Annual Report. PATRIARCHAL CURIA UGCC 2019

63 The Department of external relations of the Patriar- chal Curia of the UGCC has enabled continuing coop- eration within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO) — the most influential institution of civil society in Ukraine, co-founded by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Throughout the year, the Department of external relations promoted the role of religious communities in Ukraine in estab- lishing a civil society and taking a pro-active stand in reforming social and political life by impacting the legislative process in the fields of freedom of conscience and the creation of favorable conditions for the activities of churches and religious orga- nizations. The employees of the Department of external relations have monitored, re- searched and analysed the current situation of Ukrainian society and legislative processes providing in-depth analytical evaluations of all areas of church-state relations in order to effectively plan and implement joint actions of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. The Department has developed a close cooperative relationship with leading sociological and demographic institutions such as Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, the Razumkov Centre for Economic and Political Studies, the Institute of Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The Department worked diligently on preparing the following drafts and legislative proposals : "On Military Chaplaincy"; "On the restitution of Church property"; "Requirements to the digitized image of a person’s face, photo cards submitted for registration or exchange of iden- tity documents"; suspension of the forced adoption of the draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine (on the Harmonization of Legislation in the Sphere of Prevention and Combating Discrimination with European Union Law); the draft Regulation on medical chaplaincy in the field of health care in Ukraine; "Regulation on Chaplaincy and Pas- toral Care Measures in Prison Facilities in Ukraine"; partici- pation in the revision for consideration in the first reading of the draft Law of Ukraine "On Media" ; participation in the revision of the draft Law of Ukraine "On Labor" together with alternative projects that are prepared for the first reading with the removal of the concepts of "gender", "gender identity", "sexual orientation".