Picture source: USAID / Chemonics Int. Event: online study tour to Latvia
Ukraine
In March 2020 VNG International launched an online Women In Government programme for 30 female local government officials from Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, in eastern Ukraine. With this activity, VNG International helps foster communication between citizens and government, and empowers more women to participate actively in local decision-making.

Promoting democratic governance in eastern Ukraine

Democratic Governance East (DG East), is a USAID-funded programme implemented by VNG International in partnership with Chemonics, which aims to strengthen the connection and trust between citizens and their government in eastern Ukraine by promoting good governance, accelerating economic growth, advancing anti-corruption efforts, and strengthening an inclusive civic identity.

Ukrainian female career trajectories in local governments

To purposefully design the Women in Government programme, our experts surveyed 75 female government representatives and 80 women officials in 15 municipalities to map their career trajectories, including tenure, path to office, future goals, perceived roadblocks, local gender-related policies, and compliance with national and international gender equality standards. Based on the results, a tailored programme was designed that consists of round table discussions, workshops, and networking events addressing key principles of gender inclusive decision-making in local government and best practices in effective advocacy for gender-oriented and inclusive policies in local governments in Ukraine. Due to COVID-19 constraints, an online study tour to Latvia on gender balanced governance best practices was held in September 2020.

Participants designed action plans for their respective community outlining the necessary steps to achieve greater gender and social inclusion in local governance processes. The action plans also aim to increase awareness among the general public about women’s participation and leadership in local governments, facilitate the exchange of best practices across regions and countries, and ensure sustainability of efforts. DG East-assisted action plans will serve as future roadmaps for Kramatorsk, Severodonetsk, Starobilsk, and Lysychansk municipalities. One of the concrete milestones, proposed by Lysychansk participants, is to create a public council quota for women’s participation and to establish a code of ethics at the newly created civil-military administration. In Kramatorsk, participants proposed creating a city gender passport. These and other action plan ideas are to be considered for implementation by respective local government entities (LGEs).

Through its Women in Government programme in DG East, VNG International and Chemonics seek to significantly strengthen the capacity and participation of women in governmental processes and to ensure greater responsiveness of local governments to gender-specific needs in the communities they serve.

For more information you may contact Stan Abma (stan.abma@vng.nl) or Thymen Ballering (thymen.ballering@vng.nl), project managers at VNG International.