Ukraine took a responsibility of reaching the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and set indicators for establishing Ukrainian MDGs. The sixth goal for Ukraine is ensuring gender equality. In order to reach this goal Ukraine will put efforts to achieve ratio of at least 30:70 for either genders in legislative and executive offices and halve the gap in incomes between men and women. Therefore, it is necessary for communities to have professional trainers able to inform wide audience on gender, gender equality and UMDGs.

 

UNDP-led Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme (UNDP/MGSDP) facilitates sustainable development in 26 partner municipalities. The training on gender-based analysis for the participants of local development programmes was organized to prepare qualified trainers able to inform various groups of population of partner municipalities on gender. The managers of local departments of education, school directors and teachers benefited from training representing municipalities of Rubizhne (Lugansk Region), Rivne (Rivne Region), Tulchyn (Vinnytsya Region), Mykolayiv (Mykolayiv Region), Dolyna (Ivano-Frankivsk Region) and settlements of Krasnogvardiyske, Nyzhnegorskyi, Pervomayske and Zuya (AR Crimea). 

 

The trainers Natalia Kurganovska and Nina Tverdokhleb from the Project “Empowering Education” managed to organize sincere discussion on based on analysis of Ukrainian and international legislation. The participants debated on the concept of gender and discrimination of women. The definition of discrimination against woman from Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination between man and woman became the streamline of the training. According to the Convention, discrimination is “distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by woman, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”.

 

The trainers shared the experience with the participants. “Gender inequality affects the standards and quality of life which in their turn engrave the problems related to gender. According to statistics, women are only 1% of executive directors, 6% of top positions in executive bodies and 10% in the parliaments around the globe”, said Nataliya Kurganovska.

 

Summing up the training, the majority of the participants said they felt like proponents of idea of gender equality, illuminators and trainers on gender. The participant from Rivne said that gender mainstreaming and gender equality starts from separate family. All participants expressed wish to conduct own researches and suggested interesting topics, like gender analysis of literature on art for children, cartoons and TV programmes. The participant from Mykolayiv  will analyze influence of gender stereotypes on relations between teachers and the pupils.

The participants broadened the knowledge on gender, promoting gender equality in international, European Law and Ukrainian legislation, Family and Labor Codes of Ukraine.  The participants will submit their research papers on issues they face in their work based on application of gender-based analysis. Also, they will conduct the training on gender for their pupils. After completion of this task, the teachers will participate in final meeting where they will conduct demonstrative trainings, discuss generated experience and receive certificates of trainers. The topic of gender runs through life of every person therefore it arose great interest among the participants and desire to conduct such trainings in future.