3. Attachement J.6 USAID Ukraine GESI analysis report 508 w Annexes for public.pdf

USAID/UKRAINE GENDER EQUALITY

AND SOCIAL INCLUSION (GESI)

ANALYSIS

UKRAINE MONITORING, LEARNING, AND SUPPORT (UMLS) CONTRACT

FEBRUARY 2023

PHOTO | UKRAINE CONFIDENCE BUILDING INITAITIVE

Attachment J.6 Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Analysis

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Disclaimer: This report was made possible by the support of the American people. The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of Encompass LLC and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development.

This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It was prepared by Encompass LLC for the Ukraine Monitoring, Learning, and Support (UMLS) Contract (Contract No. 7201210C00001). The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 5

ACRONYMS 6

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11

1. INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 Purpose of the USAID/Ukraine GESI Analysis 1

1.3 Report Structure 2

2. METHODOLOGY 4

2.1 Literature Review 4

2.2 Primary Data Collection 4

3. COUNTRY CONTEXT 6

3.1 Russia’s War Against Ukraine 7

4. CROSS-CUTTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO RUSSIA’S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE

4.1 Engagement with National Gender Equality Machinery 9

4.2 Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Findings and Recommendations 23

5. GESI ANALYSIS FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: ECONOMIC RECOVERY 41

5.1 Participation in the Economy and Private Sector 36

5.2 SME Development, Entrepreneurship, and Access to Finance 39

5.3 Agriculture 41

6. GESI ANALYSIS FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: ENERGY 49

6.1 War-Related Impacts on Energy 43

6.2 Representation of Women and Marginalized Groups in the Energy Sector 44

7. GESI ANALYSIS FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE 53

7.1 Engagement with THE Government of Ukraine, Parliament, and Justice System 46

7.2 Women’s Rights Civil Society Organizations, Women-Led Civil Society Organizations, and Gender Equality Advocates 49

7.3 Marginalized Groups 52

7.4 Anti-Corruption 55

7.5 Cyber Security 58

8. GESI ANALYSIS FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: HEALTH 68

8.1 Mental Health 59

8.2 Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 61

8.3 Marginalized Groups’ Access to Care 63

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8.4 Health System Strengthening and Reform 64

9. CONCLUSIONS 77

ANNEXES 79

Annex A: Lines of Inquiry by Sector 68 Annex B: Additional information on Methodology 70 Annex C: List of Sources Consulted 72 Annex D: Overview of the GESI Context Since 2017 According to USAID’s Gender Analysis Domains 82 Annex E: Stakeholders interviewed 87 Annex F: Mapping of NGEM 90 Annex G: GESI Recommendations for Reconstruction and Recovery Planning 91 Annex H: Endnotes 95

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the United States Agency for International Development Regional Mission for Ukraine and Belarus (USAID/Ukraine) for facilitating the organization of this gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) analysis and providing valuable guidance and input.

Gratitude is due to the stakeholders who participated in the consultations and shared their experiences and recommendations, contributing to USAID efforts to enhance gender equality and women’s empowerment in Ukraine for years to come. The dedication of civil society organizations (CSOs), and in particular those working for gender equality and inclusion of marginalized groups, is inspiring and essential both to the war efforts and the continuing functioning of democracy.

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ACRONYMS

ADS Automated Directives System

AFU Armed Forces of Ukraine

AGRO USAID Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities Activity in Ukraine

AOR USAID Agreement Officer Representative

BHA USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance

C-TIP Countering Trafficking in Persons

CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

CEP USAID Competitive Economy Program

CLA Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting

CMU Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

CoE Council of Europe

COR USAID Contracting Officer Representative

COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease or 2019 Novel Coronavirus

CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

CRSV Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

CSO Civil Society Organization

DOBRE USAID Decentralization Offering Better Results and Efficiency

DPM Deputy Prime Minister

DRG Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance

ENGAGE USAID Enhance Non-Governmental Actors and Grassroots Engagement

EU European Union

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

FIES Food Insecurity Experience Scale

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GBV Gender-Based Violence

GCA Government-Controlled Areas

Gender Commissioner Government Commissioner of Gender Policy

GESI Gender Equality and Social Inclusion

GEWE Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment

GII Gender Inequality Index

GoU Government of Ukraine

GRB Gender-Responsive Budgeting

HACC High Anti-Corruption Court

HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

ICT Information and Communications Technology

IDP Internally Displaced Person

ILO International Labour Organization

IMAGES International Men and Gender Equality Survey

IOM International Organization for Migration

IPV Intimate Partner Violence

Istanbul Convention Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

IT Information Technology

KII Key Improvement Indicators

LGBTQI+ Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex Persons, Plus All Other Sexual Identities

LLC Limited Liability Company

MDR-TB Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis

MDT Ministry of Digital Transformation

MHPSS Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support

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MoF Ministry of Finance

MoH Ministry of Health

MoSP Ministry of Social Policy

MoVA Ministry of Veterans Affairs

MP Member of Parliament

N/A Not Applicable

NABU National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine

NAP National Action Plan

NAPC National Agency for Preventing Corruption

National Gender Equality Strategy

State Strategy for Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men until 2030

