The support for the advancement of gender equality and women empowerment in Ukraine continues to be in the focus of UNFPA activities. Today, UNFPA Representative for Ukraine Nuzhat Ehsan took part in the Forum “Road map for achieving gender equality in Ukraine society: joint actions of the Government, international organizations and civil society”, organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator (PCU), UN Women and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine. The event gathered over 150 experts from government, NGOs, and international organizations.
In her welcoming remarks, UNFPA Representative on behalf of the UN system in Ukraine appraised the last initiatives taken by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine to address the gender pay gap, to increase participation of women in the labour force and decision making positions, and welcomed the recent approval by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of the Amendments to Laws of Ukraine ensuring the implementation of the gender equality leverages into the national legislation. “The next step is to establish achievable and realistic annual targets and measurable indicators to turn the programme priorities into reality, said Ms. Ehsan. The fullfledged realization of the Programme requires all stakeholders’ inclusion, strong inter-ministerial collaboration and alignment of regional action plans with the national Programme.”
The Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Natalia Korolevska in her opening remarks stated that the gender equality in Ukraine especially in the spheres of employment, salary and promotion is yet to be established. The Minister stressed that the State Programme on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men till 2016 adopted on 26 September provides a powerful mechanism to promote gender equality on strategic level. But the daily life requires the step-by-step action plan on every priority area such as gender mainstreaming in public administration, gender-responsive budgeting, overcoming stereotypes and combating gender discrimination in Ukrainian labour market and society in general.
Therefore, the goal of the all-Ukrainian Gender Forum was aimed to receive and discuss the recommendations and suggestions from experts with regard to the gender policy implementation in Ukraine and develop the efficient road map for further actions by the state, civil society and international organizations.
