UNDP: The Third Blue Ribbon Commission Report to be Launched in Kyiv

What: Continuing the successful experience of the Blue Ribbon Commission that has been in existence since mid-2004, the United Nations Development Programme will present, during the round table, the 3rd Report of the Commission to a wide range of policy stakeholders. The document is designed to help Ukraine’s leaders and civil society respond to policy challenges and jointly take steps that will unleash long-term and equitable growth.

Who: Mr. Kalman MIZSEI, the initiator and international co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission, Mr. Oleksandr PASKHAVER, national co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission, Mr. Francis M. O’DONNELL, UN Resident Coordinator. Also invited are: Ms. Liudmila MUSINA, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, Mr. Ihor SHUMYLO, Executive Director on Economic Issues of National Bank of Ukraine and other representatives of the Ukrainian Government and Parliament.

Where/When: On Thursday, 21 September, 2006 from 10:00 to 13:30 at the Conference Hall of the National Bank of Ukraine (9, Instytutska Street).

Media are invited to register and confirm attendance by 12.00, 20 September – please call 2540035, 2539363.

For more information or organization of individual interviews, please contact Veronika VASHCHENKO +38 067 927 60 38, or Mariya KLYMOVYCH +38 050 311 58 51.

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The Blue Ribbon Commission for Ukraine, initiated and supported by the United Nations Development Programme, functions as an independent body of eminent national and international experts.

The purpose of the ‘"The State and the Citizen: Delivering on Promises", the 3rd Report of the Commission, is to highlight those most important issues that need to and can be addressed in the first months of the new Government and Verkhovna Rada. A concentrated reform action can put Ukraine on a dynamic growth path that will elevate the country’s profile on the international arena to a level that its human talent undoubtedly deserves.

Besides the official launch, the report will be presented in a series of bilateral meetings with senior policy makers of Ukraine, prominent businessmen and students.

UNDP recommends the report for the attention of the President of Ukraine and the Government, Business community and civil society and stands ready to support them in their efforts to pursue any of the report’s recommendations, or to conduct further research into the subjects covered.

The Report aims to engage not only civil servants into a broad discussion on economic reform, but also the wider intellectual and political elite.

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, focused on helping countries build and share solutions to the challenges of democratic governance, poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS, crisis prevention and recovery, energy and environment, and information and communications technology. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. For information see www.undp.org