Tatiana Kovalchuk: In our society there should be no outsiders regarding the realization of their rights and opportunities

28.02.2018 11:43

This was stated by Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Tetiana Kovalchuk today, February 28, during the constituent meeting on the implementation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Resolution 1325 of the UN Security Council. The event was attended by Gender Advisor to the IEC Soren Sonderstrup and Government Commissioner for Gender Policy Ekaterina Levchenko.

“Gender policy or gender approach is one of the priorities in the system of the Ministry of the Interior today. And we do not just declare the principle of gender equality, but we make every effort to implement it in the activities of the Ministry and central executive bodies, whose activities are directed and coordinated by the Minister of Internal Affairs,” Tetiana Kovalchuk emphasized.

According to her, the affirmation of gender equality is an integral part of the social transformations taking place in Ukraine and, at the same time, an incentive for further development.

“Today in Ukrainian society, stereotypical ideas about the role of man and woman are being destroyed. In almost all spheres of life, the role of women is growing. Not only in civilian bodies, but also in military formations, the proportion of women continues to increase. They participate in volunteer activities, military actions, law enforcement activities. Therefore, gender policy in our state in the conditions of the chosen vector appears in a new relevant light. And the Ministry of Internal Affairs is working on ensuring equal opportunities and preventing discrimination regarding the participation of men and women in making important social decisions,” Tetiana Kovalchuk assured.

During the event, the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs outlined the goals, objectives and principles of gender policy in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the period up to 2020. She also focused on the achievements of the past year. First of all, we are talking about the creation of a network of contact persons on gender issues in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is an unprecedented experience for Ukraine, and the involvement of three national gender advisers.

One of the important achievements is also the launch in 2017 of an ambitious project — the police network against domestic violence “POLINA”. In addition, preparations are being completed for the launch in March of this year of the Ukrainian Association of Law Enforcement Workers.

“There should be no outsiders in our society regarding the realization of their rights and opportunities,” summed up Tetiana Kovalchuk. She thanked international partners and NGOs for their support in implementing gender policy and expressed hope for further fruitful cooperation in this direction.

Government Commissioner for Gender Policy Ekaterina Levchenko noted that the planned work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is very important, and it is very good that these plans are being implemented. “The Ministry of Internal Affairs has already done a lot. And we see that you have the strength, capacity and political will to realize your plans,” Ekaterina Levchenko said.

In her turn, Gender Advisor to the European Commission Soren Sonderstrup noted the importance of creating such an important tool for monitoring the implementation of Plan 1325 as a network of contact persons on gender issues.

“The EU Advisory Mission supports the Ministry of Internal Affairs action plan on gender policy up to 2020 and the monitoring mechanism you have put in place. An important component in this process is ensuring the work of the working group. We will continue to support these initiatives of yours in every possible way,” he assured.

On this day, Tatiana Kovalchuk and Soren Sonderstrup presented 26 gender contact persons with certificates of successful completion of the training conducted with the support of the IMES and the Volke Bernadotte Academy in November 2017.