Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze chaired the third annual coordination meeting on gender issues.

At the enlarged meeting there took part representatives of donor countries, Ukrainian parliamentarians from the "Equal Opportunities" Inter-Faction Union and deputy ministers.

"Our meeting provides an opportunity to sum up the great work we have fulfilled in recent years and to identify the main areas for further work in the field of gender equality. And here it is critical for Ukraine the support and participation of international partners in these processes. I believe that political turbulence and obsessive populism won’t hinder our plans for the implementation of the gender equality policy", said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

The Deputy Prime Minister informed the participants about the main achievements in this area and outlined the challenges.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze reminded that over a short period a series of systemic documents had been adopted. Therefore, the State Program for Equal Rights and Opportunities up to 2021 was endorsed (approved by the Government in April 2018), the National Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Women, Peace, Security was updated, the National Action Plan up to  2021 was developed aimed to implement the recommendations set out in the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the Government on September 5, 2018. In the security and defense sector, the institution of gender counselors was established and a new methodology for gender education in higher education institutions of the law enforcement sector was introduced, noted Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

The official added that gender equality is a factor in GDP growth. Taking this into account, Ukraine has joined the Declaration on Women and Trade within the framework of the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires.

"Currently, more than 450 previously unavailable professions are open for women. According to the State Statistics Service, in 2018, the official employment rate for women grew from 51.4% to 52.5%", said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

Moreover, the Deputy Prime Minister focused on the achievements in countering and preventing domestic violence. In Ukraine, 34 centers and shelters provide assistance to victims of domestic violence. The Ministry of Social Policy, in partnership with the public and international organizations, has created 49 mobile groups of social and psychological assistance in 12 regions. In more than 53.5 thousand cases of domestic and gender-based violence, necessary assistance was provided.

However, despite significant achievements, there exist also challenges, such as misunderstanding of gender equality issues and outright anti-gender propaganda, noted Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

"The anti-gender campaign in Ukraine is a permanent process that takes place at the national and regional levels. Manipulation of gender terms and values is part of Russia's hybrid warfare and is also reinforced from the inside by forces that earn political dividends under the slogans of "promoting traditional values". Therefore, taking that into account, we have to prolong our work not losing momentum", the Deputy Prime Minister underlined.

In turn, representatives of foreign diplomatic institutions and international organizations confirmed the support for the main directions of implementation of the gender policy of Ukraine.