Gender Policy

The Ministry of Social Policy plays the role of the designated central executive authority for equal rights and opportunities of women and men.

Equal rights and opportunities of women and men, boys and girls mean that everyone regardless of their sex must have equal opportunities in all the spheres of life. The social role, conduct and characteristics the society believes to be acceptable for women and men are called a gender.

Gender equality is the principle that guarantees equal rights and opportunities for women and men. This approach gives everyone a change to take active part on all the aspects of social life, from work and education to politics and culture. Gender equality helps create the more fair and harmonious society where the voice of every member of the community is heard, and the potential is unlocked to the maximum extent. The important thing is to enable everyone to make their dreams come true and reach their goals and expectations regardless of sex.

Information on the Gender Policy in Ukraine

Gender equality and sustainable development of the society in Ukraine is a priority. In the present-day context when Ukraine is facing numerous challenges due to the full-scale Russian invasion, a number of the vulnerable categories, both among women and men, is growing. The war materially deteriorates gender inequality, which demands new efficient approaches to solution of these problems.

In response to these challenges, the Ukrainian Government has adopted and is implementing a number of strategic documents in the field of gender equality until 2030.

The State Strategy for Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men has created the solid framework for the initiatives aimed at gender equality in different life spheres.

The Ukrainian Government is also paying special attention to the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, with the focus at its legislative and institutional levels. It is directed at protecting women’s rights and preventing violence, which is often based on gender inequality.

The Istanbul Convention or the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is the important international document adopted in Istanbul on 11 May 2011. The purpose of this document is to protect women from all forms of violence as well as prevention, persecution and liquidation of violence against women and domestic violence. The pillars of the Istanbul Convention are as follows:

Prevention of violence: The Convention obliges the State Parties to take action to prevent violence, namely via education, awareness raising and trainings for the professionals dealing with victims.

Protection of victims: The document requires efficient mechanisms to protect victims of violence, including access to shelters, hot lines and support services.

Prosecution of offenders: The convention obliges the State Parties to ensure responsibility of perpetrators for their acts of violence. It includes criminal responsibility for violence, sexual violence, stalking, forced marriage, female genitals mutilation, coerced abortion and sterilisation.

Holistic approach: The document requires inter-agency cooperation from the State Parties to coordinate prevention of violence and assistance to victims as well as inclusion of civil society and women’s organizations into the process.

International monitoring: Implementation of the Istanbul Convention is controlled by the independent expert group, GREVIO (Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence).

Significance for the countries: Signing and ratifying the Istanbul Convention is an important step for the countries that intend to prevent gender violence and to maintain equal rights and security. The Convention is an efficient tool in the combat against domestic violence and gender-based violence and assists in development of legislative and practical measures aimed at supporting women’s rights and protecting victims.

As for Ukraine, the document has become the important step in protection of women’s rights and introduction of complex measures to fight domestic and gender-based violence at the national level.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security

The Resolution was adopted on 31 October 2000 and is an important document on the important role of women in prevention of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace building, maintenance of peace, humanitarian operations and post-conflict recovery processes. The principal provisions of the Resolution are as follows:

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security adopted on 31 October 2000 together with the other UN Security Council resolutions, such as 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122, 2242, 2467, and 2493, form the women, peace and security agenda.

Resolution 1325 is one of the key initiatives of the United Nations Security Council in the field of security. It emphasises the women’s important role of women in prevention of conflicts, their settlement and peace building, by urging the member states to ensure active engagement of women into all the decision making levels in national, regional and international institutions as well as mechanisms of prevention and settlement of conflicts.

This resolution has been a basis for women’s integration into the security sector and development of the policies that support their participation.