The Gender Month Forum started in Kyiv
The Kyiv region hosted the third edition of the Gender Month Forum. This is the first time that the region coordinates an event on that topic. This Forum was co-funded by the European Union and supported by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR).
Event organisers, together with the NGO Centre for Public Communications, the Association of Ukrainian Cities and Bucha City Council, announced the intention to extend future editions at the national level. Within this context, on 22 March, in the Bucha municipal park took place the panel on “Generation Equality” and a social event titled “We are different, but we are equal levels”.
The panel was moderated by Oleksandr Slobozhan (AUC Executive Director), Iryna Yarmolenko (Project Manager and Bucha Council Deputy), Anna Strakhovska (businesswoman), and Ulyana Pcholkina (TV presenter). Among the speakers, the Secretary General of CEMR, Frédéric Vallier, spoke about the prospects for the Eastern European Partnership. Furthermore, Mr Vallier highlighted the 15th anniversary of the European Charter for Equality between Women and Men at the local level and its importance.
The focus on gender issues was further underlined by Marina Honda. Indeed, the Deputy Mayor of Kyiv presented the peculiarities of the gender equality projects being implemented in the capital of Ukraine. Other issues such as the economic stability of the region and the importance of youth involvement were underlined respectively by Anatoliy Fedoruk (Bucha City council Mayor) and Maryna Popatenko (Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports).
Kostiantyn Kosyachenko, adviser to the Minister of Health, spoke how the current pandemic furthered social and gender inequalities, while Kyiv City Council deputy Tatiana Samoilenko underlined the importance of women’s leadership in politics and media.
The event was attended by many participants and a green market was organized. Multiple family friendly places were arranged across the park with activities such as kindergartens, studio and development centres. Topics such as breastfeeding and child-care advises were provided by professional psychologists and doctors.
Finally, a Memorandum of the project implementation in the city was signed with the management of the Cash Flow project and the CSC NGO.
The organisers’ goal for the future is to broaden the involvement of the Ukrainian society in the event by organizing multiple panels across different cities. At the same time, they called for the support from American and European partners to reach an even greater audience.