Meeting of the Program participants in 2014. The fifth day
June 2, 2014
Meeting with representatives of UN agencies in Ukraine
Meeting with representatives of UN agencies in Ukraine
On Monday representatives of UN agencies in Ukraine together with the participants of the First Step to Success All-Ukrainian Youth Program conducted a round table during which they discussed the importance of supporting women’s initiatives, assisting women’s participation in political life of the country and necessity to response to acute challenges of today.
Ms. Nuzhat Ehsan, representative of UN Population Fund in Ukraine noted that "to solve important gender gigues in the country it is very important to hear women’s voices in Ukraine and to provide for equal involvement and integration of women and men in Ukrainian society at all levels".Natalia Karbowska, Board Chair of Ukrainian Women’s Fund, in her welcoming speech told that for the UWF it has become important to support not just women’s movement, but young women’s movement, stressed the necessity to involve young non-indifferent and initiative women to development of gender balanced society.
Youth Program participants, who represented different places of Ukraine (Lviv, Zhytomyr, Mariupol, Poltava, Kakhovka, Kyiv, Odesa and others) told about their projects and their vision of what they can do, how they can influence on solving problems on the level of local and interregional initiatives.Oleg Voronennko, Program Officer of UN Population Fund explained the importance of globally agreed initiatives, such as Millennium Development Goals or CEDAW Convention. Besides, he emphasized: "UN is engaged in solving globa
l problems, assists in negotiations, etc. But what really changes the world is action. I want to thank you for the fire in your eyes, for desire to act and to change life. May God give you strength in that!"Through encouraging gender equality as a driving force of economic compatibility and social provision, UN system in Ukraine works to support civil society, private sector and governmental institutions in Ukraine to ensure political, social and economic integration of women.
"Women in Ukraine have a great potential for development of their leadership and ensuring wider representation in central and local governmental bodies, - Ms. Alessandra Tisot, United Nations Resident Coordinator said in her speech. – I often visit UN websites and see very strong women-leaders there, but on the level of Ukrainian parliament or government the percentage of women is very low".
Addressing to young women-leaders and answering their questions Alessandra gave some advice:- It’s necessary to break the wall! Go outside!
- See opportunities in any problem!
- Always look for connection with a wider context. Men will try to make you “come back to Earth”, but you should passionately work where you like. But always compare issues with the big picture.
- Use links and have proofs, refer to researches and operate facts.
Meeting with UN agencies became the concluding event of our 5 days' program. We are sure that further on there are new socially important projects aimed to solve acute problems of today, and we'll achieve greater success throug common efforts!
