The duty of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to promote the involvement of all segments of the population in the bodies and units of the security sector, - Tetiana Kovalchuk
On Friday, February 22, with the participation of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Tatiana Kovalchuk, 11 meeting of the working group on law enforcement issues was held at the Main Office of the Consultative Mission of the European Union, devoted to the topic of introducing the gender component in the security sector.
The holding of regular meetings in this format, initiated by the EU Advisory Mission, enables the exchange of best practices applied in law enforcement on a regular basis, as well as informing about new challenges and engaging international partners as advisors and donors to address priority problematic issues.
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Tetiana Kovalchuk presented the participants with the results of the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the development of an integrated gender approach. In 2018, the Ministry took measures to eliminate legal barriers to the active and significant participation of women and men in the security sector, institutionalize gender policy through the creation of special authorized structural units, build a network of gender advisers, improve the mechanism for conducting gender legal examination of regulatory acts creation of a mentoring institute — Ukrainian Association of Law Enforcement Representatives.
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine considers it its duty to promote the involvement of all, without exception, segments of the population, to work in the bodies and units of the security and defense sector. We do not just declare the principle of equal rights and opportunities, we make every effort to implement it in the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine,” the Deputy Minister noted.
Tetiana Kovalchuk also drew the attention of representatives of the international community to promising projects planned for the near future: holding information events, development of communication, organization of training events for employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, scientific and research activities, continuation of work on improving the processes of prevention and counteraction to all forms of violence, and the formation of the core of gender competence — Strategies for the implementation of gender equality in the security sector.
The Deputy Minister assured those present that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine already has a team of reformers ready for positive changes and for the implementation of new ideas, which will improve the work of the security sector and help the Ministry to become completely transparent, open, reliable and accountable. “We intend to follow the path of change and with each new project reaffirm the European choice of our citizens. Each of us understands that the implementation of the principle of equal rights and opportunities for men and women will strengthen the security sector and make it open and innovative,” said Tatiana Kovalchuk.
In turn, the advisor on gender issues of the EU Advisory Mission Agata Zhymanska noted the positive developments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the field of implementation of best European practices in gender policy, and at the same time stressed the importance of adhering to the strategic approach in this work.
The participants of the meeting also discussed the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Police on combating domestic violence on the basis of information presented by Veronica Kristkova, Senior Adviser on the legislative reform of the CMES.
