On April 9, the training course "Principles of Public Administration: What They Include and How to Implement Them" organized by the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service, the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the EU Standards, and the High School of Public Governance in cooperation with the SIGMA Program started in Kyiv.

The training course is developed based on all six SIGMA Principles and will be conducted in five thematic modules from April to June 2025. The goal of the course is to develop a holistic vision of modern public administration standards that meet the requirements of European integration and best practices of EU member states.

The event was opened by Nataliia Aliushyna, the Head of the National Agency, and Oleh Voitovych, the Deputy State Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, who noted the importance of implementing the Principles of Public Administration as part of Ukraine's European integration course.

According to Nataliia Aliushyna, the SIGMA Public Administration Principles are a basic set of criteria on which reforms in EU candidate countries are based. They cover key aspects of public administration - from strategic planning to budgeting, from human resources policy to digitalization. Oleh Voitovych added that compliance with the Principles of Public Administration is also a matter of trust in institutions, efficiency of decisions, and quality of services for citizens.

The first training module brought together about 50 participants offline - civil servants involved in the development, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of public administration reform strategies in Ukraine. Anyone could also join the training online, as the training was live-streamed on YouTube. 

The first day of the training focused on the topic of strategy and policy development and coordination. Participants had the opportunity to discuss strategic planning as a basis for policy, policy coordination at the central level, fiscal planning in government policy, policy development based on facts and analysis, etc.

The main speaker was Martins Krievins, Regional Manager of the SIGMA Program, who presented the first four principles of public administration. He focused on the importance of an analytical approach, the integrity of the strategic vision, and the need to ensure that government actions are consistent with real budgetary possibilities. He also gave specific examples and emphases from international practice and suggested approaches that could be adapted to Ukrainian realities. 

Gregor Virant, SIGMA Program Manager, joined the online event and noted that the updated Public Administration Principles are the result of many years of experience and combine the best practices of EU member states.

Video recording: 

• Day 1
• Day 2