News and press releases

Within primary financial support from the European Union, the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU) organised a roundtable “Priority Setting in Mine Action and Draft National Strategy” in Kyiv on 14 December 2023.

Ukrainian journalists, editors, media managers, communication experts from governmental and public sectors spent four days in a Carpathian resort to withdraw from day-to-day work hassle and war-related trials in order to take a critical look at the state of affairs in country’s media sphere at a seminar organized by Aspen Institute Kyiv and the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU). The event "Media and Reality: Dimensions of Responsibility," that took place in Polyana, Zakarpathia oblast on 29 November – 3 December 2023, involved 24 media community leaders selected through an open call for applications.

Seventy-five representatives from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SESU) and State Border Guard Service had a chance to improve knowledge and practice skills needed to respond to radiation-related emergencies at a series of two three-days training sessions, organized by the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU) in Kyiv on 23-28 October 2023.

While international justice tools to deal with war-related crimes are high on the agenda, national institutions can and should pursue investigation and prosecution of those who commit them, as synergy of domestic and international efforts is an important precondition for justice to effectively respond to violations of human rights in the course of ongoing war. The needs of adapting national practices and legislation in criminal justice were in focus of IX Lviv Criminal Justice Forum, organized by the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU) together with State Bureau of Investigations and Lviv University of Internal Affairs on 26-27 October 2023.

A series of four three-day simulation exercises organized jointly by the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine and IOM Mission in Ukraine in September and October helped officials, experts, and practitioners from 12 regions of Ukraine to enhance their practical skills in investigating cases of trafficking in human beings and assisting survivors of the crime.

Ensuring gender-sensitive education of staff working in Ukraine’s system of free legal aid will enhance quality of assistance provided to survivors of gender-based violence, including related to the ongoing war. These are some of the recommendations, elaborated with the assistance of the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU), based on the assessment of documents, policies and practices used by members of the Free Legal Aid system.

Over 100 rescuers, police officers, medics and officials enhanced their co-operation skills at a two-day table-top chemical emergency response exercise, organized by the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine together with the country’s State Emergency Service in Rivne, on 26-27 September.