The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of women around the world and in Ukraine, and today society faces a new challenge: to answer the question of what role women should play in rebuilding the country in the ‘post- COVID’ era. Olena Kondratiuk, Deputy Chairperson of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, emphasized this during the sidelines of the Fifth Ukrainian Women’s Congress.
“As the World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments, where I represented Ukraine, has shown, today this issue is one of the key issues on the world agenda. The 130 countries that supported the Conference Resolution stated the need to create a new global social treaty on gender equality. And in it, women should become an integral part of the strategy and leadership of the reconstruction process after the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Olena Kondratiuk.
She added that the first step towards achieving this goal was to ensure equal and tangible representation of women in all decision-making institutions, as well as to ensure women's access to decision-making.
According to the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, today it is also time for gender-oriented budgeting at all levels - from the small community to the Government and the Parliament. In addition, she noted, not all parties have yet realized that attracting women to their ranks is the best investment in their own political future.
As a co-founder of the Ukrainian Women's Congress, Olena Kondratiuk noted that today more and more Ukrainian women demonstrate the ability to make effective and responsible decisions at all levels - not only in social or community areas, but also in business. “Therefore, it is necessary to achieve greater participation of women in the management of commercial companies, in the management and supervisory boards of large state-owned enterprises. Particular attention should be paid to the work of women entrepreneurs, those who have their own business, work in small and medium-sized businesses, women who have accepted the challenge of the difficult conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
According to Olena Kondratiuk, the women's movement also expects the Government to submit the Istanbul Convention to the Parliament.