Ukrainian gender caucus, ODIHR commit to further co-operation to advance equality between women and men

The Equal Opportunities Caucus, a cross-faction union at the Ukrainian parliament, and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) formally committed on 23 February 2017 to continue co-operation to support national efforts towards gender equality.

During the signing ceremony of a memorandum of co-operation with ODIHR at the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) in Kyiv, the Caucus’s co-chairs, Maria Ionova, Olena Kondratiuk and Svitlana Voytsekhovska, stressed that gender equality was a precondition for comprehensive security for both women and men in Ukraine.

Welcoming the Caucus’s engagement and achievements in taking the agenda forward, ODIHR’s First Deputy Director Katarzyna Jarosiewicz-Wargan said: “The level of empowerment of women mirrors the state of democracy and commitment of a country to the realization of human rights for all. ODIHR will continue to work with Ukrainian counterparts to support their efforts in implementing international standards and OSCE commitments in the area of gender equality.”

The memorandum aims to strengthen dialogue between civil society and government stakeholders on a broad spectrum of gender equality issues. Its objectives include improving the capacities of gender equality mechanisms, supporting gender mainstreaming in the drafting of legislation and in policy-making through enhanced public consultations, promoting and increasing participation of Ukrainian women, including those belonging to national minorities, in public life, as well as mainstreaming gender in the security sector and promoting women’s participation in peace-building.

ODIHR, in partnership with the Caucus, has been working to enhance the visibility and effectiveness of regional gender equality mechanisms through capacity-building as part of its project Strengthening Dialogue among Civil Society and with Key Government Stakeholders on Human Dimension Issues in Ukraine.