Verkhovna Rada Deputy Secretary General Dmytro Markov and USAID Mission Deputy Director Sarah Wines today greeted interns and provided ID-cards to 102 new selected interns in USAID’s 2011-2012 Parliamentary and Executive Internship Program. This is the seventeenth year of the Parliamentary Internship Program’s operation and the fourth year of the Executive Internship Program’s operation in Ukraine.

Verkhovna Rada Deputy Secretary General Dmytro Markov and USAID Mission Deputy Director Sarah Wines greeted the new selected interns and wished them to take full advantage of all opportunities they receive during internship. Interns’ League Head of Board, Head of the International Department of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine Taras Prytula, who completed the program in 1999-2000, greeted the interns selected to the program this year through a rigourous competition and expressed his thanks to USAID for providing support for the program through its first 17 years.

During the next eight months, students and recent graduates from almost all regions of Ukraine will work in 28 parliamentary committees and departments as well as in 6 ministries of Ukraine. During the internship, interns will take part in drafting laws, organize public hearings, committee meetings and round-table discussions; they will study subjects like public policy analysis, gender policy, theory of law, legislative mechanisms and law drafting, rules of procedure. Interns also will meet with prominent local politicians and decision-makers and foreign experts on a weekly basis. Each year, about one third of Program graduates continue their careers in government institutions, while many join the staff pool of the Verkhovna Rada.

A History of Success: The Parliamentary Internship Program was founded by the United States Association of Former Members of Congress and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 1995 with funding through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In 2000, the program administration was transferred to Indiana University through the Parliamentary Development Project for Ukraine, and since September 2008 it has been implemented by The Ohio State University through the Parliamentary Development Project II under contract with Indiana University and funded by USAID.

During 16 years of the Parliamentary Internship Program’s operation, 1,108 young specialists have completed their internship with committees and departments of the Verkhovna Rada, and in executive branch offices. Nearly one third of those completing the program continue working for the Verkhovna Rada, other government institutions or local authorities; another 25 percent are employed by commercial and international organizations, 17 percent are engaged in organizations of civil society (NGOs, think tanks, media and academia), and 16 percent continue their education. The program allows for an injection of fresh personnel to the parliament and opens doors to public administration for young specialists.

To ensure sustainability for the future, in 2009 the Interns League NGO was formed to promote the program and to work with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and executive branch offices. The Interns League has secured Ukrainian sponsorship for up to 15 internships for 2011-2012.

The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), have provided assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years. In Ukraine, USAID’s assistance focuses on three areas: Health and Social Transition, Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance. Since 1992, USAID has provided $1.7 billion in technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. For additional information about USAID programs in Ukraine, please call USAID’s Development Outreach and Communications Office at: +38 (044) 492-7101 or visit: http://ukraine.usaid.gov.