Gender Equality Must be Emphasized in Future Reconstruction

A new report by the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), which has offices in London, Paris and Brussels, recommends that the post-war rebuilding of Ukraine should result in more women holding representational roles in political institutions and senior management.

It’s co-authored by eight researchers and refers to an approved Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers strategy from December that stresses the role of women through 2024 to take part in rebuilding the country after the damage inflicted by a full-scale invasion that Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin ordered in February 2022.  

“The strategy is part of a wider legislative program that has placed gender equality at the center of Ukrainian public policy and has adopted gender responsive budgeting (GRB) principles,” the report says.

A World Economic Forum report is also cited from 2021 that notes women in Ukraine are “more educated than men but less likely to participate in the labor force or hold senior positions in business or politics.”

Due to martial law currently in place, men aged between 18 and 60 cannot leave Ukraine under most conditions, but there are exceptions. For example, if the man is the father of three children. Women can leave and usually when they do, they leave with children as husbands join the war effort in some capacity.

The group’s “GRB” principles emphasizes that government policies promote gender equality “objectives” and that sufficient “resources are allocated to achieving them.”

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Ukraine Spent Nearly $2.5 Billion for ‘eRecovery’ Program, But It’s Not Yet Enough

While the amount might seem colossal at first glance, it is far from enough compared to the $486 billion needed to fully restore what’s been ravaged by Russia’s invasion.

Any reconstruction effort should include inclusive gender decision making, the report states since research shows they are more effective and responsive to the priorities of both sexes.

Demographers say that about eight million Ukrainians have left the country, and many are internally displaced due to the Kremlin’s war mongering. Sixty-eight percent of internally displaced people are women and 90 percent of those who’ve fled are women, CEPR says.

“If the post-war reconstruction process is to take the principles of ‘building-back-better’ seriously, recovery planning and execution must address social inequalities, not least along the gender dimension,” the group says.

Washington-based lender World Banks says that more than $400 billion is required at the moment to rebuild Ukraine and help it recover, according to a report released on March 23.

“The cost of reconstruction and recovery is expected to stretch over 10 years and combines both needs for public and private funds,” the report says.