Ukraine's European integration contributes to reforming all state institutions, including the Parliament, in terms of compliance with European standards of gender equality. Once the EU candidate status has been acquired, assessing the gender sensitivity of the Ukrainian Parliament becomes particularly relevant.
Use of the Gender-Sensitive Parliaments Toolkit developed by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) allows a comprehensive analysis of how well a parliament meets the current gender equality standards and is instrumental in identifying the key areas for improving legislation and practices. The toolkit covers five key “areas” of gender-sensitive parliaments, including equal opportunities for women and men to be elected to parliament, to influence parliamentary procedures, adequate coverage of women’s interests and concerns in the parliamentary agenda, development of gender-sensitive legislation by the Parliament, and exercise by the Parliament of its symbolic functions in the context of gender equality.
The gender sensitivity of the Verkhovna Rada was assessed by experts of the JurFem Analytical Center with the support of the USAID "RADA: Next Generation" Program. The Ukrainian parliament received 42 points, which is the average score for the parliaments of EU member states.
The assessment helps to understand:
Thus, the parliamentary assessment process is aimed not only at identifying existing gaps, but also at stimulating practical steps and real changes aimed at implementing gender sensitivity.
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