The Parliamentary Development Project began work in the Ukraine in 1994. Funded by the U.S. Agency on International Development, it is considered the longest-running sustained effort to promote legislative development in the world and has been labeled a “model program” for promoting democracy around the globe.

In 2008, the John Glenn School of Public Affairs signed a $4 million, three-year contract to operate the program. The USAID extended the program with a new $3 million contract thorugh July 2013.

Guided by Dr. Charles Wise, founding director of the Glenn School, the PDP has more than a dozen people on the ground in Kyiv who work directly with Ukraine’s legislature, the Verkhovna Rada.

Ukraine Program Director Ellie Valentine and her staff members organize seminars and give advice, guidance and information about running a democratic parliament — from the legislative process to committee organization, the budget process, relations with the media and government transparency.

Parliamentary Development Project is the opening of a PDP office in the Autonomous Region of Crimea. Personnel at the Glenn School will help implement programming designed to improve policy, processes and communication at the Crimean regional parliament.

The Crimean project has three primary objectives:

• to increase transparency and citizen access to the Verkhovna Rada,
• to improve lawmaking through better legislative policy,
• and to increase engagement between the Crimean and Ukrainian governments.

Activities to support these objectives include training and consultations for government members and staff, overhauling the Crimean Verkhovna Rada website, launching an internship program for Crimean university students, and publishing research on policy issues.