Participants in the first Ukrainian Women’s Congress focus on advancing women’s rights
The first nationwide Ukrainian Women’s Congress, organized by the Equal Opportunities Caucus of the country’s parliament with support from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and other partners, took place in Kyiv on 22 and 23 November 2017.
The Congress brought together 500 Ukrainian officials from the executive and legislative branches, women entrepreneurs, gender equality advocates, as well as representatives of civil society organizations and academia, to discuss the challenges to and ways forward in advancing women’s rights in the country.
“Speaking up and developing a voice can be particularly challenging for women,” said Olena Kondratiuk, Co-Chair of the Equal Opportunities Caucus. “Today we are opening the door to important conversations about fully realizing women’s potential and advancing our status in Ukraine.”
“The women's movement, political will and adequate resources are key ingredients for advancing gender equality in a country,” said ODIHR Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, who took part in a panel discussion on women’s political participation on the first day of the event.
The ODIHR Director also emphasized the importance of exchanging good practices to advance women’s participation in decision-making in the OSCE region. She referred to the Polish Congress of Women, upon which the Ukrainian Congress is modelled and which ODIHR has been supporting for several years.
Ewa Ruminska-Zimny, Vice President of the Polish Congress of Women, said: “Building solidarity and mentoring support for each other were key elements of our success. In the past nine years, women of the Polish Congress have joined their efforts to defend women’s rights and become equal partners to men in politics, economy and family life.”
The event in Kyiv was organized as part of ODIHR’s Strengthening Dialogue among Civil Society and with Key Governmental Stakeholders in Ukraine project, launched in April 2015.