NATO North American Treaty Organization

NDI National Democratic Institute

NGCA Non-Government-Controlled Areas

NGEM National Gender Equality Machinery

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

PTSD Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

PWD People with Disabilities

SACCI USAID Support to Anti-Corruption Champion Institutions Program

SAPO Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office

SBC Social Behavior Change

SBI State Bureau of Investigation

SME Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise

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SRH Sexual and Reproductive Health

SSSU State Statistics Service of Ukraine

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

STI Sexually Transmitted Infection

STTA Short-term Technical Assistance

TIP Trafficking in Persons

UAH Ukrainian Hryvnia (national currency)

UFPH Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health

UK United Kingdom

UMLS Ukraine Monitoring and Learning Support

UN United Nations

UN WOMEN United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

UNIDIR United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

UNITY USAID Ukraine National Identity Through Youth Activity

UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UNSCR United Nations Security Council Resolution

USAID United States Agency for International Development

USAID/Ukraine USAID Regional Mission for Ukraine and Belarus

USG United States Government

USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

UWF Ukrainian Women's Fund

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VPM Vice Prime Minister

WASH Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

WEEE U.S. Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act

WFP UN World Food Programme

WHO World Health Organization

WLHIV Women Living with HIV

WLO Women-Led Organizations

WPS Women, Peace, and Security

WRO Women's Rights Organizations

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The USAID Regional Mission for Ukraine and Belarus (USAID/Ukraine) partnered with EnCompass LLC, under the Ukraine Monitoring, Learning, and Support (UMLS) contract, to undertake a gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) analysis to inform the USAID/Ukraine’s strategic planning moving forward. In line with the requirements in the USAID Automated Directives System (ADS) 201.3.2.9 and ADS 205, the analysis is aligned with USAID/Ukraine’s current Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) and future programmatic priorities to meet in-country advances in GESI vis-à-vis support to Ukraine during Russia’s war, response, and recovery. The importance of this analysis is heightened considering the ongoing programmatic pivots, necessitated by Russia’s war against Ukraine that has led to war crimes, targeted violence against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and massive human rights abuse across the country, including the displacement of millions of Ukrainians.

The GESI analysis seeks to provide data to enhance the integration of GESI in USAID/Ukraine’s programming portfolio across the following sectors: economic recovery and sustainability, democratic governance, energy, health, and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response (cross-cutting and stand-alone). The GESI analysis addresses the USAID ADS 205 gender analysis domains, priority cross-cutting themes, and intersectional variables including youth, elderly, internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, veterans, rural and urban populations, persons with disabilities, Roma people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons.

Methodology. Encompass LLC drafted this report after a multi-stage process that included a review of secondary data sources and primary data collection, through 99 semi-structured interviews (82 female and 17 male). Stakeholders included representatives from USAID, USAID implementing partners, Government of Ukraine (GoU) national and subnational actors, international donors, non-government and multilateral organizations, local civil society organizations (CSOs), and GESI advocates.

Findings. Encompass LLC produced summary documents of key findings and recommendations by sector, which can be found linked below.

GBV Prevention and Response

Democracy and Governance

Economic Growth Energy Health

Conclusions and Recommendations. Following is a summary of the GESI analysis conclusions with relevant recommendations summarized below each conclusion statement.

The war has severely impacted social cohesion, community security, and the resilience of local communities, especially women and girls. Lack of access to social services, including

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schools, and strained community resources have increased the care burden of local women who are responsible for the care of children, disabled, and elderly family members.

Supporting women with temporary childcare will have a transformative impact on their ability to engage in economic opportunities and decision-making processes.

● USAID (All technical offices/sector), implementing partners, and GoU: Conduct ongoing monitoring/learning/research on how displacement, increased care burden, and widespread psychological trauma affect Ukrainian women’s and other marginalized groups’ ability to participate in the economy and at decision-making levels. Research should include evidence-based recommendations to improve women’s and marginalized groups’ participation in decision-making.

● USAID (Economic Growth) and implementing partners: All economic recovery initiatives focusing on employment, entrepreneurship, or small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development must include innovative approaches to address the critical barrier of childcare. This could include developing a business model for childcare or rehabilitating childcare social structures.

● USAID implementing partners: Projects working with the private sector should support companies in developing strategies for the advancement of women within the private sector, addressing sexual harassment in the workplace, and reducing discriminatory hiring practices and gender pay gap. Tools to consider include gender audits and developing/promoting gender equality in the private sector.

● USAID implementing partners: Develop programs to support women, and other marginalized groups, to organize into cooperative and producer groups that can facilitate accessing larger markets and finance and building other essential business development skills.

● USAID implementing partners: Use innovative media coverage to highlight women’s crucial role in continued agricultural production and managing Ukrainian farmland.

