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11UKRAINE
Larisa Kobelyanskaya has a PhD in Philosophy and is an Associate Professor, researcher and expert in gender issues with more than 30 years of experience. Larisa specializes in studies of gender ideology and politics, education, the socio-political status of women and their security, as well as in the development of social standards and gender expertise. Until 2015, Larisa Kobelyanskaya was the Director of the Department of Family and Gender Policy in the Ministry of Social Policy and the Advisor to the Minister of Social Policy on Gender Equality. She has coordinated UNDP projects on gender equality for more than 15 years. She participated in the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995, Beijing), and in numerous international forums and conferences under the auspices of the UN and also as a member of governmental delegations. Larisa works with several governmental, international and non-governmental organizations as an expert, consultant and adviser on gender issues. She is a member of several expert councils.
GENDER ISSUES, SOCIAL PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS IN UKRAINE
With respect to rural development, Ukraine is oriented towards the EU principles of the market economy. The process of administrative-territorial reform and decentralization that is currently underway aims to lead to the greater participation of all citizens in decision-making and the formation of local budgets that meet the needs of local communities. It is expected that this reform will provide an opportunity for more than a third of Ukraine's population living in rural areas to overcome poverty and secure a decent quality of life. According to experts, competent development and use of agricultural potential in Ukraine would address the issues of poverty eradication and food security, and would also facilitate the export of agricultural products. However, various crises, a difficult political and social context, external aggression and the annexation of part of Ukraine's territory have all had a negative impact on development. The country is in the process of reforming both the governance system as a whole and the management of its various sectors. Furthermore, Ukraine strives for effective public policy with a focus on development and on a decent and continually improving quality of life for its citizens. This type of policy can only be implemented by taking full account of a range of social factors, including a gender component.
After the Fourth World Conference on Women, Ukraine adopted and implemented four state programmes to ensure gender equality, including measures such as: the adoption of the Law "On ensuring equal rights and opportunities of women and men" (2005); the introduction of a systematic gender analysis of legislation1; the incorporation of gender-based approaches to education as an integral part of education at all stages; the development of special training programmes for civil servants; and the introduction of individual educational programmes to prevent all forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence and human trafficking. Substantial effort has also been devoted to the promotion of leadership programmes for women. All of these activities have resulted in the inclusion of gender issues in the agendas of political parties and government agencies and in strengthening the influence of civil society. They have also changed the gender balance in certain spheres of social life in a positive way.
The rural population represents 31.2 percent of Ukraine's total population of 42.9 million people. Women account for 53.7 percent of the total population and men represent 46.3 percent. It is important to note that in the structure of the rural population, 18.9 percent are children and young people under the age of 18 years, and 22.8 percent are people aged 60 years and older. There are 2 500 rural settlements, and the population of people aged 60 years and over represents more than 50 percent of the total rural settlement population. Women account for 53 percent of the rural population.2 The rural population is following an ageing demographic trend, mainly due to an increase in the number of single elderly women. The average life expectancy of rural women is ten years higher than the average life expectancy of men. On average, rural women live for 75.2 years and rural men for 64.6
1 According to article 4 of the law of Ukraine, "On ensuring equal rights and opportunities of women and men", gender expertise is mandatory in the formulation of any legal acts.
2 The State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2015a.
years. Female pensioners, living in villages, account for 40.7 percent of the village population, and men for only 25 percent. In the structure of the urban population, women of retirement age account for 31.1 percent and men for 21.2 percent.3 This gender gap is determined by gender issues, which are common across the whole country, but also by issues specific to rural areas. They are associated with well-established social norms and stereotypes. These problems are primarily health-related: men, and in particular rural men, are less likely than women to engage in preventive health care visits and seek treatment for diseases at an early stage; alcohol abuse, smoking and accidents are more prevalent among the male population; and men are more likely to be employed in poor or unsafe working conditions.
In rural areas, 5.2 million people are employed, representing one-third of the total employed population. The employment rate among women is 51.9 percent and among men it is 62.5 percent. The structure of the employed female population is as follows: 34.8 percent of women work as employees; 1.4 percent are self-employed; and only 0.4 percent are employers. The corresponding figures for rural women are somewhat different: employed rural women account for 25.4 percent; self-employed for 1.1 percent; and employers for 0.3 percent. There are almost two times more housewives in rural areas than in urban areas (11.5 and 6.8 percent respectively). In urban areas, there are almost two times more self-employed men than women, and in rural areas, there are four times more self-employed men than self-employed women. This does not mean that rural women are less willing to engage in entrepreneurship (compared with urban women and rural men), but instead that rural women encounter a greater number of challenges and pressures deriving from the need to combine farm work with household chores.
