“This week’s parliamentary legislation ought to push the humanitarian demining bill to the fore,” – Iryna Herashchenko
At the Conciliation Board meeting, the First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Herashchenko stressed on October 16 that the humanitarian demining issue must be included in the ongoing plenary week’s agenda.
According to her, one of the most serious humanitarian problems in the Donbas is the large mined area of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (around seven thousand square kilometers).
In order to resolve the issue, several bills were registered in the parliament. However, the draft bill No.9080-1 is seen to be a priority, as over forty parliamentarians from different parliamentary factions in concert with international experts worked over the document, trying to adapt the Croatian demining experience.
Iryna Herashchenko thanked the colleagues for supporting the prolongation of the law on the special procedure for SRDLO’s local self-government, as well as for the backing the presidential initiative to address the Ecumenical Patriarch to grant the Tomos of autocephaly to the Local Orthodox Ukrainian Church.
The politician also highlighted the importance of the law of Ukraine on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men during their military service. According to her, the making Liudmyla Shuhalei general does demonstrate Ukraine's aspiration to approach the EU and NATO standards in gender policy.
Iryna Herashchenko also expressed her hope that the Ukrainian women’s potential would continue to be effectively used on the path towards peacebuilding in Ukraine.