10 July 2014

The newly appointed Government Commissioner on Ethno-National Policy, Hennadii Druzenko, visited IOM Ukraine’s office today. He and IOM Ukraine’s Chief of Mission Manfred Profazi discussed possible fields of future cooperation.  Mr. Druzenko and Mr. Profazi agreed on the need to develop a state policy that would reflect the ‘unity in diversity’ approach, building upon the centuries-long tradition of multi-ethnic cohabitation in Ukraine and the important contributions of Poles, Jews, Russians, Crimean Tatars, Armenians, Greeks, Hungarians and people of other nationalities to the development of the country.

The post of the Government Commissioner on Ethno-National Policy was established in June. The role of the Commissioner is to facilitate interaction between the Cabinet of Ministers, local authorities, civil society and international organizations to uphold the rights of national minorities and indigenous peoples, strengthen interethnic unity, and consolidate Ukrainian society.