You're reading: Lytvyn initiates development of program of equal rights for men and women until 2015

The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn, has said legal experts should be involved in the development and implementation of gender policy.

The chairman of the parliament said this in an interview with the Holos Ukrainy newspaper, according to the parliament’s press service.

"The need to involve legal experts in the development and implementation of gender policy is becoming stronger," he said.

According to Lytvyn, "there is no legal inequality between men and women in Ukraine."

"Women have political rights equal to those of men – they can vote and be elected to state agencies, and work equally with men in the spheres of education, science, etc.," he said.

Lytvyn noted that Constitution of Ukraine (Article 24) guarantees equality for women and men and the creation of conditions for women to combine work and motherhood.

He added that some 30 dissertations, articles and monographs have been dedicated to the issue of gender equality in Ukraine.

According to Lytvyn, "these are mainly directed at the analysis of the current legislation and the practice of its use, but there is a lack of new approaches, ideas and proposals that could become an impetus for this extremely important direction of the development of society."

He added that the abovementioned and other problems are relevant in the context of the preparations for the parliamentary elections in 2012.

"Considering this, it is reasonable to take into account public opinions and positions, and make them the basis for making amendments to the legislation with the aim of securing gender equality in the sphere of public service, the elections of people’s deputies of Ukraine, the creation of a gender resource center, and conducting gender issue monitoring," he said.

Lytvyn proposed to develop and approve a national targeted social program for equal rights and opportunities for women and men until 2015.

"Economic and political reforms in Ukraine, and the democratic development of our society require the active participation of women in these processes. Respectively, persistent work on the formation of an effective European style state gender policy should be carried out. The national history, national traditions, and general logic of civilized human development demand equal rights for Ukrainian women," Lytvyn said.