At the invitation of UN Women in Ukraine, National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”, represented by Rector Volodymyr Onyshchenko, as well as the Head of Gender Centre of Poltava Polytechnic Olena Dubynka together with the coaches of the Gender Centre, joined the Congress, representing a progressive university in a big dialogue of state, non-governmental and public, self-governing, business and even religious institutions of Ukrainian society.
The Ukrainian Women’s Congress (UWC) is a permanent public platform that shapes the gender policy agenda for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Government of Ukraine, local communities, private and public sectors and the media community.
At the opening of the Congress, the Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Olena Kondratiuk, outlined the main goal of the event: to find ways to strengthen the role of women in the country’s recovery. This initiative was an important step towards building a gender-inclusive society.
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sweden to Ukraine, Martin Oberg said that his country had long ago realised that where women are involved in decision-making, decisions are better for society. He reminded participants that Sweden is a leader in the global gender equality ranking. In particular, the country has a legal obligation for men to take maternity leave on an equal basis with women.
He stressed: “The name of the Congress – ‘The Path to Recovery’ – says a lot. You have a long way to go – to rebuild Ukraine. This requires all the talents of Ukraine. And half of all talents are women. Do not forget about it!”
UN Women called for the widespread use of gender mainstreaming tools in Ukraine’s recovery process. UN Women Representative in Ukraine Sabine Fraser Günes said that UN Women will seek recognition of the role of Ukrainian women at the Berlin Recovery Conference scheduled for June.
The Congress organisers have highlighted key topics for discussion, such as women’s local leadership, challenges for civil society and women’s economic participation in recovery. UN Women actively supported the initiative and called for the widespread use of gender mainstreaming tools in recovery processes.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Ukraine Natalie Tsmoc said that the Canadian government allocates significant financial assistance to Ukraine to promote reforms and gender parity.
“Our two countries aim to increase the influential role of women in conflict prevention and resolution and post-conflict development,” – noted Natalie Tsmoc.
UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown, speaking at the Ukrainian Women’s Congress.Poltava, acknowledged: “Women are underrepresented at the decision-making level”. That is why, according to her, it is necessary to combine efforts to strengthen the role of women at the regional, national and international levels.
Women play a key role in the economic revival, but they are afraid of the challenges that may arise when doing business. The government is introducing economic incentive programmes that Ukrainian women entrepreneurs are taking advantage of, but they still do not feel like full-fledged players. Women entrepreneurs in Ukraine and the Poltava region in particular have demonstrated their adaptability and risk-taking during the war.
Moderating the discussion “Women’s Economic Participation in Reconstruction”, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament and co-founder of the Ukrainian Women’s Congress Mariia Ionova remarked: “It is important to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship and promote women’s start-ups – innovation requires diversity, and without women’s involvement, opportunities to create unique solutions are lost.”
Summing up the event, Svitlana Voitsekhovska, co-founder of the Ukrainian Women’s Congress, noted that women’s leadership in Ukraine is developing rapidly and is inspiring.
The issue of limited access to decision-making can be solved by consolidating efforts at all levels of government and society and by realising that women’s equal participation in governance and post-war reconstruction will only strengthen Ukraine.
“I am inspired by the speakers and at the same time proud of the innovativeness of our university, as we have already introduced opportunities to both increase the role of women in decision-making as well as their participation in the economy. We are already providing training and retraining for women without stereotypes and restrictions, preparing our graduates of various specialities with the skills of entrepreneurial initiatives, start-ups, and a high level of legal culture. It was a pleasure to meet our graduates, who had received both their primary and secondary higher education at the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” and chose our university to upgrade their knowledge.
I am sure that the Congress results will become a catalyst for qualitative changes in the society. Women’s leadership is the key to success!” – commented the head of the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”, Doctor of Economics, Professor Volodymyr Onyshchenko.
It should be recalled that Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Norway and UN Women Representative in Ukraine, Head of UN Women in Ukraine Sabine Fraser Günes visited Poltava Polytechnic and gave an open lecture to the university community, and the anniversary of Gender Centre of Poltava Polytechnic was celebrated with a legal education conference.
Earlier, the Gender Centre of Poltava Polytechnic received a package of methodological materials from UN Women, and 28 students from the Poltava region became ambassadors of the Gender Centre of Poltava Polytechnic.
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National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
