out by monitoring missions of the LDN in the communities of Chernihiv, Khmelnytsky and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.

The meeting took place within the framework of the project of the Legal Development Network “Public Monitoring of Local Self-Governance: Partnership in the Implementation of Human Rights” that is being implemented with the support of the American people provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) within the framework of the New Justice Program.

Implementing the project, the LDN cooperates with the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU). Experts used the Local Human Rights Index (IPHR) to assess local government’s compliance with human rights. This tool, which was developed by the UHHRU, involves the assessment of local authorities in a number of indicators.

The project monitors completed research on the human rights situation in the communities, prepared draft reports on the results of their work, and discussed these projects with representatives of local authorities.

The participants of the meeting reviewed comments of the UHHRU experts o monitors’ reports.

The participants of the meeting from left to right: Anastasia Reva, LDN program assistant; Roman Lykhachov, project manager; Viktoria Ilchyshena, project expert

During the event, the experts agreed to complete the analysis of court of justice practices and local policies and programs in the coming days. This information will reflect the state of observance of human rights by local government bodies in the settlements where monitoring was conducted, as well as the main reasons for the citizens’ and communities’ appeals to court.

The reports will also reflect the results of the study of best practices in the implementation of local policies and programs from the point of view of respect for human rights and the needs of vulnerable groups. They will be available to the public on the portal of the National Human Rights Index (http://hro.org.ua/).

The reports include recommendations for local governments to improve local policies and programs from the point of view of respect for human rights. They provide for the elimination of identified problems to improve the protection of human rights taking into account the needs of vulnerable groups of the population. The recommendations also set out steps to increase public participation in monitoring the activities of local self-government bodies in the field ofhuman rights protection. They will help local authorities and activists to work together to address identified local issues.

It is planned that in the nearest future public discussions will take place in each of the three regions of the project implementation. During these events, experts and community representatives will discuss the reports and recommendations prepared in the framework of the project.

In particular, during the discussions, the Network experts plan, along with representatives of local authorities, judiciary and public organizations, to identify joint actions to elaborate local policies in order to improve the protection of human rights.

– Discussions will be held to prepare a plan for further joint actions to improve the human rights situation in the communities concerned, – says the project leader Roman Lykhachov. – At present, an assessment of human rights has been made using the relevant methodology, and we have received some results. And our task is to ensure that these results are significantly improved. During the discussions, it will be necessary to consider the recommendations made by our experts in the framework of the monitoring process in order to advocate changes in the respective communities.

**Roman Lykhachov**, the project manager

The project manager Roman Lykhachov, LDN experts Viktoria Ilchyshena, Andriy Maletyn and Natalia Kulikova took part in the meeting of the expert group, as well as Anastasia Reva, program assistant of the Network.