By Tetiana Bobrynichenko, Head of the Department / Commissioner for Gender Equality Policy, prevention and counteraction to gender-biased violence in executive bodies of Voznesensk City Council of Mykolaiv Oblast

Achieving gender equality in the Ukrainian community, which means equal participation of men and women in all fields of life is a priority vector of Ukraine's democratic development. Equal participation of women and men in deciding plays a crucial part in the local self-government reform and territorial power organisation, as well as the decentralisation process.

In order to increase opportunities for the development of women's leadership potential in the amalgamated hromadas, the Swiss-Ukrainian project 'Decentralisation Support in Ukraine' (DESPRO) has initiated the creation of a Network of local self-government women leaders and has been conducting training events for local self-government representatives. As part of the training session 'Local Self-Government Women Leaders', participants have an opportunity to master effective communication techniques, develop teamwork skills, learn the basics of the best negotiation practices, project management, gender policy, with a special focus on the implementation of changes at the local level. In October 2019, DESPRO announced a new format, an essay competition. The best essays are published in the 'Local Self-Government Women Leaders' group and on the Decentralisation portal.