In March-April 2011 the PES with the support from the EU-ILO Project “Gender Equality in the World of Work” conducted 27 training sessions in all regions of Ukraine targeting 540 counsellors of the local employment centres, who work directly with job seekers, employers and provide vocational guidance for youth.

Each training session targeted 20 counsellors of the local PES centres. Going through participatory exercises participants were exposed to the gender concepts and definitions, gender equality legislation, ways to mainstream gender in the operation of the Public Employment Service; they discussed gender indicators of the Ukrainian society, the state of women and men in the labour market according to the statistical data available in the region. Brainstorming and group exercises helped the participants to master the methods of gender audit and build the matrix of PES services to fill gender gaps and promote equality in the labour market. Special emphasis was made on strengthening gender-sensitive services and given advice on performance indicators to measure progress in achieving gender equality.

The training cycle was fully based on the project’s tools on gender mainstreaming in the Ukrainian PES, while the training sessions were delivered by the PES officers trained by the project.

The core objective of the EU-ILO Project has been to enable key state bodies and social partners to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the world of work by developing, implementing and monitoring gender-sensitive employment policies and programmes.

As the key state agency responsible for effectively matching supply and demand in the labour market, the Public Employment Service of Ukraine (PES) can play a significant role in promoting gender equality in the labour market, especially if equal opportunity principles are embedded within its operations. The way in which the PES implements its core functions – labour market information and job-brokering; employment counselling and vocational guidance; administration of passive and active labour market policies – may become an important tool in promoting equal access to quality employment for women and men and in redressing existing inequalities in employment and occupation.

Detailed reports per each training session are available in Ukrainian:

1. Ivano-Frankivsk region (2-3 March 2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery);
2. Khmelnytskyi (17-18 March 2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery);
3. Zaporizhya (22-23 March 2011) (see in Ukrainian);
4. Lviv (22-23 March 2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery);
5. Donetsk (23-24 March 2011) (see in Ukrainian);
6. Lugansk (23-24.03.2011) (see in Ukrainian);
7. Chernivtsi (24-25.03.2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery);
8. Chernihiv (24-25.03.2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery);
9. Zhytomyr (29-30.03.2011) (see in Ukrainian);
10. Odessa (29-30.03.2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery);
11. Rivne (30-31.03.2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery);
12. Ternopil (30-31.03.2011) (see in Ukrainian).
13. Zakarpattya region (12-13 April 2011)
14. Poltava region (13-14 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery)
15. Kyiv (city) (13-14 April 2011)
16. Volyn’ region (14-15 April 2011)
17. Kharkiv region (14-15 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian)
18. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea (18-19 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery)
19. Vinnytsya region (20-21 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian)
20. Sevastpol (city) (20-21 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery)
21. Kyiv region (20-21 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian)
22. Cherkasy region (20-21 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian)
23. Dnipropetrovsk region (21-22 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery)
24. Mykolayiv region (21-22 April 2011)
25. Kirovohrad region (26-27 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian)
26. Sumy region (27-28 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian)
27. Kherson region (27-28 April 2011) (see in Ukrainian / photogallery)

Read also:

EU and ILO start a series of trainings in regions for the representatives of local employment centres 

User’s Guide “Gender Mainstreaming in the operation of the Public Employment Service” (Available in Ukrainian)

Trainer’s Guide “Gender Mainstreaming in the operation of the Public Employment Service” (Available in Ukrainian)

Study “Gender Mainstreaming at the Labour Market of Ukraine and Role of the Public Employment Service”