Ukraine

Ukraine published a second National Action Plan (NAP) for the period 2020-2025 after its first NAP, for the period 2016-2020, came to an end. At the end of 2022, however, amidst the ongoing full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Government of Ukraine launched an initiative to revise their NAP to reflect on the WPS agenda in practice, and learn from prior government initiatives and civil society in how to best update and implement the plan within the changing conflict context.  

The new NAP, in writing, is a copy of the original 2020-2025 NAP but includes changes noted by: {As amended by the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No.1150-r dated 16.12.2022}. This NAP therefore still has the name end date as the NAP published in 2020, meaning the implementation period is now 2022-2025. The NAP was developed through joint efforts between different national institutions reporting to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The NAP approaches the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda primarily domestically, with an expected focus on the ongoing war. However, it does apply an international lens to issues such as ensuring the training and selection of women for participation in international peacekeeping, as well as peace negotiations.   

The NAP includes five strategic goals: participation of women in decision-making; resilience to security challenges; post-conflict recovery and transitional justice; combatting gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence; and institutional capacity of the national plan actors. Within these strategic goals, operational goals are also identified, which include a ‘task title’, ‘activity title’, the actor(s) responsible for implementation, the time frame for implementation, the source of financing, and the estimated financial resources required for task implementation. The monitoring and evaluation framework for the NAP involved analyzing the key achievement of key indicators and their deviation from target values, determining the reason for their deviation, and conducting an analysis of the implementation status of the tasks and activities in the NAP (p. 13). The collection of information of the indicators’ achievement is stated to be the responsibility of central executive bodies, other state bodies involved in the implementation of the NAP, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regional state administrations, and the Kyiv and Sevastopol City State Administrations (p.13).  

The updated NAP includes a slight change in the problem analysis, as well as updated objectives, main target groups and principles of the NAP. The key difference in the problem analysis is outlining issues that have arisen since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. It highlights how since then, almost one third of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes, and details how this mass displacement disproportionately impacts the lives of women due to the burden of caring for children and other family members requiring care (p.4). An increase in gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, has also been added to the problem analysis, noting that multiple cases have been perpetrated by military personnel of the Russian Federation in all territories of Ukraine that have been liberated (p.5). The NAP then states that Ukraine does not currently have  effective mechanisms to identify security challenges that consider gender aspects, nor is there capacity to inform the wider population about any such issues that arise (p.5).  

As a result of the change in context, the main target groups and principles were also adjusted. This included referencing the importance of addressing issues relating to: internally displaced persons; persons with limited mobility that live close to the contact line; persons living in combat areas; persons released from captivity; persons staying in temporarily occupied territories; close relatives of combatants or prisoners of war; victims of human trafficking; persons who became disabled due to combat related actions; and persons who suffered material losses due to combat. Essentially, the NAP created a more expansive list of whom it would focus on in recognition of the changed context and the shifting needs of different populations.  

There is no mention of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in the NAP, nor is there reference to any wider weapons or armament policies. Given the global concern around arms-control and disarmament relating the war, as well as the general consensuses that increased arms availability makes adhering to international law more difficult and also facilitates and aggravates violence against women and girls, the omission of policies that mention this means that these issues remain unaddressed in the NAP.  

CEDAW

1981

Global Gender Gap Index 2023

66 out of 146

Arms Trade Treaty Signed

2014

Military expenditure (2022)

$44 billion USD

Explore Ukraine's National Action Plan

  • Actors
  • Timeframe
  • Objectives
  • Actions/Activities
  • Indicators
  • M&E
  • Budget
  • Disarmament
  • 2016-2020

NAP Development  

According to the document, Ukraine’s NAP was developed in accordance with national laws on gender equality, the sustainable development goals, and Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. However, there is no explicit mention of which actors participated in the development of the NAP.  

NAP Implementation  

The Ministry of Social Policy in Ukraine is the body that is primarily responsible for the implementation of the NAP. The NAP also includes a comprehensive list of other actors that are responsible, including but not limited to various ministries (the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Science), actors in the security and defense sectors, educational institutions, city administrations, civil associations and international organizations (p.8). Additionally, for each activity title throughout the NAP, a corresponding  actor responsible for implementation is listed.  

