VERKHOVNA RADA DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL VOLODYMYR YALOVYI AND U.S. AMBASSADOR JOHN TEFFT WELCOMED NEWLY SELECTED INTERNS TO PARLIAMENT AND MINISTRIES

Agency for International Development (USAID). The program's administration was transferred to Indiana University in 2000 and has since been implemented by The Ohio State University through the Parliamentary Development Project II under contract with Indiana University and funded by USAID. The program provides internships to students and recent graduates from almost all regions of Ukraine, who work in 28 parliamentary committees and departments as well as in 6 ministries of Ukraine. During the internship, which lasts for eight months, interns participate in drafting laws, organize public hearings, committee meetings, and round-table discussions. They also study subjects such as public policy analysis, gender policy, theory of law, legislative mechanisms, and law drafting, rules of procedure. Interns meet with prominent local politicians and decision-makers and foreign experts on a weekly basis. The program has a history of success, with nearly one third of program graduates continuing their careers in government institutions, while many join the staff pool of the Verkhovna Rada. In 17 years of operation, 1,199 young specialists have completed their internship with committees and departments of the Verkhovna Rada and in executive branch offices. 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, the Interns League NGO was formed in 2009 to promote the program and work with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and executive branch offices. The Interns League has secured Ukrainian sponsorship for up to 21 internships for 2012-2013. The program's alumni association, the "Interns' League," is led by Director Valeriia Sobakar, who greeted the newly selected interns in 2012. The interns were welcomed by Verkhovna Rada Deputy Secretary General Volodymyr Yalovyi and U.S. Ambassador John Tefft, who stressed the contributions that talented youth bring to these institutions during their internships and the responsibility and accountability required as they contribute to important law-making and policy development and implementation activities.