Mr. Chairman!
I am speaking on behalf of Ukraine as the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President for the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and as constant participant in the Minsk peace talks on peaceful settlement of the Situation in Donbas.
Mr. Chairman!
Allow me to express my appreciation to the Bolivian chairmanship for holding this open debate. I would also like to thank UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Executive Director of UN Women for their statements.
It is worth mentioning that Ukraine will join the statement of the EU representative, which will be announced later today.
We are grateful that the thematic report of the UN Secretary General includes the information on the steps taken by the Government of Ukraine on implementing the UN Security Council resolution 1325, in particular on launching the national action plan implementation process.
I cannot but agree with the UN Secretary-General who said the year 2020, will become a test of our commitments in the sphere of implementing the UN Security Council resolution 1325 and we must accelerate our efforts to implement the major parts of the resolution.
I am convinced that the United Nations is uniquely capable of performing one of the fundamental tasks - “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, dignity and value of human beings, men and women equal rights, and in the equal rights of large and small nations”
Equal participation of women, their access to senior leading positions in governmental institutions as well as to decision-making process at all levels are significant for achieving gender equality. The notion is not only stated by the second article of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women but also reaffirmed in Sustainable Development Goals.
Records of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, as well as records of the International Labour Organization, only confirm the need to bridge the gap in the level of women's representation at all stages of political decision-making and to ensure equal payment for women.
Dear members of the Security Council!
In the context of the ongoing fifth year of armed aggression against Ukraine, given that it is women and children who suffer the most from war, our government has accelerated implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) in order to ensure protection of women’s rights in all public spheres.
The National Action Plan for the implementation of the resolution for the period till 2020 is being successfully implemented. The plan includes professional training of the personnel based on gender equality principles, the increase of women’s participation in the peace keeping process, and improves the system of protecting women and girls affected by war. Prevention and counteraction to gender-based violence in armed aggression is an important component of the National Plan.
In the framework of creating an institutional mechanism for gender policy implementation, the authority to coordinate it was entrusted to the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, the institute of the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy was established, and the authorized persons responsible for gender policy were appointed in most regions of our country.
We are currently working on increasing women’s participation in the political life of Ukraine. Unfortunately, women constitute only 12 percent in the Parliament and Government of Ukraine, which is certainly not enough and does not correspond to the professional potential of Ukrainian women. In this regard, amendments to the legislation and introduction of the gender quotas are being developed, which have already proved effective in the elections to the local authorities.
In September, the Ukrainian Government approved the National Action Plan on implementing the recommendations stated in the concluding remarks of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. This document identifies specific measures aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination for the period up to 2021.
We continue working on the national strategy for gender equality in the area of security and defence as well as on communication strategy on gender equality.
More than 25,000 women serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine alongside with men, of which 3,400 rank officers. The number of posts for which women are eligible has increased significantly; equal access to military ranks has been ensured. This year, the first woman has been given the rank of Major General of the Medical Service.
Mr. Chairman!
The armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine in progress, the death toll among the civilian population and military personnel is rising.
I would like to highlight the humanitarian catastrophe brought on by the war unleashed against Ukraine.
Since 2014, the number of casualties among service women has continued to increase in Donbas. A few days ago a 19-year-old female soldier Olesya Baklanova was killed. She was only 19. Earlier in February, Sabina Galitskaya, a nurse, died. A Russian anti-tank guided missile hit her car which was clearly designated as medical. Sabine was only 23.
How many more Ukrainian women have to die defending their homeland before the Russian-provoked armed aggression in Donbas is stopped?
Mines and explosive objects, which literally crammed over 7 thousand square kilometres of Ukrainian territory, remain a huge problem. For the years of war in Donbas, 92 women were killed by them. A few days ago, three children were killed by landmines near the occupied town Gorlovka in the Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian Parliament is going to adopt a very important Law on Humanitarian Demining.
Military equipment, resources, including mines produced in the RF, have been brought through the uncontrolled 400-km section of the Ukrainian-Russian border. Accordingly, Ukraine insists on immediate UN peacekeeping mission deployment in Donbas.
The UN peacekeeping mission with its broad mandate of temporary administration is necessary in order to prevent humanitarian disaster, to hold comprehensive demilitarization of the region, to protect the civilians, women and girls as the most vulnerable.
Certainly, Ukraine would welcome as many as possible female peacekeepers in this mission.
My main efforts as a representative of Ukraine in the Minsk peace talks in the humanitarian group aim at releasing hostages. During the war years, we were able to free or find 258 women who were taken hostages by illegal pro-Russian formations. At the moment, another 6 Ukrainian women are in captivity, 21 women are considered to be missing. One and a half thousand women remained widows and more than two thousand lost their sons.
Many of you have heard the names of Oleg Sentsov, Sergiy Glondar, Uzeir and Teimur Abdullaev, Volodymyr Balukh. These and many other hostages of the Kremlin in the occupied territories, in Crimea and in Donbas, are awaited by mothers, wives and daughters, who are denied of the opportunity to see and communicate with their loved ones.
Today the European Parliament gave Andrey Sakharov award to Oleh Sentsov. We welcome this decision and call upon all UN members to make every effort to release Oleh Sentsov and other political prisoners. Oleh has to get the award personally, not via mediator!
As a representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup in Minsk, I have made dozens of proposals to the RF to hand over Russians, convicted of serious crimes in Ukraine, in exchange to the Kremlin political prisoners. This kind of humanitarian gesture would alleviate suffering of hundreds of women and children. However, the proposals were left unreplied, with Russia blocking hostages and political prisoners release.
Not only the Ukrainian women but also the Russian ones are expecting the extensive release of detainees from both sides. Ukraine proposes to hold the release as soon as possible. The Russian wives, mothers of Russian soldiers and insurgents, detained in Ukraine, also ask the Russian President Vladimir Putin to do it at an early date. It would be a perfect gesture from both sides. Only political will is needed.
In order to determine the full scale of violation of human rights, including sexual violence in the occupied territories of Crimea and Donbass, Ukraine insists on ensuring the admission of special observation and humanitarian missions of the OSCE, the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross.
By the way, the representatives of the ICRC have not been granted access to the Ukrainian political prisoners in the RF as well as to the occupied territories of Donbas. It is a gross violation of human rights.
Former hostages tell about the facts of sexual harassment. The insurgents do not hesitate to attack even the OSCE mission representatives. In May 2017, the representative of the OSCE mission was sexually abused by an armed insurgent. Only the interference of her colleagues prevented the crime.
12 former hostages, including both women and men, released in December 2017 also told us about the facts of sexual abuse. Many of them referred to the facts of group sexual violence.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, let me quote the words of Max van der Stoel: ‘Mankind has spent centuries perfecting the art of war. We are still in our infancy when it comes to building peace’. That is why, I believe, the issue of ensuring peace - anywhere in the world - is key to ensuring respect for human rights and sustainable development. A substantial increase of the role of women in this process is not only urgent, but also requires steady practical implementation.
We are actually having on hands the unique opportunity to reject bureaucratic statements and take practical steps to promote women’s rights, facilitate their participation in peace negotiations and in post-conflict reconstruction, as well as protection from sexual and gender-based violence. I am calling everybody to urgently speed up the work.
Thank you for your attention Mr. Chairman.