On September 23, 2021 at the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service within the framework of RICHELIEU FORUM CIVIL SERVICE 3.0: FORESIGHT AND TRANSFORMATION with the partnership support of the UN Women Ukraine and Project “European Union for Gender Equality: Reform Support Service” a workshop “Meanings and Values of the New Civil Service: Equality of Opportunities” were held.

As it was noted at the beginning of the event by the Head of the NAUCS Nataliia ALIUSHYNA, the seminar is called for become a platform for the popularization and dissemination of best examples and successful cases for building a society of equal opportunities. In particular, it is provided by three thematic panels on bright examples of forming an innovative leader in public administration who can successfully solve current problems and ensure the country's development for the future, and the most illustrative examples of implementing gender approaches in public authorities and local self-government authoorities.

“We will try to build a communication network of strong business and friendly partnership, based on mutually beneficial cooperation in terms of ensuring the integration of gender approaches in the activities of public authorities”, - underlined Nataliia ALIUSHYNA.

In general, the following issues were discussed during the event:

-          strengthening the institutional capacity of government authorities and local self-government bodies to implement gender-sensitive policies;

-          promoting women’s political participation and representation at higher levels of decision-making;

-          ensuring networking to build a society of equal opportunities, etc.

The speakers of the workshop were: Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha STEFANISHYNA, Inter-Factional Deputy Association “Equal Opportunities” Maryna BARDINA, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oleh NEMCHINOV, Counsellor at Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine Katja SALSBÄCK, Head of the UN Women in Ukraine Country Office Erika KVAPILOVA, Project Manager for “European Union for Gender Equality: Reform Support Service” Oksana KISELYOVA, Government Commissioner for Gender Policy Kateryna LEVCHENKO, Deputy Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine on European Integration Oleksii ILLIASHENKO, Government Commissioner for Gender Policy Kateryna LEVCHENKO, Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine for European Integration Olga REVUK, Public Diplomacy Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Victoria RYASNA, Member of the Board of the Ukrainian Association of Law Enforcement Representatives (UAPPO) Olga IUSKEVYCH, Director Women Leader Program of the National Democratic Institute Olena YENA and other.

Examples of active integration of gender policy into the activities of territorial communities were presented in his speeches by the Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Association of United Territorial Communities and the Chairman of the Novoukrainsk City Council Oleksandr KORINNII and the Deputy Chairman of the Merefa City Council Serhiy IERSHOV.

During the workshop, guests and participants were presented the results of a joint study by the NAUCS, the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union and the Socioplus Research Center for Applied Sociology of the Igor Sikorsky National Technical University on the attitude of different social groups to balanced representation of women and men in senior civil service positions, as well as identifying gender stereotypes and perceptions of gender discrimination. The study conducted a sociological survey of civil servants from June 23 to August 23, 2021 to compare the specifics of women's and men's professional duties, to study the career opportunities for women / men in the civil service and to assess the impact of gender stereotypes and gender discrimination in the career advancement of women and men. In total, about 24,000 respondents from all over Ukraine were interviewed. The results of the study will later be published for public review.

The event also featured a new online course for civil servants and local self-government officials on “Preventing and Combating Sexual Harassment in the Workplace”, jointly developed by the UN Women in Ukraine, the NAUCS and the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union. In the near future, the course will be available for study on one of the online learning platforms.

 In total, more than 80 people from 60 central public authorities took part in the workshop. In particular, they are authorized persons (coordinators) for ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men and representatives of responsible structural subdivisions, which are responsible for ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men, representatives of higher education institutions and civil society institutions, experts from international organizations and international technical assistance projects.

Anyone could take part in the workshop “Meanings and Values of the New Civil Service: Equality of Opportunities” online and even watch the broadcast of the event later on the YouTube channel NAUCS at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx4ixgSrUt4.