UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. UN Women work in Ukraine focuses on supporting the government and civil society in advancing gender equality and implementation of the national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Since 2015, UN Women has been focusing its interventions toward the realization of following strategic goals: women’s leadership and participation; implementation of women, peace and security agenda, including a humanitarian response, and gender responsive governance. UN Women works closely with the UN Country Team in integration of women’s rights and gender equality in all spheres of UN work. UN Women contributes to the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development. Ukraine has taken the key international commitments on gender equality. The country adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), joined the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action (BPfA) of the 4th World Conference for Women (1995) and ratified key human rights treaties, including Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1980) and its Optional Protocol. The Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, signed in 2014, entails a commitment to ensure equal opportunities for women and men in employment, education, training, the economy, and in society and decision-making. Gender equality is enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution. The new State Social Programme on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men for the period up to 2021 looks to strengthen the institutional mechanism for gender equality with an integrated approach to addressing the institutional barriers to gender equality. Ukraine’s policy and legislative framework on gender equality also includes the Human Rights Strategy and Action Plan adopted in 2015, which aims to ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and men in all areas of public life. Adoption by the Government of the National Action Plan for Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 is also a commendable step towards implementation of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda in Ukraine. In 2017, the Government of Ukraine submitted the 8th periodic report. The CEDAW Committee considered the eighth periodic report of state, UN Country Team report, analysed information from CSOs and coalitions, conducted the constructive dialogue with the state delegation, received information from NGOs and UN entities during the plenary session and issued a list of Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report (CEDAW COs) (1). To support the Government with a comprehensive implementation of the CEDAW and Concluding Observations, including with raising awareness and knowledge about the Convection and its Optional Protocol, UN Women launched the project “CEDAW in Action!” in June 2017, which is funded by the Government of Canada. The project aims to promote stronger accountability for the obligations under the CEDAW by providing capacity building and technical support to the Government in effective implementation and monitoring of the Convention and COs, and to women, particularly those facing multiple forms of discrimination, in understanding and claiming their human rights. With UN Women’s technical support and policy guidance, the Government of Ukraine, in collaboration with women’s groups and CSOs drafted its first-ever Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations. Currently the plan is at the stage of finalization by the Government. Its adoption was prioritized in the 2018 Annual Plan of the Cabinet of Ministries (2) and Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. According to the CEDAW CO # 56 the Government of Ukraine should to provide in March 2019 the written information on the steps taken to implement the recommendations contained in COs 13 (a) and (f) and 29 (a) and (c). The sixty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which took place in the United Nations Headquarters in New York during 12-23 March 2018 provided the governments with recommendations to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls and their human rights. UN Women supported the Governmental delegation of Ukraine to take part in the session. The CSW recommended to take the actions on strengthening normative and legal frameworks and eliminate laws and policies that discriminate against rural women and girls, implementation of economic and social policies for the empowerment of rural women and girls and strengthening their collective voice, leadership and decision-making (3). In the CEDAW CO #42 related the rights of rural women the Committee recommends Ukraine: (a) Seek international assistance and cooperation, as appropriate, to improve infrastructure in rural areas and formulate policies to combat poverty among rural women to ensure their access to justice, education, housing, formal employment, skills development and training opportunities, income-generating opportunities and microcredit, and ownership and use of land, taking into account their specific needs, in line with general recommendation No. 34 (2016) on the rights of rural women; (b) Pay due attention to the negative impact of the conflict on rural women and ensure that their specific needs are addressed and that they have equal access to basic services, infrastructure and new technologies; (c) Study the impact of economic and social strategies for rural development on women’s human rights and improve the collection of specific, disaggregated data on rural women; (d) Design specific interventions to leverage opportunities for the economic empowerment of rural women and ensure that they are involved in the design of those strategies and programmes, focusing on women not only as victims or beneficiaries but also as active participants in the formulation and implementation of such policies. To support the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine on comprehensive monitoring of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW COs and recommendations of the CSW in achieving gender equality and empowerment of rural women and girls, as well as CEDAW COs on the rights of rural women, UN Women seeks to hire a National Consultant to develop an M&E Framework of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations and provide support to the Ministry on its application with a special focus on steps taken by the Government to implement the recommendations contained in paragraphs 13 (a) and (f) and 29 (a) and (c) of the CEDAW COs. Additionally, the National Consultant will develop recommendations for the Ministry of Social Policy to mainstream rural women rights in the state legislation and programs. 1) United Nations, "Concluding observations on the 8th periodic report of Ukraine: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women" (CEDAW/C/UKR/CO/8), Adopted by the Committee at its 66th session (13 Feb.-3 Mar. 2017), Available at https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1286284?ln=en (accessed on 19 July 2018) UN Women Europe and Central Asia, "Translation of the Concluding observations on the 8th periodic report of Ukraine: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women into the Ukrainian language", Available at http://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2017/12/concluding-observations-on-the-eighth-periodic-report-of-ukraine (accessed on 19 July 2018) 2) Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Decree # 244-p of 28 March 2018 "On approval of Priority Actions Plan for the Government of Ukraine for 2018", Governmental portal - Unified web-portal of executive bodies of Ukraine, Available at https://www.kmu.gov.ua/ua/npas/pro-zatverdzhennya-planu-prioritetnih-dij-uryadu-na-2018-rik (accessed on 19 July 2018) 3) Commission on the Status of Women, Report on the sixty-second session, (24 March 2017 and 12–23 March 2018). Available at http://undocs.org/E/CN.6/2018/20 (accessed on 19 July 2018) Commission on the Status of Women Agreed conclusions on “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls” on 23 March 2018. Available at http://undocs.org/en/E/CN.6/2018/L.8 (accessed on 19 July 2018)
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