NAP Monitoring and Evaluation  

Monitoring of the NAP will be primarily carried out by the Ministry of Social Policy, with information provided by central executive bodies, other state bodies involved in the implementation of the NAP, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous region of Crimea, regional state administrations, and the Kyiv and Sevastopol City State Administrations (p.13). Together they will collect information on the achievement of indicators set out in the NAP, as well as operational and strategic goals of the NAP. 

The NAP implementation period is 2022-2025.  

The 2022-2025 NAP identifies five strategic goals that set the vision for Ukraine’s WPS implementation strategy. They include: 

  • Participation of Women in Decision-Making: ensuring the equal participation of women and men in decision-making on conflict prevention, conflict resolution an post-conflict recovery at all levels and in all areas, including the security and defence sector  
  • Resilience to Security Challenges: Creating a gender-sensitive system to detect, prevent and respond to security challenges. This involves creating effective mechanisms of interactions of state bodies, public associations, and organizations to respond to security challenges in a way that considers the needs of different groups  
  • Post-Conflict Recovery and Transitional Justice: Ensuring the process of post-conflict recovery, development and implementation of the transitional justice system based on the principles of ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men  
  • Combating Gender-Based Violence and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: Providing protection against gender-based violence and sexual violence (in situations of armed conflict and in peacetime) 
  • Institutional Capacity of the National Plan Actors: Ensuring the developed institutional capacity of the National Plan actors for the effective implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in accordance with international standards  

Strategic outcomes have a comprehensive set of tasks assigned. These are outlined starting from page 16 of the NAP. It outlines each strategic goal, lists tasks that correspond to this goal, as well as the actor(s) responsible, the time frame for implementation, and the breakdown of the budget for each year of the NAP.  

Each strategic goal has various indicators attached to it. For example, for Goal 1, “ensuring equal participation of women and men in decision-making on conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction at all levels and in all areas”, the following indicators are listed:  

  • Ukraine’s place in the UN Women, Peace and Security Index  
  • The share of women in the security and defense sector  
  • The share of women in management positions in the defense sector  
  • The proportion of women participating in international peacekeeping operations in the national contingent  
  • The proportion of women involved in peace negotiations at the national level  
  • The number of programs on humanitarian response, peacebuilding and restoration, which were implemented by civil society organizations led by women  

Each indicator is listed alongside a department/group/organization that is responsible for sourcing the information, as well as a section devoted to “the results of the analysis of factors that had a positive impact on the achievement of progress, or the reasons for the decrease in value of the indicator”.  

The NAP states that the actors that have been outlined will submit information on the achievement of the indicators of the operational and strategic goals to the Ministry of Social Policy on an annual basis. The ministry will then finalize the information and submit it to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine indicating: the current status of NAP implementation; the share of the indicators and goals achieved; a list of major achievements, as well as areas of concern; and proposals for solving areas of concern (p.14). The NAP also includes the fact that the plan can be updated, if necessary, based on the annual results. The final evaluation of the NAP is expected to be performed during the last year of its implementation, in particular through the following considerations (p.11):  

  • Analysis of the impact of the NAP’s implementation on the living conditions of target groups  
  • Analysis of the achieved key indicators towards the overall goal of the NAP, their deviation from planned markets, and investigation of the reasons for such deviation  
  • Analysis of the reasonableness and validity of the selected tools for implementation of the NAP, the identified approaches and the need for their revision or extension  
  • Analysis of the NAP’s impact on the situation of target groups  

There is no budget indicated in the NAP. 

Ukraine’s NAP does not address disarmament issues, or connect the proliferation of weapons with women’s insecurity. 

Actors

NAP Development
The NAP does not note how civil society will be involved in the development of the NAP.

The government office in charge of developing the text was the Cabinet of Ministries of Ukraine.

NAP Implementation
The NAP notes that civil society, specifically scientific institutions, NGOs and international organizations, will be involved in the implementation of the NAP but only “upon consent”. However, it does not note how deeply civil society will be involved.  

The Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Youth and Sport, Ministry of Information Policy along with the Administration of State Border Guard Service, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, the State Emergency Service, the Oblast (regional), and Kyiv state administrations are in charge of the implementation of the NAP.  The Security Service and State Judicial Administration are also indicated as a part of implementation, but only "upon consent".

NAP Monitoring
The NAP notes that civil society, specifically scientific institutions, NGOs and international organizations, will be involved in the monitoring of the NAP but, only with consent. However, it does not note how deeply civil society will be involved. 

The Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Youth and Sport, the Administration of State Border Guard Service,  the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education and Science, the State Emergency Service, the Oblast (regional) and Kyiv state administrations along with other unspecified national authorities will monitor and evaluate implementation of the NAP in coordination with government actors. The State Judicial Administration, Security Service, and the National Academy of Science are also indicated as a part of monitor and evaluation but only “upon consent”.

WILPF's Contributions to Ukraine's NAP 

WILPF International does not have a country section in Ukraine and was therefore not involved in the development process of Ukraine’s NAP.  

Timeframe

The Ukrainian NAP covers the period 2016 to 2020, inclusive.  It includes yearly targets for each goal.

Objectives

The Ukrainian National Action Plan is organized by 10 objectives:

1) Assessment of impact of conflicts on national system of ensuring human rights, including protection, providing assistance and rehabilitation to victims of gender-based violence, participation of women in peacebuilding and prevention of conflicts;

2) Assessment of the impact of crisis on infrastructure, arrangement and functioning of the services provision system;

3) Coordination of agents of interaction for implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325;

4) Organisation of trainings for specialists;

5) Increase in women’s participation in peacebuilding and peacekeeping processes, promoting a culture of peace;

6) Awareness raising on secure behavior in the ATO areas, settlements along demarcation line or in the temporarily occupied areas;

7) Preventing and combating violence against women;

8) Improvement of the system of protection of women and girls affected by conflicts (identification, referral mechanism for assistance);

9) Establishment of the system of comprehensive assistance to people affected by conflicts; and

10) Assessment of impact and effectiveness of NAP for implementation of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security until 2020.   

Actions/Activities

Each goal has different actions assigned. For instance, the first goal, “Assessment of impact of conflicts on national system of ensuring human rights, including protection, providing assistance and rehabilitation to survivors of gender-based violence, participation of women in peacebuilding and prevention of conflicts”, includes four actions:
1) Conducting studies on root causes of conflicts and their impact on women and girls, including risks of GBV and access to justice;

2) Development of a regional monitoring card on the state of protection, provision of assistance and rehabilitation of victims of genderbased violence, participation of women in peacebuilding and prevention of conflicts;

3) Analysis of practices and conditions of women’s participation in international peacebuilding processes, negotiation groups, multilateral activities on dealing with internal and external challenges and threats; and

4) Analysis of use of international experience, existing training programmes on conflict-related issues, forced displacement, disarmament, demobilization, reintegration, access to justice.

Indicators

Each goal has a number of listed indicators. For example, the first goal, “Assessment of impact of conflicts on national system of ensuring human rights, including protection, providing assistance and rehabilitation to victims of gender-based violence, participation of women in peacebuilding and prevention of conflicts”, includes four actions and five indicators for them. The following are the five indicators:

1) Number of developed recommendations taking into account women’s needs in prevention of conflicts;

2) Number of recommendations implemented;

3) Number of developed oblast monitoring cards;

4) Number of prepared proposals to include women into peacebuilding processes; and

5) Number of developed proposals.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Pillar six focuses on monitoring and evaluating the NAP. The Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Youth and Sport, the Administration of State Border Guard Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education and Science, the State Emergency Service, the Oblast (regional) and Kyiv state administrations along with other unspecified national authorities will monitor and evaluate implementation of the NAP in coordination with government actors. The State Judicial Administration, Security Service, and the National Academy of Science are also indicated as a part of monitor and evaluation but only “upon consent”.  All government and civil society actors will be in charge of preparing and publishing a national report on the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the NAP.  The Oblast, Kviv state administration along with NGOs and international organizations will conduct surveys among women affected by conflict.  The Ministry of Social Policy, National Academy, NGOs and international organizations will conduct surveys to track changes, trends and public impact of the NAP.

Budget

The Ukrainian NAP provides an estimated budget for each of its 10 goals, broken down into each goal’s objectives by year, as well as a total budget by year. The total state budget is (USD) $18,429, while the total local budget is $171,741 and other resources are $387,061.

Disarmament

The Ukrainian NAP mentions establishing rehabilitation and reintegration programs for ex-combatants and demobilized persons as well as specialized peacekeeping training that include disarmament, demobilization, reintegration. However, it does not address the method or extent of disarmament or connect the proliferation of weapons to women’s insecurity.

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