22

COMM
UNICA
TIONS

REFORM

ISSUE

Communication
Reform Today

STRATEGIC NECESSITY

Helping the public understand the governments

priorities
Encouraging people to behave in a healthier way
Letting people know about public services
Informing the public in times of crisis
Enhancing the reputation of the country by
promoting the country to people overseas to help
boost investment from tourists and businesses.

The government of Ukraine has the first three but

number four is, as the recent audit demonstrates,
dysfunctional in that it fails to meet the prerequisite
requirements of modern government. The current
structure grew out the Soviet system which was based
on propaganda and the need for Ministers and high

Its been a very busy time in

the end of the year. The team
did a great job in completing
singularly the largest and most
comprehensive audit of the
communication resources
of the Government of
Ukraine ever undertaken.
The results are nothing short
of shattering in terms of
their impact on the whole
process of government
communications and go
a long way to explain why
between 75% and 91.7% of
the population are dissatisfied
with the level of government
communication on reform.

IS OF

In the government communications handbook recently

produced by the UK Government Communications
Service the introduction lists the four key pillars of
government as legislation, regulation, taxation and
communication. The handbook goes on to list the
communication priorities as:

Issue 2, November - December 2015

officials to protect their backs. Public

service and democratic responsibility
were never part of the equation
Communication as we have all seen
from the levels of Russian propaganda
is a strategic importance for Ukraine.
Without the ability to combat foreign
propaganda at home and abroad
and the more insidious corruption
of the media system then the people
of Ukraine are at the mercy of those
that wish to exert undue influence.
Today the government is required to
communicate and as this audit clearly
illustrates a completely new system
is required. The first to recognise the
significance of the report has been the
National Defence and Security Council
of Ukraine where it is has become one
of the cornerstone documents of the
Ukraine NATO partnership. The audit
system developed by CRG is also to be
used for the audit of the military and
security services so that these too can
be included into the reform process.

Comminication Reform Today, Issue 2, November - December 2015 | 2

The audit has also exposed that the

current system of communication
where the Ministries operate as
virtually independent units is
dysfunctional and harks back to
a time when Ministers saw their
PR department as an extension
of their personal PR machine.
Ministries are developing their own
identities and websites as if they
are in some way separate from
government and this only adds to
public confusion.
There is only one country of
Ukraine as there is only one
Ukrainian nationality. Their servant
is the elected government of the
country. In reality nobody really
cares about the make up of the
cabinet or the number of seats
allocated to which party. What
they do care about is how the
actions of the government as a
whole improve their lives and
that of their families. Therefore if
government is the servant of the
people it has a moral and political
duty to keep the people informed.
This is not possible under the old
system or under a system where
Ministries can do their own thing.
Under the proposed new system,
which is based on European
models, political activity and
the responsibility of Ministries
to communicate are separated.
People in the Executive support
service (Patronatnyi service) will
be responsible for the Ministers
political activity whilst a civil service
based team of communication
specialists will handle the Ministries
communications obligations.

BUILDING A COMPLETELY

NEW COMMUNICATION

21

SYSTEM

TO MEET THE

ST
CENTURY

As a civil service function it

is proposed that the new PR
departments will all form
part of a new Government
Communications Service that
will be centrally coordinated just
as it is in a majority of western
democracies so that the key
messages of government can be
properly planned and targeted.
This in no way prevents Ministers
and Ministries for openly
communicating but it will reduce
the current cacophony of noise so
that the people can make sense
of government communication
and hear what the government is
actually saying.

Comminication Reform Today, Issue 2, November - December 2015 | 3

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HERE IS

WHAT
The good news is that well
over 50% of those employed in
government communication today
love their job, want to contribute
to the future of the country and
want to learn more. This is a great
basis from which to grow.
The reality is there are only 160
people employed in Ministerial
government communications
and very few have any formal
or systematic training in
communications practice.
Even less have any training in
the specifics of government
communication hence the real
level of understanding is at best
inconsistent. The first step in
the reform of the government
communications system has to
be to establish a common level of
knowledge and understanding.
To do this the CRG are working
with the Chartered Institute of
Public Relations in London to
design a base level course in
government communications
that will be mandatory for all
government communications
employees. Some will sail through
the course with ease whilst others

MEANS

FOR GOVERNMENT
PR OFFICERS
may find it challenging however
it is essential in establishing a
common understanding as this will
form the basis of the new service.
To implement the course CRG
are training an initial team of 30
trainers all of whom have been
selected from industry. These
trainers will be qualified to full
CIPR international standard and
will help to train newcomers at
the communication departments
of the Government.
Entry to the Government
communications service will
be through this qualification.
However, this is just the start as
it is planned to follow this initial
training with a whole series
of courses in communication
specialisation including: crisis
and financial PR, internet and
social network communication,
communication through design
and a whole lot more. Each
of these courses will form a
personal development plan for
government communication
specialists to enable them to
develop a career in government
communication.

Comminication Reform Today, Issue 2, November - December 2015 | 4

YVETTA DELIKATNA
CRG TEAM LEADER
NGO Change Communication,
Chairman and Co-Founder
Advisor to the Minister of Information
Policy since March 2015. Yvetta has
20-years experience in marketing

communications, conducted hundreds

of campaigns. She is the founder of
industry associations. During 7 years
she has lead a corporate development
department and has created a
corporate University for one of the
biggest communication companies
in Ukraine Atlantic Group with 600
employees. She is an initiator and cofounder of Ukrainian PR Association
UAPR, International Association
Marketing Initiatives. Awarded with
Best trainer in marketing mark (UMG)
and became a Singularity University
Ambassador to Ukraine (USA).
Since March 2014 she is a civil activist
who participated in the launch of
Ukrainian Crisis Media Centre and
later led the team of communication
consultants at the Cabinet of Ministers
on such topics as energy efficiency,
decentralization of power and internally
displaced people.
In October 2014 became a co-founder of
NGO in sphere of public communication
Change Communication.