Event reports
In April 2018 the State social program on equal opportunities for women and men until 2021 was adopted by the Ukrainian government. Currently only approximately 10% of the Ukrainian parliament is female that is one of lowest numbers of women representation on the national level in Europe. Only few women are on ministerial positions meanwhile women are highly represented in village councils and there is almost parity on the level of small city councils. This means women remain underrepresented mainly on the high-level positions in Ukraine. The event had i. a. the aim to understand the main causes of the current situation and how to deal with it.
The member of the parliament Olga Bielkova, who introduced herself as “a quota woman”, emphasized that it is of huge importance to raise this topic before the parliament elections that will take place already this autumn in Ukraine. According to her the situation when 10% of the parliament represents the majority of the population cannot be called normal that is why she is a strong proponent of voluntary or mandatory quotas. The judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Hanna Vronska stressed that women are willing to take political positions but the society should promote equal opportunities on all levels. The current women participation is not due to society norm but because of hard and persistent work of these women alone. Team lead of Democratic Governance Program of UNDP Ukraine Marcus Brand spoke about the importance of implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 in Ukraine i. a. SDG №5 is devoted to achieving gender equality. He also went into women representation in the parliament committees where women are mainly willing to be part of the committees that deal with social issues while in many committees that are regarded more political and more connected with the money issues as for example agriculture, budget, law enforcement, finance making there are no women at all. In his belief there is a strong need in deep and comprehensive analysis of current situation as well as in the change of political culture.
The head of the office of KAS Office in Ukraine (Kyiv) Gabriele Baumann shared the German experience of women participation in politics and stressed on a remarkable role of the Chancellor Angela Merkel as a women in political culture. The deputy head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Annika Weidemann on contrary is happy with the level of women participation from the side of Ukraine on EU-Ukraine Summits. Both mentoring and motivating together with the structural changes are playing a big role due to Helen Fazey, Deputy Head of Mission British Embassy in Ukraine.
The second panel discussion was devoted to the overcoming glass ceiling and empowering women where the participants had the possibility to listen to Lizaveta Badanova (Deputy Head of Legal Department at NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine), Iryna Lytovchenko (Director General of the Directorate for Strategic Planning and European Integration of the Ministry of Health), Khrystyna Rybachok (State Expert at the Ministry of Regional Development, Building and Housing), Yulia Sergeeva (Head of NGO “Transparent Choice”), Oksana Yakubova (Chief Specialist at Ministry of Economy of Ukraine) and Serhiy Zamidra (Nemishaevo City Mayor, Kyiv oblast).
Iryna Lytovchenko agreed that woman have chances only to certain positions and in certain spheres mentioning the low number of women in current government. Oksana Yakubova, who is a civil servant with more than 10 years of experience and a war veteran, faced the biggest “gender pain” during war in Eastern Ukraine. She is the first women in Ukrainian military service becoming the deputy head of the battalion. Her professionalism and persistence helped her to earn the respect which lead to the employment of women on the positions in Ukrainian army that were earlier occupied only by men. From the prospective of civil servant Oksana is happy to work at the ministry that has a female chief and she agrees on the last positive changes in the style work of the ministry lead by a woman. Extracurricular education in leadership for young girls and boys is one the keys for later women representation on high positions due to Serhiy Zamidra, who is trying to implement such projects within his city council budget. For Yulia Sergeeva proactive position, good education, persistence and hard every day work are the personal keys for overcoming glass ceiling. Krystyna Rybachok shared the experience of the Ministry of Regional Development, Building and Housing where the pilot project on equal opportunities for all is implemented. In her belief the gender seminars for employees may be one of the tools for noticing and accepting the problem both in private and professional spheres. Lizaveta Badanova emphasized that the gender problems within state institutions may be solved through the introduction of corporate culture that takes into considerations the needs of all employees.
Each panel discussion was followed by a range of questions from the audience that showed the importance of such events for Ukraine. The open discussion also found attention in media. It is expected that the event raises the issue of women underrepresentation in public administration to the fore of high-level debate and inspires women to engage actively into policy- and decision-making at local and national level.
