#RespectUA: Ukraine celebrates Zero Discrimination Day

February 28, 2020

On Friday, 28 February, the United Nations Development Programme launched a series of events to celebrate Zero Discrimination Day in Ukraine. Globally, Zero Discrimination Day is celebrated on 1 March.

Kyiv, 28 February – Famous cultural figures, human rights activists, and representatives of the Ukrainian government gathered in Kyiv on 28 February to mark Zero Discrimination Day in Ukraine.

This year’s Zero Discrimination Day – marked by the United Nations since 2014 – has the theme of “Combating discrimination against women and girls,” focusing on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Among the discrimination issues facing women in Ukraine today are the wage gap (women in Ukraine are paid on average 25 percent less than men) and the unfair distribution of domestic chores (women on average spend 29 hours per week on housework, compared to 15 hours for men.

In the workplace, women in Ukraine also have to contend with a “glass ceiling,” with generally fewer opportunities for career advancement than men. Women also make up a disproportionally large share of the population in poverty – 65 percent.

The percentage of women in the newly elected parliament in Ukraine is historically high – at 21 percent, but still below the 30 percent target.

“Although women’s parliamentary representation in Ukraine has increased to almost 21 percent in 2019, a lot remains to be done at subnational level,” said Olena Ursu, the manager of the Democratic Governance Portfolio at UNDP Ukraine. “There are no women mayors in the oblast centres, and the amalgamated communities have seen a reduction in the proportion of elected women heads.”  

“As Ukraine prepares itself for its local elections, it is important to boost women’s political representation through campaign finance reform, training mentoring programmes on leadership skills, and special initiatives focusing on media coverage of women leaders. Having more women in decision making will help Ukraine achieve its commitments to gender equality and human rights and will ensure better policies at all levels,” says Ursu.

As part of the event, UNDP organized a panel discussion with Deputy Minister of Social Policy for European Integration Serhii Nizhynskyi, UNDP’s Ursu, and public and cultural figures Larysa Denysenko, Alevtyna Kakhidze, and Zola Kondur.

The speakers discussed violations of women’s rights in Ukraine, combating domestic violence, and dealing with problems of gender inequality in Ukrainian politics.

The next panel discussion, “Ukraine without discrimination: from dream to realization,” featured Representative of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights on Equal Rights and Freedoms Viktor Ivankevych, philosopher Mykhailo Minakov, TV presenter and activist Uliana Pcholkina, and writers Liubko Deresh and Mark Livin, who discussed the origins of intolerance and possible ways to combat discrimination.

The participants stressed that it was unacceptable to discriminate against people on the basis of their race, ethnicity, religion, disability, social class, sexual orientation, age, sex or marital status.

In addition, the event included the premiers of  five short films that were the finalists of the social ad competition “Zero Discrimination,” organized jointly by UNDP in Ukraine and the Molodiya Film Festival.

The social ads’ creators raised the crucial issues of ageism and discrimination against people with disabilities. They also called for respect and tolerance toward LGBTQI+ people.

Background

The Zero Discrimination Day event was organized as part of the RespectUA communication campaign to promote tolerance in Ukraine, which is conducted by the International Centre for Policy Studies with support from UNDP in Ukraine.

For additional information, please contact Yuliia Samus, UNDP Communications Specialist via communications.ukraine@undp.org, or at +38 044 254 0035