Agency for Legislative Initiatives presented the results of the analysis of the scope and distribution of responsibilities for the implementation of gender equality policy.
Svitlana Matvienko, the Chairwoman of the Council of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, began the presentation.
Dmytro Kuleba, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, has attended the event. He said that the new government will continue to implement gender equality policies in Ukraine initiated by the previous government.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, currently the Chairwoman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Integration of Ukraine into the European Union, and in 2016-2019 the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration in Ukraine, said that to achieve gender equality there is still much work to be done in Ukraine.
“In spite of all the regulations and changes to the legislation that we have been able to adopt in recent years, there is still a lot of work to be done in order to say that our country ensures equality, makes it impossible to discriminate on the basis of sex and display sexism at the public level”, – said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.
She also noted that it is necessary to work with the regions so that the national mechanism could ensure equal rights for men and women.
“Our society is full of stereotypes. All of us have seen the rush that has caused the introduction of feminitives in the Ukrainian language. It means that in society it is necessary to explain what equality is and why it is important”, – the politician emphasized.
The Head of the UN Office for Women in Ukraine, Anastasia Divinskaya, agreed with Ivana Klimpush-Tsintsadze. She noted that according to the Beijing Platform for Action, a national mechanism can only succeed if it is part of the government. But it must also be implemented at all levels of the country. It is important to engage with civil society organizations.
“The national mechanism should be able to influence all policies developed by the state so that all laws inevitably have a positive result equal for men and women, boys and girls living in this country”, – Ms. Divinska summed up.
Andriy Vyshnevsky, a lawyer and public administration expert, emphasized that Agency had submitted a draft report that needs further public discussion. He described the methodology of the study, which took place in three stages.
“The main conclusion is that we have a gender mechanism and it is sufficiently developed. But that does not mean that there is nothing to improve. There are a lot of serious problems”, – said Andrey Vyshnevsky.
Finally, Olena Kondratyuk, the Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, took the word. She said that the implementation of gender equality policies requires a coordinated work of government, public and legislative sectors.
You can watch the full presentation here.
