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The Platform for Gender Mainstreaming and Inclusion in Recovery was launched on 18 September 2023. The Platform acts as an advisory body under the Commission for the Coordination of Executive Bodies’ Cooperation on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men. Its mission is to ensure coordinated cooperation between ministries, other central executive bodies, civil society, business representatives and international organizations, and to integrate the principles of gender equality and inclusion into Ukraine’s recovery process.

The discussion on the occasion of the first anniversary of the launch of the Platform took place at the Media Center Ukraine.

During the discussion, Kateryna Levchenko, Government Commissioner for Gender Policy and Deputy Coordinator of the Platform for Gender Mainstreaming and Inclusion in Recovery, emphasized that one of the significant achievements in gender mainstreaming and inclusion in recovery is the incorporation of a strong gender component in the updated State Strategy for Regional Development. According to her, more and more documents at the strategic level now include gender equality as a key principle.

Kateryna Levchenko noted that many important steps have been taken over the past year in the area of gender inclusion, involving various stakeholders. For example, the Ministry of Social Policy is working to ensure gender mainstreaming at the level of various documents. The Ministry has developed methodological recommendations for the integration of gender approaches in activities at the municipal level, which have been approved by a ministerial decree and are mandatory for implementation.

The Ministry of Economy is also working in this area, particularly through training initiatives. A notable example is the Ministry of Economy’s support for women-owned businesses, as well as a retraining program that became more active in 2024. In addition, the National Agency for Civil Service also contributed to the issue of gender inclusion.

Civil society organizations have also made significant contributions over the past year, particularly through the work of analytical centers. At the request of the government, these centers have produced important analytical materials on how to incorporate gender equality and inclusion standards into recovery efforts.

“For us, it is very important that the movement we have started continues – both nationally and internationally. It is often difficult to start a process, but it is even more difficult to keep it going. That is why we expect more cohesion and more concrete work,” said Kateryna Levchenko.

In particular, it is worth noting that among the priorities of the Platform for 2024-2025 are: amendments to legislation aimed at enhancing the integration of gender mainstreaming and inclusion in the recovery process; implementation of the Strategy for Ensuring Gender Equality in Education until 2030 and the Action Plan for its implementation; implementation of the National Strategy for Overcoming the Gender Pay Gap in Ukraine until 2030 and the Action Plan for its implementation.

On 12 February, a constituent meeting of the working group “Platform for Gender Mainstreaming and Inclusion in Recovery” was held, chaired by Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

During the meeting, representatives of ministries, the Parliament and other government agencies, international and civil society organisations discussed goals and objectives on the path to gender-responsible and inclusive recovery of Ukraine, as well as outlined challenges and next steps.

Olha Stefanishyna noted the high level of political readiness of all government agencies, international partners and civil society representatives to work together in this area.

“We have already done a lot of work in the area of gender equality. However, in times of daily struggle against the enemy, as well as post-war recovery and in the context of Ukraine’s accession to the EU, we have many new tasks and priorities,” said Olha Stefanishyna. “Today it is important to coordinate and identify the main directions of our further joint work.”

She emphasised that for comprehensive recovery, fundamental work must be done to incorporate an inclusive gender-oriented approach into all processes in the country.

The key priorities include:

•  – Strengthening the effectiveness of coordination between government agencies, international organisations, funds and structures to ensure gender mainstreaming and inclusion in recovery;
•  – Preparing legislative proposals to ensure gender equality and inclusion in the implementation of the recovery plan for Ukraine;
•  – Ensuring gender equality and inclusion in the recovery, etc., in particular through the collection of statistical information

“It is important for us to ensure the dynamic work of the Platform, which will allow us to find and eliminate gaps and barriers so that everyone feels safe, has every opportunity to develop and participate in political and public life,” the Deputy Prime Minister stressed.

The Deputy Prime Minister also underlined the importance of developing a comprehensive vision for creating opportunities for Ukrainian citizens to return from abroad.

For her part, Deputy Minister of Economy Tetiana Berezhna noted that human capital development was one of the Government’s important priorities under the Ukraine Facility programme. In particular, it is about building a safe and inclusive educational environment for access to quality education, developing vocational education, overcoming gender imbalances in the labour market, transformation, etc. The importance of implementing the Strategy for Closing the Gender Pay Gap by 2030 was also discussed.

Kateryna Levchenko, Government Commissioner for Gender Policy, stressed the importance of prioritising the issue of gender-oriented recovery of Ukraine at international platforms, in particular on the sidelines of the upcoming 68th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

In her turn, Tetiana Lomakina, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Barrier-Free Environment, informed the participants about the implementation of the National Strategy for Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine and stressed the importance of synchronising joint efforts in the context of inclusive development at the community level.

The meeting also agreed on the regulations of the Platform and the procedure for joining it.

The Ukrainian Women’s Fund expressed its readiness to be an executive partner of the Platform and to ensure the work of its Secretariat.

Background

On 18 September, the Platform for Gender Mainstreaming and Inclusion in Recovery was launched and presented. The Platform will act as an advisory body to the Commission for Coordination of Interaction of Executive Authorities on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men. The goal is to ensure coordinated cooperation between ministries, other central executive agencies, civil society, business representatives and international organisations and to incorporate the principle of gender equality and inclusion into the process of Ukraine’s recovery. The Coordinator of the Platform is Olha Stefanishyna, Chair of the Commission, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine. The Deputy Coordinator of the Platform is Kateryna Levchenko, Government Commissioner for Gender Policy