18% in favour of men: Ukraine's First Lady speaks about wage gap at UN General Assembly

Despite the war, Ukraine continues to work on overcoming gender inequality, particularly in pay. As of 2021, the difference was 18% in favour of men.

Source: Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska in a speech at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly

Quote: "Usually, development dies first in war. All that remains is survival. But not in our case. Ukraine made a fundamental decision – to develop and improve despite the war. Last Friday, the Ukrainian government approved the National Strategy for overcoming the gender pay gap in Ukraine by 2030," she said.

Zelenska said there are more women with higher education than men in Ukraine – 47% and 36%, respectively. However, wage inequality remains.

It was 26% in favour of men in 2015. By 2021, the gap was reduced to 18%.

Zelenska says this was facilitated by the adoption of the Biarritz Partnership, an international initiative of equal rights and opportunities.

For comparison, the average gender pay gap in the EU is 13%.

Giving justice to Ukrainian women is a moral duty of the state, Zelenska stressed. After all, they took on the burden in all spheres of life at the beginning of the war.

"These are not just forced migrants taking children and elderly relatives to safe places. These are doctors, because most of them are women. Teachers who continue to educate children are mostly women. We have a very powerful volunteer movement; most of its activists are also women. Service in the army, although it is voluntary for women, now sees more and more of them – 60,000," she emphasised.

For reference: It will take another 300 years to achieve gender equality worldwide.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!