Women’s leadership and participation in decision-making

Women’s participation in decision-making is comparatively low in Ukraine, with the 23 Members of the Cabinet of Ministers, including 3 Deputy Prime Ministers and with 21% female representation in the Verkhovna Rada (April 2022), which is below the world average of 24,5% and well below Europe’s average 29,6%.

While women traditionally make up more than 75% of all civil servants in Ukraine, there were only 33% of women across the highest positions of civil service (category A) in 2020. At the same time, a critical mass of women in public administration, in particular in senior decision-making positions, is important not only for equity reasons but also because it brings more women’s perspectives to policy and other discussions.

UN Women provides support to the key Ukraine institutions of the National Machinery for the Advancement of Women (NWM) in mainstreaming GEWE in key policy and legal frameworks and gender equality initiates. Important investments have been made in the development of the NWM’s institutional capacities, especially to the selected line ministries and state agencies. GEWE provisions have been incorporated into the partner’s internal regulations, policies, structures, and human resources practices.

Further capacity-development aimed at advancing individual skills and capacities to conduct and apply gender analysis in legislation, policies and plans has been delivered through the tailor-made GEWE trainings for civil servants have been developed and institutionalized with the support of UN Women. As a result of improved understanding of GEWE in the civil service, the Code of Ethical Conduct of Civil Servants and Officials of Local Self-Governance was amended to include gender-sensitive provisions, including the prohibition of any forms of gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment at a workplace.