“The Congress is an effective platform where new ideas and meanings are generated,” Maria Ionova, co-founder of the Ukrainian Women's Congress, Member of Parliament of Ukraine said during her final address at the Fifth Ukrainian Women's Congress.
Discriminatory societal norms and gender stereotypes determine who has power, voice, and opportunity. Therefore, it is necessary to challenge these stereotypes and change them so that everyone has equal opportunities. The acting UN Women Deputy Executive Director and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Åsa Regnér said this during the “Generation of Independence, Equality and Freedom” session on the second day of the Fifth Ukrainian Women's Congress.
In just 3 years, more than 60 cities in Ukraine have signed the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life. Chairman of the Current Affairs Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Thomas Andersson stated during the “Local communities free of discrimination and sexism - how to make it a reality” discussion at the Fifth Ukrainian Women's Congress.
Ukrainian women are increasing their involvement in leadership positions in the regions. What are the local peculiarities and how to involve active women in leading amalgamated territorial communities? "Women's leadership in communities - as a new quality of local politics" was the topic of one of the sessions at the Fifth Ukrainian Women's Congress.