The living conditions of rural women need to be taken into account as well. Forty-eight percent of rural women have limited access not only to quality health care, but to any health services at all, because of a lack of medical facilities near to their homes. Poor road infrastructure, poverty and a lack of accessible transport also mean that rural women are not guaranteed access to health care services located in large towns and cities. Almost a quarter (23 percent) of households still use furnace (wood or coal) heating. A third (32 percent) of rural women do not have access to drinking water in their homes (they use wells outside their homes), and more than half (58 percent) do not have sanitation or running water in their homes.4 This is not just an indication of lower quality of life: it is also evidence of both an absence of basic living conditions and extreme poverty. In addition to limited access to infrastructure, there are also problems concerning the pollution of water in wells, power outages and inadequate transport. Among the conditions that hinder life in rural areas are the absence of a network of paved roads in many villages, a lack of information about transport and the poor stateof streets. More than a quarter of rural settlements do not have public transport, and 484 rural settlements (with a total population of 57 400 people) are located at a distance of over 10 km from the nearest public transport stop, and 661 settlements (with a total population of 451 600 people) are located at a distance of more than 10 km from paved roads. Less than a half of rural streets (47.8 percent) have a hard coating, and the residents of 442 rural settlements have no access to potable, mains supply water.
Although the overall rate of female unemployment in the country is lower than that of men (8.0 and 9.9 percent respectively, according to ILo research), women are more likely to be registered as unemployed (55.3 percent), which provides them with a level of social security. The average salary of men in Ukraine is still almost a quarter higher than the corresponding wage of women (76.3 percent). This trend is observable in both urban and rural areas.5 Wages in the agricultural sector are among the lowest in the ranking of wages by sector (72.9 percent of the average wage level in the economy). Taking into account the lower wage level of women in general, it becomes clear that the wages of rural women are among the lowest in the country. This analysis applies both to the agricultural sector as a whole, and to other activities in rural areas.6
It is important to note that the lower wage level will, over time, become converted into smaller pensions. The average pension of women today is 72.4 percent of the average pension of men. The pension gap is also greater than the wage gap. This is a very significant indicator and one which determines quality of life in old age. It also confirms that older rural women are one of the most significant 'at risk' groups in terms of poverty.
3 The State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2015b.
4 The State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2014.
5 Ibid.
6 The State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2015b.
Young single women with children represent another vulnerable group. According to the results of a household survey, in relation to receipt of children's allowance, the number of women exceeded the number of men by 1.3 times, and by 1.4 times in relation to receipt of social benefits and by 2.3 times in relation to receipt of subsidies. Moreover, the percentage of rural residents in these categories exceeded the percentage of urban residents.7
The fact that rural residents form the majority of social assistance applicants (in percentage terms) is further confirmation of the lower income level of rural residents, and especially of rural women. At the same time, the level of social protection is determined by the resources that the state can provide to its citizens. Ukraine is currently undertaking a radical reform of social services. This represents a move away from an egalitarian approach towards one which ensures that all components of social protection are targeted. In addition, it provides an opportunity to reduce poverty, including poverty among rural women, and to develop women's potential, which is of particular importance. While reform aims to bring about the improvement of social benefits, it is also necessary to create opportunities for women to take up decent employment and support themselves. In this context, it is worth considering the experience of the State Employment Service. One potential approach to reducing unemployment among rural women is to promote self-employment. In 2015, with the support of the employment service, 16 percent of registered unemployed women and almost 30 percent of men became self-employed in agriculture.8
The State Employment Service also uses a practice whereby unemployed persons gain employment with agricultural producers. In doing so, the service pays compensation costs to employers, in the form of a single social contribution for compulsory state social insurance. Although there are only a small number of enterprises in rural areas (and in a large number of rural settlements there are no enterprises at all), this incentive is quite effective and presents an opportunity to employ people who are registered as unemployed.
There is a tendency to employ urban residents in rural areas. This is especially true among internally displaced persons (IDPs). The number of registered IDPs in July 2016 was 1 790 267 people.9 Sixty-three percent of internally displaced persons are women and they are particularly vulnerable to hardship, poverty and insecurity. Women represent 71.7 percent of unemployed persons within the IDP population.10
IDPs who have moved to safe areas often aspire to settle there on a long-term basis. The government has taken a number of decisions to support IDPs in relation to the financing of housing construction (with an improved mechanism for providing long-term soft loans to individual builders of housing in rural areas) and the allocation of land plots for construction. This motivates IDPs to organize community settlements in rural areas and to develop their own businesses focused on agricultural production. The State Employment Service has also contributed to this by providing one-off payments of unemployment benefit to those who are setting up businesses and have relevant business plans. As a result, 22.1 percent of unemployed rural residents registered with the State Employment Service have been employed. This payment is mostly used as start-up capital by women to implement their business projects in rural areas. More than 42 percent of unemployed rural women have become employed in this way. There are numerous success stories about women who have started businesses and examples such as breeding poultry, growing flowers, seedlings and plants and seed production are evidence of this.11 This approach helps to resolve both issues of unemployment, and also a range of social issues, particularly because women gain the opportunity to support themselves and their family; conversely, a lack of social support leads to an increased burden on women in relation to caring for sick, elderly, disabled and other family members. Women also assume the responsibility for supporting their families in the absence of the men (in families where the men are engaged in combat).
Expanding women's access to resources - both tangible and intangible (decision-making, information, specialized knowledge, land, financial savings and loans, among others) - is critical for addressing both gender issues and social problems.
