The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a bill on granting equal rights and opportunities to women and men, Social Policy Minister Natalia Korolevska has said.
“The bill is aimed at overcoming a number of gender problems, in particular, the low level of representation of women at leading posts in the executive and legislative agencies, the difference in wage levels between Ukrainian women and men, the low level of economic activity of women, and their lack of representation in business leadership,” the ministry’s press service quotes Korolevska as saying.
The bill foresees the introduction of 30 percent gender quotas on the election lists of the political parties during the parliamentary elections and elections to local councils. At present, female deputies make up just 9.4 percent of the membership of the Verkhovna Rada, the minister said.
“Unlike the majority of other bills, our documents is a complex one meant to grant equal rights and opportunities for women and men even in the business sector and employment, through supporting the less-represented sex. When appointments are made to a post under conditions of similar qualification of the candidates, preference will be given to gender that is less represented. So we’ll favor the development of the professional potential of representatives of lower-represented genders in various sectors of labor relations, with the aim of helping them progress at work,” she added.
