Over 100 participants from the Government, employers’ and workers’ organizations, the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, the International Labour Office (ILO) as well as civil society at large came together to discuss the results of the joint EU-ILO project “Gender Equality in the World of Work”.
Opening the conference, senior representatives of the EU Delegation, ILO and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine set the stage for the presentation of the impact of the project. Started in 2009, in the wake of the global economic crisis, the project saw the crisis as an opportunity to shape effective responses that are gender aware. The project has enabled labour market institutions and social partners to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the world of work by developing, implementing and monitoring gender-sensitive policies and programmes. Over its lifespan, the project adapted over 30 training tools to the Ukrainian context. Based on these tailor made tools, the project trained large numbers of labour administration staff (over 900), social partners (over 600 workers’ and 300 employers’ representatives) and women-entrepreneurs (over 900). Gender equality plans were developed in Ukrainian pilot companies.
Due to the training provided by the project we realized that gender equality problems are much deeper than we had imagined, - says Yuriy Kondratenko, a leader of the Free trade Union of Science and Education. – Now our Union is well equipped to eliminate gender-based discrimination in the workplace.
The project helped us in practical implementation of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value in our company, - says Nataliya Starikova, HR manager at SKF-Ukraine, the project’s pilot company that engaged in the development of the gender equality plan.
Oksana Khoruzhenko, entrepreneur from Sumy: Several years ago my business went bankrupt but I did not give up the idea to start a new business. My participation in the Start Your Business training helped me develop my business efficiently. This is what I like and what generates my income. When I was invited to the second training cycle Improve Your Business I made sure I will not miss a second from this training. Thank you very much!
According to the project partners, the project has become an integral resource for expert information on equal opportunities and non-discrimination in the workplace in Ukraine. It has had a significant effect on public institutions, social partners, governmental authorities and women entrepreneurs. Moreover, its impact has been felt not only through the changes it has made to organizational design of labour market institutions, but also through the changes in public and private attitudes towards gender equality in the workplace. By building the capacity of Ukrainian leaders and trainers to implement gender equality at the workplace, the project has ensured that the seeds for change continue to grow long after the project has been completed.
The project has had a far-reaching and long-lasting impact which will be noticeable in the mid- and long-term through better legal and institutional mechanisms on gender equality, gender-sensitive collective bargaining agreements and a decrease in the gender pay gap.
Participants had a thorough discussion on the way forward to ensure gender equality at work in Ukraine. All project partners pledged that they will continue to work towards achieving gender equality in the world of work in Ukraine.
See also (in Ukrainian):
Ukrainian business portal Companion.online – “Women – to parliament and big business” (video)
“Women and children’srights – communication component” Project’s web-site – “EU and ILO work together to promote gender equality at work”
Web-site of the Delegation of the EU to Ukraine – “EU and ILO work together to promote gender equality at work”
CITI news – “Age limit” (video)
All-Ukrainian business newspaper “Pres-birzha” - “EU and ILO work together to promote gender equality at work”