OSCE and Inclusive Security support Ukraine’s regions in implementing their local Women, Peace and Security action plans
A workshop on the local implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, was organized by the OSCE and Inclusive Security in Kyiv on 15-16 November 2017, bringing together 20 experts from regional administrations, national police and civil society organizations from the Volyn, Odessa, Luhansk, Donetsk and Dnipro regions.
Ukraine has taken a globally innovative step to localize the implementation of their National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 through regional action plans. At least 16 of the country’s 24 regions have already adopted a regional action plan.
In small group exercises and plenary discussions the workshop participants assessed the strengths and weaknesses of their regional action plans, and worked to identify the root causes of the problems women have in participating in the work on peace and security.
“Regional level action plans are needed to effectively implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security,” said Natalia Bogdanova, the Head of Gender Policy Department in Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy.
Experts from Inclusive Security also guided the participants to present feasible and concrete outcomes and outputs for their plans.
“An action plan should not be seen as a pile of additional tasks and reporting exercises,” said workshop facilitator Miki Jacevic of Inclusive Security. “It must be a document that motivates civil servants, police officers and civil society professionals to work towards aims that have been jointly agreed.”
Ella Lamakh from the Democracy Development Centre in Kyiv outlined some key challenges related to Ukraine’s decentralization process, and provided recommendations on how to ensure that the effective implementation of the regional action plans can best be guaranteed in the future.
The workshop was implemented by the OSCE Gender Section, with the support of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, jointly with Inclusive Security.