GENDER EQUALITY INDEX IN UKRAINE: METHODOLOGY OF CALCULATION AND KEY RESULTS

Abstract

In the context of European integration processes, Ukraine faces the necessity of implementing international standards to ensuring gender equality. The urgent task is the harmonization of national legislation and policy with European standards in the area of equal opportunities for women and men. For effective monitoring of progress in this area, the application of modern European tools for assessing and analyzing gender equality is necessary, which will facilitate the integration of European principles into national policy. This article aims to highlight the results of adapting the European methodology for calculating the Gender Equality Index in Ukraine. This index is a key tool for comprehensive analysis of gender equality in the European Union’s 27 member states. The Gender Equality Index is a comprehensive indicator that measures progress toward achieving gender equality in various social areas, including six key domains of gender equality policy: work, money, knowledge, time, power, and health. The Gender Equality Index (GEI) was developed by the European Institute for Gender Equality in 2013. Thanks to the efforts of the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, in cooperation with the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and with advisory support from experts of the European Institute for Gender Equality, implementation of methodological approaches to its development in Ukraine became possible.The article presents the metho dol ogy for calculating the Gender Equality Index in Ukraine, based on the European experience of constructing this index. The components of the GEI are reviewed, and the principles of the GEI’s construction are detailed. Considerable attention is given to forming information support for calculating the Index in Ukraine. The results of the Index calculation in Ukraine are analyzed, and a comparative analysis is carried out with the average European Index estimates and the Index of EU member states. Despite the limitations of data collection in Ukraine during martial law and the absence of direct correspondences to certain indicators in European statistics, the expert team successfully collected data and calculated the values of 30 out of 31 Index indicators using only one proxy indicator. The Ukrainian Index is based on the same methodology as the European Index, ensuring comparability with EU member states. The calculations show that in 2023, the Gender Equality Index in Ukraine was 61.4 points. This is 8.8 points lower than the average for the 27 EU member states. In fact, this means that European standards and values in the field of gender equality are similar to those of women and men in Ukraine. Monitoring the values of the Index and its components is expected to provide a basis for assessing the state and dynamics of gender equality in Ukraine. This will allow for adequate comparison of Ukraine with EU member states in terms of gender equality achievements. It will also strengthen interregional cooperation and give impetus to the development of Ukraine’s capacity in gender statistics and gender equality policy evaluation.

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