For the first time, the 5th jubilee Gender Forum 2023 under the motto “Equal rights – great opportunities” was held at DSUIA under the patronage of Emine Dzhaparova who is the Chair of the National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO and First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The following honored quests addressed their welcoming speeches to the participants of the Gender Forum: Eduard Kisiliuk who is the Deputy Director and Head of the Department of Education, Science and Sports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine; Iryna Hrytsai, the Deputy Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration; Yulia Kostyunina, Deputy Chairman of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration; Svitlana Spazheva, the Deputy Head of the All-Ukrainian Association of UTC, Head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional branch of the All-Ukrainian Association of UTC, Head of the platform “On Gender Equality” and Head of the Pokrovsk territorial community; Olena Suslova, gender activist, trainer, researcher with national and international experience in gender issues and founder of Information and Advisory Women’s Center.
Larisa Nalivayko, the Vice-Rector of DSUIA and Lilia Hyrenko, the Head of the Department for Culture and Sports of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, were the moderators of the event.
The Forum was held with the aim of consolidating the actions of authorities, local self-government, international organizations, public associations, social partners and other representatives of civil society in order to promote ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men for the sustainable development of territorial communities.
More than 200 participants joined the Gender Forum. There were representatives of executive and local self-government bodies, heads of the united territorial communities of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Donetsk regions, employees of communal enterprises, institutions and international organizations, deputies of regional and local councils, etc.
The participants of the forum took part in the discussion “Practices of Countering Gender-Based Violence in Communities”, which was conducted by Yuliya Savelieva, who is a gender expert for the Swedish-Ukrainian project “Supporting Decentralization in Ukraine” (SALAR International) and the moderator of the platform “On Gender Equality” of the All-Ukrainian Association of UTC. Kyrylo Nedrya, the Head of the Department of Humanitarian Disciplines and Psychology of Police Activity of DSUIA, gave a talk on the topic “War and family: one’s own among strangers, a stranger among one’s own.”
The guests also underwent practical training. The training “Squaring the Circle of Domestic Violence” was conducted by Iryna Drok, a Senior Researcher of the Educational and Scientific Laboratory for Researching the Problems of Preventive Activities of DSUIA, and Svitlana Ryzhkova, a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Administrative Law, Process and Administrative Activities of DSUIA.
Serhii Vishnevskyi, the Head of the Department of Psychological Support of the Human Resources Department of DSUIA, conducted the training on stabilizing the psycho-emotional state of persons who had a traumatic experience during the war.
The guests were also given a tour of the university’s training grounds. In particular, representatives of united territorial communities were interested in the DSUIA driving school for people with disabilities. It was implemented within the framework of the National Strategy for the Creation of a Barrier-Free Space and at the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska “Without Barriers”.
A report for UNESCO and an expanded resolution will be formed based on the results of the forum.
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