Training future civil servants in Ukraine

To increase youth participation in local government, DRI Ukraine organised for 40 youths to complete internships at local government offices in ten different regions in Ukraine. We talk to some of the participants.

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By Amanda Siddharta


Inna Malonkina, 21, always knew that she wanted to be a civil servant, something not many people her age thought of becoming. So, when an opportunity presented itself to intern at a government office through a DRI Ukraine youth programme, she immediately applied.

“I really wanted to put the theories I learned in school to practice in a real workplace,” said Inna, who studied Public Administration for her Bachelor’s at Sumy State University in Sumy Oblast (province), located in the Northeast of Ukraine.

Inna was selected with two other applicants for a 3-month internship from July to October 2021 with the Department of Youth and Sports in the Sumy Regional Office. At first, some of the tasks that would be assigned to her seemed daunting. But Inna was determined to succeed and with the help of preparatory training organised by DRI Ukraine, she felt more confident during her internship.

“We had training sessions over Zoom to prepare us for the internship. I thought they were very useful, particularly those on communications, how to communicate to the public and your colleagues. They taught me how to make the most of the internship,” she said.

Roman Koval, a representative of DRI Ukraine, explained that the programme was designed to increase youth participation in government offices. At the moment, in most regions in Ukraine, there is a dearth of young people who want to work as civil servants.

“We believe that having young people participate in government is essential. They are the future. They are the ones who can make changes,” Roman stated.

A total of 40 participants between the ages of 18 and 27 from different regions of Ukraine were selected to take part in the programme. Prior to starting their internships, the participants were trained on decentralisation policy in Ukraine, communications, cyber security, and practical tips for civil servants. 

The internship was held in ten different regions which covered 13 different cities, including Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipro, and Chernivtsi. Roman recalled that most local governments were very welcoming to the idea of hosting the programme participants for their internship period but some needed convincing.

“Covering ten different regions was a big step for us in working to increase youth participation in local government offices. Some regions like Lviv were the easiest because they are more progressive and always welcome new faces,” he said.

The Department of Youth and Sports of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Administration, which hosted six interns, also appreciated having more young people join. Tetyana Deriabkina, a supervisor from the department said the programme was useful to introduce youths to the daily tasks in a government body and how the administrative process works.

“I believe a programme like this can get more young people to think about a career in the government. And one of the interns from the programme has now started to work in the communications department of the regional administration office in Dnipro,” she said.

Another participant, Nadiia Vaskivska, 24, completed her internship with Chernivtsi Local Council in Chernivtsi Oblast in Western Ukraine. She’s currently getting her Master’s degree at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

For Nadiia, the internship offered a glimpse into how local councils work and confirmed her idea of pursuing a career in local government. “It was really interesting to compare my previous ideas about the local council, which were based only on my knowledge from administrative law and constitutional law classes, with how the people there solve problems in real life,” she said.

She also learned first-hand about the things that she, as part of the next generation, can do to increase the effectiveness of local government in Ukraine. Among her classmates and friends, Nadiia said, there was still a reluctance to work in civil service due to the low starting salaries.

Roman agreed that this was one of the reasons why there are so few youths who want to start their career in local government: “The payment in a lot of government institutions is very low. One intern who participated in our programme said it was very interesting for him and he wanted to continue but the salary was not enough.”

Nevertheless, he believed more young people are now open to the idea of serving in a government institution in order to be able to make changes in their communities. And for youths like Inna, she understands now that working as a civil servant is one way to create a better future for Ukraine.

“Yes, you’d make more money working somewhere else. But having the opportunity to create change, I think that’s priceless,” she said.

This work is supported by