June 16, 2021, Poltava - First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska jointly with Tobias Thyberg, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sweden to Ukraine, Jaime Nadal, Head of the UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine and representatives of Poltava city council opened "Tatohub.Poltava” to promote responsible fatherhood. The club was established within the Springboard to Equality project, implemented by the UNFPA Ukraine in partnership with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine with the financial support of Sweden.
According to the UNFPA Ukraine research, 81% of men agree that they do not spend enough time with their children. Explaining this fact, 18% of men mentioned gender stereotypes, indicating that upbringing and child care are woman's responsibility. 59% of men are aware that fathers have the same right to take parental leave as mothers. At the same time, only 3% of men take paternity leave. However, every third woman would like her husband to take paternity leave for a certain period. According to the UNFPA Ukraine, 61% of marriages break up, partly because of uneven workload between men and women.
"Tatohub.Poltava" is created for Poltava fathers who would like to become more conscious and responsible parents. Tatohub is a club for dads where men can get new knowledge about parenting, spend more time and get closer with their children, which helps them to improve family relations.
“Joining the Biarritz Partnership International Initiative last year, which promotes equal opportunities, Ukraine has taken an obligation to provide equal rights for mother and father in child care. I have to say, we are confidently moving towards our goals. Recently came into force the law providing equal rights for men and women to take parental leave for three years. Moreover, men get the right to have paid fourteen-day leave during the first three months after the child birth", Olena Zelenska mentioned.
“In the 1970s when Sweden first introduced shared parental leave, it was rare to see a father take advantage of it as staying at home with kids was still viewed as women’s work. Yet, within a few decades, Swedish dads have become shining examples of involved fathers, with 90% of fathers now taking parental leave. By opening such father-friendly spaces like Tato Hub, Poltava is making great steps to changing the perception of the role of fathers and providing them with great opportunities to connect“, Tobias Tiberg, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sweden to Ukraine.
"In 2020 Ukraine joined the Biarritz Partnership, and this year the Ukrainian parliament passed a law that treats men and women equally in their rights to take parental leave. However necessary, institutional changes are not enough to change social behaviour and to be complemented with awareness raising initiatives at societal level. By supporting Tatohubs and other similar initiatives, we are prompting men to understand the importance of their involvement in the upbringing and child care process”, Jaime Nadal, Head of the United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine, UNFPA.
Tatohub.Poltava is located at 61, Nebesnoy Sotny street, Poltava, in the premises of library №2 of the Poltava city centralized library system. To find more information about TatoHub.Poltava activities follow the Facebook link https://www.facebook.com/tatohub.plt/
"Our activities will focus on providing educational content for dads (classes on child psychology, building relationships "fathers-child", sexual education, stress coping, constructive conflict resolution, preparation for childbirth, negative impact of gender stereotypes), joint activities for dads and children (workshops, competitions, quests) and online club for the educational component. All activities will be provided by highly qualified experienced psychologists free of charge, prior registration is required", said Julia Trunova, coordinator of Tatohub.Poltava.
Additional information:
In 2020 first Tatohabs, clubs for fathers, have been established in Ukraine . TatoHubs aimed at promoting a culture of responsible fatherhood, providing additional information for fathers in the child care and upbringing process, as well as promoting best practices of those fathers who take paternity leave. Tatohubs are already operating in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Kramatorsk, Poltava, Myrnohrad, Rubezhnoye, Troitsky, and will be opened soon in Zaporizhia and Berdyansk.
Tatohub.Poltava and Tatohub.Zaporizhzhya will start their work this year within the framework of the Equality to Springboard Project implemented by UNFPA Ukraine with the financial support of Sweden.
