On 02 November 2023, the third project Steering Group meeting of the EU Support in Strengthening Integrated Border Management in Ukraine – Resilience (EU4IBM-Resilience) project took place in Kyiv. The meeting was moderated by the ICMPD Head of Region Eastern Europe and Central Asia Radim Žák. Among the guests were the EU Delegation to Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the State Customs Service of Ukraine, and other partners and stakeholders.
Countries
Ukraine
Status
Completed
Duration
December 2019
to
March 2023
Donors
European Union
Implementing Agency
ICMPD
Funding
€ 5,000,000
Objective
The project aimed to enable Ukrainian border management agencies on the national and cross-border levels to offer better service delivery to people, promote regional cooperation, cross-border trade, development, and human contact as well as help Ukrainian citizens and companies benefit from increased mobility and integration into the world economic flows while ensuring a high level of security and prevention of cross-border crime.
The project supported the identification and assisted in addressing the gaps in the implementation of the national reforms approximating the Ukrainian border management system to the standards and best practices of the EU Integrated Border Management (IBM) in line with the national IBM Strategy of Ukraine. The project strongly promoted inter-agency cooperation and coordination among IBM agencies, fostered more effective mechanisms for engagement and two-way communication with the public, and encouraged measures to counter corruption in the long run.
Upon the breakout of the unjustified Russian aggression against Ukraine, the project provided a fast response to the urgent needs of the host country and repurposed the funds, in cooperation with the donor and the beneficiaries, to procure essential equipment and supplies.
Many achievements and outputs of the project were used as a basis to launch a new initiative, the EU4IBM-Resilience project implemented until 2025, which is more focused on building the resilience of the Ukrainian border management agencies during wartime, but also further supporting reforms to approximate the border management system of Ukraine to the EU standards and best practices in line with the IBM Strategy of Ukraine and alongside the preparation of the EU accession process.
Beneficiaries
- State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
- State Customs Service of Ukraine
- State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection
- State Migration Service of Ukraine
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine