“We must speak not only about gender parity, but above all about a window of opportunities that is opening for women in Ukraine. This window should exist not only in the electoral code. Women are ready to take responsibility, go to power, be useful and most effective for the hromada,” said Hennadii Zubko, Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services in the framework of the First Ukrainian Women's Congress.

“Today women are a real army of experts and reformists. It is proved by a personnel competition in MinRegion for the positions of reform professionals of the new state service. There are 53% of men and 47% of women among the first 60 winners. This is only the reform personnel, and in general, 85% of employees working in our ministry are women,” Zubko said.

He cited the McKinsey Global Research Institute’s report that adhering to the equality of rights of women and men in the labour market would add 26% to the world GDP rate. Besides, it would bring additional UAD 240 billion of GDP for the UK economy.

“We need to attract the best qualities of women who are now going into power and to direct them to state administration and improvement of the quality of life in Ukraine. Women's leadership is the trend of the new Ukrainian self-government in the process of decentralisation,” said Hennadii Zubko.

The Vice Prime Minister noted that the key value inherent in a woman – namely, preservation of the next generation – should be transferred to the level of governance in the state. “This value should be introduced through the establishment of the new quality in education, healthcare, system of social and administrative services. The hromadas headed by women implement the highest-quality services, and there are 88 of them today,” he stressed.

Hennadii Zubko called the Kutsurubska AH in the Ochakiv rayoh a bright example of such hromadas. “In 2015 it was headed by Inna Kopiyka, former paramedic of the local outpatient clinic. The main positions were entrusted to women here. There are only 3 men out of 14 deputies of the council. Women showed a brilliant result of management and social development there. In the course of two years, 24 projects on the development of infrastructure – roads, water, repair work and equipping of schools, health posts – have been implemented ... This result testifies that a successful active female leader makes the whole hromada a success,” said Hennadii Zubko.