Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine is interested and willing to sign a memorandum of cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This was stressed by the Minister of Social Policy Ms. Liudmyla Denisova during a meeting with UNFPA Representative in Ukraine Ms. Nuzhat Ehsan. The Minister believes that the Memorandum will scale up cooperation between the Ministry and UNFPA in the areas of social protection of vulnerable groups, ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men, national response to population ageing, and will foster engaging technical assistance from UNFPA.
“In this crucial period for Ukraine, we have to first and foremost provide adequate social protection for all those who are in need. UNFPA Ukraine has a lot of experience in this area and is willing to share it with us. The Ministry is ready to sign the memorandum that will define the cooperation priorities”, said Ms. Denisova.
The UNFPA Representative briefed the Minister on the corporate priorities of UNFPA: achieving universal access to sexual reproductive health and family planning, realizing reproductive rights, reducing maternal mortality, improving the lives of adolescents, youth and women by advocating for human rights and gender equality and by promoting the understanding of population dynamics.
Ms. Ehsan expressed the commitment of UNFPA to assist the Ministry in the implementation of the national social policy. “We believe that now Ukraine has a second chance at implementing deep reforms and UNFPA is ready to provide for any urgent need of support for the Ukrainian social sector”, she said.
“UNFPA considers population ageing and gender equality promotion to be the two main areas of cooperation between the Ministry and our UN agency. As Ukraine is an aging country, UNFPA is looking forward to your leadership role in fostering inter-ministerial collaboration and establishment of a strong inter-sectoral coordination mechanism between the Ministries of Social Policy, Health and Justice, as well as other concerned governmental agencies and civil society stakeholders, in order to develop and implement an effective and efficient national programme on population ageing”, said the UNFPA Representative. “In the area of gender equality, UNFPA stands ready to support the implementation of the State Programme on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men till 2016 adopted last year, as well as timely preparing and submitting the VIII periodic CEDAW and Beijing +20 reports.”
The Minister noted that regardless of the state budget austerity the Government has not reduced any state social assistance funding. Moreover, given the increase in tariffs for gas and heat, the Ministry is launching the compensation program that will financially support about 30% of households in Ukraine in covering their utility costs so that such expenses would not increase for them. The Ministry is pursuing its efforts to promote gender equality and prevent domestic violence and was able to secure funding for 2014 for the implementation of the State Gender Equality Programme.
The Minister also informed about the situation with the relocation of Ukrainian citizens from Crimea to Ukraine's regions. According to her, there have been 5009 people from Crimea relocated to the mainland not including military personnel and their families. These citizens are provided with housing, their children are placed to kindergartens, schools and universities, and they undergo the simplified procedure to obtain social security support. “176 persons have already applied to the Public Employment Service; 70 of them are already employed, all others receive the unemployment benefits. Moreover, if a former Crimea resident can provide a business plan, he or she may get 60 thousand hryvnas to start their own business," said the Minister.
The Minister and the UNFPA Representative have also discussed possible ways of supporting the Government of Ukraine in addressing the needs of temporarily displaced persons.
