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RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Ukrainian Government

• The Presidential Administration, Cabinet of Ministers, and the Verkhovna Rada should publicly condemn discrimination against women in all recruitment practices, including job advertising.
• The Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada should guarantee that state agencies do not conduct discriminatory recruitment practices and cease the use of gender-specific job advertising.
• The Working Group on Labor Code Reform and the Verkhovna Rada should ensure that the current reforms make the labor code consistent with international standards regarding equal treatment in employment, including in access to employment.
• The Verkhovna Rada should enact legislation that explicitly prohibits gender specifications in job advertising.
• The Verkhovna Rada should enact legislation to establish substantive penalties, including fines, to penalize companies and state agents that engage in discrimination against women.
• The Verkhovna Rada should enact legislation to eliminate gender restrictions on parental benefits, with the exception of time off for childbirth.
• The Verkhovna Rada should reform protective legislation to protect male and female workers equally.
• The Ministry of Labor and the State Employment Service should review their inspectorate procedures to clarify competency and jurisdiction to ensure effective investigations into gender discrimination.
• The Ministry of Labor and the State Employment Service should conduct proactive investigations into employer discrimination, including timely and periodic unannounced visits to employers.
• The State Employment Service should eliminate discriminatory practices in job advertisement and job placement. Such steps should include a revision of the state statistical form used to collect information about vacancies to eliminate the category specifying jobs for women.
• The Ministry of Labor should provide its inspectors and other officials with timely and periodic training in gender-specific labor rights issues and investigative techniques.
• The State Employment Service should also provide its officials, inspectors, and employees timely and periodic training in gender-specific labor rights issues and investigative techniques. State Employment Center employees should discourage employers from placing gender-specific job announcements and report all instances of employers’ use of gender-specific announcements.
• The Ministry of Labor and State Employment Service should revise statistical records regarding complaints, inspections, and violations to include a distinct category for discrimination, including discrimination based on gender.
• The Working Group on Labor Code Reform and the Verkhovna Rada should consider with care the recommendations of NGOs and otherexperts on women’s rights to the proposed changes in the labor code and the proposed Law on Gender.
• In conjunction with NGOs, trade unions, employer groups and others, the State Committee on Family and Youth should conduct national education campaigns to raise awareness of discrimination and sexual harassment in employment among women job seekers as well as employers, public officials, and civil servants, and to raise awareness about official remedies available to injured parties.
• The State Committee on Family and Youth should conduct a review to determine Ukraine’s progress in responding to the recommendations presented in the June 2002 CEDAW review of Ukraine.

To the International Labor Organization (ILO)

• Ensure that reforms madeto the Ukrainian labor code are consistent with international standards regarding nondiscrimination and equal treatment in employment.
• Provide additional training to the Labor Ministry Inspectorate, the State Employment Service, and other government officials on gender-specific labor rights issues and investigative techniques.

To the European Union (E.U.)

• Raise the issue of gender discrimination against women in the labor force in bilateral dialogueswith the Ukrainian government and press for such discrimination to be outlawed and penalized.
• Assist the Ukrainian government in harmonizing its legislation to meet E.U. standards on nondiscrimination and equal treatment in employment.
• Strengthen labor rights conditionality in the E.U.-Ukraine bilateral market access trade agreements designed to promote Ukraine’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

To the Council of Europe

• The Secretary General's office, the Committee of Ministers, and the Parliamentary Assembly should use all available means to ensure that Ukraine, as a member state, fulfills its obligations to guarantee nondiscrimination.
• In its ongoing initiative on discrimination of women in the workforce and the workplace, the Parliamentary Assembly should take into account the concerns raised in this report and elaborate specific recommendations in the resulting resolution to address these concerns in Ukraine and other relevant member states.
• Continue to assist the Ukrainian government in reforming and developinglegislation, including the proposed Law on Gender, to further guarantee women’s rights.

To the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

• The OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine should conduct training to raise awareness of discrimination against women in the labor force in the context of existing human rights and trafficking prevention programs.

To the United States Government

• Raise the issue of gender discrimination against women in the labor force in bilateral meetings with the Ukrainian government and press for such discrimination to be outlawed and penalized.
• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) should add employer and employee anti-discrimination education components to existing and future aid programs related to women’s rights and trafficking prevention.

To the United Nations (U.N.)

• Relevant treaty bodies, in particular the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Human Rights Committee, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, should make use of the information contained in this report when reviewing the Ukrainian government’s compliance with its obligations under the respective treaties.

To International Financial Institutions

• The World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development should make the elimination of gender-based discrimination in employment an element of their country assistance strategies as a fundamental dimension of alleviating poverty.

To Ukrainian Nongovernmental Organizations

• Design and seek support for educational programs to promote knowledge of women’s rights and nondiscrimination among women and employers.
• Design and seek support for job training programs for women to help them be competitive when seeking employment in a variety of fields including non-traditional fields.