Ministry of Internal Affairs, Norway and UN Women strengthen cooperation to protect the rights of women and girls in the face of military conflict
Today, November 28, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Tatiana Kovalchuk met with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the Embassy of Norway in Ukraine and UN Women in Ukraine.
The participants of the meeting discussed the implementation of the project “Building a democratic, peaceful and gender-equal society in Ukraine”. As part of the project, a sociological study was carried out, which showed that in conflict zones and adjacent territories, women and girls suffer the greatest gender-based harassment. Ukraine has not been an exception, because according to world studies, women and girls are the most vulnerable during armed conflicts. Therefore, three pilot regions were selected — Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, where this problem needs immediate solution.
“The main goal of the project is for women, especially those most affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine, to participate in the restoration of peace and public security in eastern Ukraine and equally benefit from these benefits,” said Tetiana Kovalchuk.
According to her, it is important to establish a zero level of tolerance in society for gender-based violence.
This project envisages two outcomes in establishing close interaction. The first — women and girls affected by the conflict in Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhya regions, will actively participate and benefit from the recovery, peace and security processes. The second result is that law enforcement agencies, together with women's communities, will develop and implement a common strategy to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in these areas.
“POLINA police groups against domestic violence demonstrate their effectiveness in the regions in which they operate. It is extremely important to work on the prevention of gender-based violence and the eradication of this phenomenon in society,” added the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Norway to Ukraine Ule Terje Horpstad assured of further support for the projects of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in this direction.
“We appreciate the contribution of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the decisive position in establishing gender equality and combating gender-based violence,” he added.
The parties also discussed ways to increase the gender competence of law enforcement personnel, which will be provided through the Gender Competences Development Centre based at the Ministry of the Interior.
“Such a Center will become a specialized institution, which on an ongoing basis will carry out scientific, methodological and educational support for the implementation of the gender component in the activities of the security and defense sector of Ukraine. International and national experts will use the platform to exchange experience with the staff of sector actors,” said Tatiana Kovalchuk.
Another area of cooperation can be the development of a gender policy monitoring system.
UN Women in Ukraine Representative Anastasia Divinska stressed that work to protect the rights of women and girls in regions affected by the military conflict remains an urgent need for human rights agencies and organizations.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
Photo by Andriy Novitsky
