The Ministries embarked on applying provisions of the State Social Program on Providing Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men up to 2021 approved by the Government. At present, it is essential to start shaping programs and plans for implementation of this program in the regions. This was stated by Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze during the first meeting with the deputy heads of the Regional State Administrations who are authorized coordinators on gender policy in the local executive authorities.

The Vice Prime Minister briefed the attendees on a tangible progress that has been achieved over the last year of work in the gender sector. It is noteworthy to mention that, there have been significant changes in the approaches of ministries to the organization of work, and most importantly, in understanding that ideas of gender equality can be implemented precisely by means of the incorporation of a state mechanism, in particular through the system of local authorities. "For the first time the Government Action Plan for 2018 focuses on gender priorities. I call on the regions not to stand on the sidelines, but to actively engage in government initiatives and reforms. We need your support and experience. We need to ensure that all possible gender important points are encapsulated in future regional strategies and programs", the Vice Prime Minister underscored.

Apart from that, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze urged the representatives of the regions to actively work on the National Action Plan "Women, Peace and Security", which is being shaped pursuant to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. The Vice Prime Minister stressed that in June the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine should approve the updated National Action Plan, thus, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine is to host a coordination meeting with local authorities and involve regional public organizations in order to ensure systematic work on the implementation of the National Action Plan.

Deputy Minister of Social Policy Nataliya Fedorovich stressed that an important part of the work on the National Action Plan "Women, Peace, Security" is the improvement of the monitoring methodology. "The Ministry of Social Policy, by the end of this year, will develop a unified monitoring card for the state of things which can be used as an example for subsequent monitoring of programs and plans. This monitoring system will become an effective tool for your work on the ground ", the Deputy Minister emphasized.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze placed a special emphasis on reforming the system of professional training of civil servants, local self-government officials and local councilors on gender equality issues. "I know that now the draft Action Plan is waiting for its approval by the Government.  It is important that the document devotes special attention to issues of upgrading the qualification of civil servants on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, protection of the rights and interests of persons with disabilities, gender policy, strategic communications" , the Vice Prime Minister stressed.