SCHOOL FOR YOUNG POLITISHEANS

Ukraine has made significant progress in gender equality. However, the pace of change on women’s decision-making remains fairly slow: Ukraine ranks behind 156 countries for women’s representation in parliament and has one of the lowest numbers of women in government. Despite women make up 54% of Ukrainian population, yet make up only 10% of its parliamentarians (49 out of 450). This is one of the lowest levels in Europe, and far from the global average of 24 percent and the global targets. More to that, there are no women mayors in the regional centers, their participation in the executive and judicial branches remains marginal. As of beginning of 2020, women hold only 5 of the 25 senior executive branch positions.

In order to meet worldwide development goals and build strong, sustainable democracy, women in Ukraine need to be encouraged, empowered and supported in becoming strong political and community leaders.

This project provides the first in Ukraine political school for young women leaders, aimed to motivate them to play active role in all areas of Ukrainian politics and to build their capacity in participation in decision-making process. This is the unique initiative designed not to double the existing programs on gender equality, but to complement them with the valuable outputs on women empowerment and capacity building. Methodological background is based on the best state-of-the-art practices in this field and developed by the international and Ukrainian experts.

In the frames of the project the following objectives will be reached:

✔ Women’s awareness on policy-making and their understanding on the work of major political institutions and functioning of the political system in Ukraine will be raised.
✔ Double standards, stereotypes and hurdles that limit women participation in decision making process will be overcome and an equally favorable environment for both genders will be created.
✔ Women’s competencies in leadership, communications, electoral program realization, fundraising and other for active involvement in politics and community governance will be developed.
✔ The attention to the need for women empowerment in Ukraine will be drawn and the awareness of the target groups why it is important to improve the situation will be raised.

The project offers self-sustainable measures in development of gender equality in Ukraine. After attending its educational workshops, young women leaders will be motivated to play active role in all areas of Ukrainian politics and have their capacity in participation in decision-making process built. Furthermore, the project will aim to establish an informal network of women leaders that will continue to exist after the implementation period.

Media publications, developed and published in the frames of the project will not only serve for promotion of the gender equality and preventing of stereotypes on women roles, but will also present the achievements of the project to the mass audience, which will help to establish a favorable public opinion on women’s empowerment.

The project is implemented in a partnership with German organization "Media in Cooperation and Transition" using the German Federal Foreign Office resources.