As shown above, women and girls in the countryside are discriminated against
access to decision-making processes, employment, health care, education and other
basic services.
This is confirmed by the results of the "Comprehensive Study of the Situation of
Women Living in Rural Areas" (2015), conducted by UNDP in Ukraine, in conjunction
with the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. The
survey addressed a wide range of issues, such as the contribution of women to rural
development and the many challenges they face. In particular, the analysis covers such
women's rights as participation in the development of community development plans;
access to health care facilities and use of social security programs; formal and informal
education; access to public services and advisory services; creation of co-operatives;
participation in all forms of collective activity; use of agricultural credits and loans,
sales systems; the right to proper living conditions, in particular, on adequate living
conditions, sanitation, electricity and water supply [8].
The results of the study show that the situation of women living in rural areas is
considerably worse than the situation of rural men and urban residents in many of these
areas, and that women living in rural areas are more likely to suffer from poverty and
social isolation.
At the same time, this issue should be under review by specialists of social
institutions in the context of decentralization, in particular regarding access to social
services for women from the population that lives or will live in OTG in those cases
when it is a rural-type communities: detection, persons who are in difficult life
circumstances; definition of needs for social services; organization and provision of
social services to those who need it; counseling and informing the community about
providing all types of social assistance; reception of applications and necessary
documents for the provision of assistance, etc.
Indeed, international analytical studies have shown that empowerment of women
and girls in rural areas and respect for their human rights and gender equality is a factor
not only in the well-being of individuals, families and rural communities but also in
overall economic efficiency, taking into account a significant percentage of women
among agricultural workers of Ukraine.
Moreover, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women recommended Ukraine to improve the infrastructure in rural areas and
develop a policy to combat poverty among women in rural areas to ensure their access
to justice, education, housing, formal employment, skills and training, opportunities
for income and microcredit, ownership and use of land, taking into account their special
needs and with particular attention to the negative impact of the conflict on women in
rural areas [10].
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