7 UNDP, 2015b.
8 The statistics and information used in this article were provided to the author by the State Employment Service upon request and for the preparation of the article.
9 Information from the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs of Ukraine.
10 Ibid.
11 According to data provided by the State Employment Service.
According to the results of a UNDP survey, conducted within the framework of a study on the situation of women living in rural areas, only 16 percent of rural women participate in various social and professional organizations. Political organizations involve only two percent of rural women and NGOs only five percent. According to women interviewees, the main way of taking part in the resolution of village and community problems is through participation in local elections. This was affirmed by 53 percent of respondents. However, more than a third of rural women (36 percent) said that they do not have any role in the resolution of village problems. Gender stereotyping and an excessive workload were identified by rural women as the main barriers to social activity.12
According to the results of the local elections held in Ukraine in 2015, there have been slight increases in the numbers of women represented at council level: in regional councils from 11 to 15 percent; in district councils from 23 to 24.8 percent; and in rural councils from 46 to 46.6 percent. According to experts, some increase in the representation of women at local level is associated with the constraints of the resources, which the local authority distributes and manages. Under recent administrative reform, the main part of the budget has been transferred to the local level, which creates opportunities for women to gain greater access to financial management and resources. Since the process of reform has only recently begun, the impact on gender balance will become apparent over time. However, women's growing interest in governance is evident. Special programmes on women's leadership, implemented by NGOs, have already had a positive impact. Educational and awareness raising activities on gender issues among women and men, at the grassroots level and among officials, including those working in the fields of agriculture and rural development, are also very important. They should aim towards overcoming stereotypes concerning the roles of women and men and should be adapted to modern patterns of social relationships, including those within the family.
It has become increasingly difficult to resolve the problems of social protection exclusively through the redistribution of payments from the budget. It is, therefore, time to consider alternative possibilities. One solution is the division of responsibility among all members of civil society, including the private sector, NGOs, and even those who are directly in need (as one of the goals is their active involvement rather than passive consumption). Such practices exist in other countries and their implementation is acute for Ukraine. As the Ukrainian government incrementally reduces the categories of people entitled to social assistance and the volume of this assistance, this type of "involvement" becomes vital. At the same time, the government has implemented targeted subsidies to compensate for the financial losses associated with changes to various social benefits. This type of change is perceived somewhat ambiguously by society. Furthermore, it is not yet possible to analyse the impact of these innovations on people's quality of life because they have only just started and primarily relate to housing subsidies (a minimum period of time is required to assess the full impact of these changes).
IDPs have become a new social group within the rural population. When residents of cities or towns become internally displaced, many migrate to live in rural areas, often without any prior experience of working in the agricultural sector. There are many women with children within this migrant population. They come to rural areas in search of more affordable housing, to gain access to cheaper food products and to grow agricultural products for sale. However, they often do not have sufficient resources and skills. The government needs to focus on this category, not only in terms of assistance, but also in terms of the capacity building of human resources.
Other vulnerable groups include older women and men, and women with children living in the liberated territories or the so-called "grey zones" (a type of neutral zone between the parties to the hostilities, resulting from the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline under the Minsk Agreements). It is critical that these groups secure access to food and the possibility of basic survival. People who originally lived in these predominantly steppe villages and towns worked on the land growing agricultural products. As a result of the hostilities, this area has become unusable for agriculture for an indefinite period. For residents, this means a lack of access to food and livelihoods.
Recent experiences in Ukraine have shown that social policies should focus on more than social security needs (for example, payments and benefits). In this narrow form, such policies are unproductive, and promote benefit dependency rather than agency and capacity building. Therefore, it is necessary to develop social assistance programmes that include all stakeholders and facilitate
12 UNDP, 2015a.
their activity. This includes access to programmes of high-quality education and professional growth across the life course, and the creation of jobs in remote areas. For rural women and men, it would be another opportunity to extend their working age and increase their competitiveness, in order to compensate for small pensions and to experience a higher standard of living.
Many social problems in rural areas are extremely gender sensitive, and their resolution requires a complex approach, including the use of gender policy instruments. Quite often, in order to achieve common goals for both women and men, completely different tools are needed. It is important to take into account the gender-specific problems of rural women and men, and programmes of state and local development require the budgetary resources to resolve them.
References
The State Statistics Service of Ukraine. 2014. The socio-economic situation of rural settlements of Ukraine. The statistical compendium. Kiev.
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The State Statistics Service of Ukraine. 2015a, The population of Ukraine as of 1 January 2015. Kiev.
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The State Statistics Service of Ukraine. 2015b. Women and men in Ukraine. Kiev. o
The State Statistics Service of Ukraine. 2015c. Social indicators of standard of living of the population. The statistical compendium. Kiev.
The State Statistics Service of Ukraine. 2015d, Socio-demographic characteristics of households in Ukraine in 2015 (according to a sample survey of household living conditions of Ukraine). The statistical compendium. Kiev.
UNDP. 2015a. A Comprehensive Study of the Situation of Women living in Rural Areas. Kiev. UNDP. 2015b. Millennium Development Goals. Ukraine: 2000-2015. National Report. Kiev.
