Ukrainian women need to fight not only for the number of mandates in the parliament and in local councils, but also for participation in making the most important decisions in the life of the state and communities. This opinion was expressed by the Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada, Elena Kondratyuk, during her participation in the Kyiv Forum of Equal Rights and Opportunities.
"We really have great success. If we compare with the first convocation of the parliament, there were 2%, and now we have 21% women. This indicates good changes in the country. But when we talk about whether women can really participate in solving certain issues, you can see that only three of the 23 parliamentary committees are headed by women. Women do not head the VRU committees that make decisions on the budget, finance, taxes, energy and other key issues related to the fair distribution of benefits and resources in society. Women become vice-speakers, but men become speakers, which can also be changed," stressed Kondratiuk.
She also added that the majority of employees in the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada are women - 68%, but there is not a single woman in the leadership of the Apparatus. According to her, a similar situation is observed at the level of communities and large cities.
Kondratyuk expressed her hope that, following the results of the local elections, "professional, qualified, dedicated women who work in different fields and have a lot of experience working in communities will come to power." According to her, this will be facilitated by the new Electoral Code adopted by the Verkhovna Rada and the 40% quota of persons of the same sex in the electoral lists.
"Now political parties take responsibility for cities and large communities of 10 voters. And this is a unique window of opportunity for women, which must be taken advantage of. Frankly speaking, now political parties need women more than women need political parties," said the deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada.
In her opinion, it is unfair when in Ukraine women make up more than 50% of the population, but at the same time they have an insignificant representation in communities, in city and regional councils.
"This is a big challenge that political parties have to deal with. Those political parties that find the strength, courage, persistence and responsibility to accept as many women as possible in their ranks will have a future. Active participation of women in local elections and their election to local self-government bodies is a step towards a new quality of politics at the community level and, in general, in Ukraine," Kondratiuk is convinced.