Ukraine’s National Gender Equality Machinery (NGEM) has willing and motivated GoU parties who welcome additional partnership with international organizations and donors and have the necessary policies to promote substantive gains in gender equality and social inclusion. Many of the NGEM structures are under-engaged and yet require specific technical support.

USAID/Ukraine should explore upscaling promising approaches like the European Union (EU) Gender Equality Help Desk. Other relevant recommendations include:

● USAID (All technical offices/sectors) and implementing partners: Align new Activity strategies, investments, designs, and work planning with the GoU-identified priorities in relation to gender equality and as defined in relevant policies with specific attention to the National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and the National Gender Strategy 2030 and its operational plan. Support relevant GoU stakeholders with implementation, accountability, and monitoring.

● USAID (Democracy and Governance): USAID should use its power and voice to support gender equality advocates in the parliament and existing parliamentary structures (Gender Caucus) and sub-committees. Provide expert support for Members of Parliament (MPs) who are gender advocates in their GESI activities when drafting laws, monitoring the legislation on GESI, and overseeing current policies.

● USAID implementing partners: Projects that engage with sectoral ministries or parliamentary structures should seek to address institutional barriers that prevent women and other marginalized groups from being able to voice the needs of their constituents. This would include work to address technology-facilitated GBV against female parliamentarians and sexual harassment.

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Domestic violence is on the rise, but with disproportionate funding for prevention efforts despite the exposure to violence and trauma experienced by the majority of Ukrainians remaining in the country. USAID/Ukraine should help fill the gap in multisectoral gender transformative GBV prevention programming with a focus on evidence-based community mobilization for norm change, targeted approaches for gender equitable masculinity that address barriers for ex-combatants and promote healthy relationships, and tailored economic empowerment approaches for at-risk groups.

● USAID (all Technical Offices): Develop an understanding of the impacts of the war’s escalation and the regional crisis on all forms of GBV. Actions include:

o Commissioning a study to understand the impact the war has had on domestic violence in all its forms (including psychological, emotional, verbal, physical, financial) and against and within/among certain groups (i.e., IDPs, veterans, LGBTQI+ people, Roma, etc.).

o Ensuring any such study is conducted in cooperation with local organizations that work specifically with (or are led by) marginalized groups so that barriers to and enablers of access to required services and assistance are understood and so that all guidance developed is targeted in preventing and mitigating these forms of violence.

● USAID: Develop an initiative focused on GBV prevention.

o Health: Psychosocial or mental health services to community members and especially combatants or those who have witnessed/experienced war crimes, including Conflict- Related Sexual Violence (CRSV); address barriers to seeking mental health services experienced by men.

o Economic Growth: Include components of economic resilience/recovery for at-risk populations, including internally displaced women, returnees, veterans, families of killed combatants, LGBTQI+ groups, and conflict-affected groups.

o Democracy and Governance: Include community mobilization approaches through civil society support. Promote norm change to tackle contributing beliefs around masculinity/femininity and the narrative of the protector.

o Health and Democracy and Governance: Invest in comprehensive, multisectoral programming that builds men’s skills and capacity to engage in healthy forms of masculinity and data collection to better track men’s attitudes related to gender equity, decision-making, violence, and caregiving.

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE

Women volunteers and Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs) and Women-Led Organizations (WLOs) are at the forefront of community-level responses to the war. This pivotal role in providing humanitarian assistance has impeded these groups from accessing additional funding because of a lack of time to seek or apply for opportunities, exacerbated by a lack of human resources. USAID and its implementing partners must work to increase partnerships with women’s organizations and organizations led by members of marginalized groups to build their capacity and leverage their expertise as first responders and frontline workers to guide rather than simply receive aid.

● USAID (Democracy and Governance and Health) and implementing partners: Prioritize funding specifically for CSOs working with and led by marginalized groups, including LGBTQI+ people and persons with

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disabilities. Funding can be for humanitarian assistance by these groups and include creating safe shelters and linkages to appropriate and safe social and medical services.

● USAID (Democracy and Governance and Economic Growth) and implementing partners: Provide flexible, multi-year, and unrestricted funding to local WLOs, including WROs and those who have been responding to the crisis in Ukraine. Include allocations for organizational strengthening and keeping organizations sustained and healthy. Organizations must be trusted to determine how to spend funding according to evolving needs. Include funds to reimburse WROs for costs they have incurred since the beginning of the crisis, allowing them to backdate expenditures as needed.

● USAID (All technical offices/sectors) and implementing partners: Look beyond the emergency and support Ukrainian civil society, especially WROs to prevent further backsliding on women’s rights, as they identify their mid-term and long-term responses to the impact of the war in relation to gender equality.

● USAID (All technical offices/sectors) and implementing partners: At the national and regional level, create convening space for organizations that represent women and marginalized groups and those working on gender equality and GBV prevention and response. This would be designed to ensure sharing of experiences and lessons learned in relation to CSO mandates and humanitarian response, provide opportunities for partnerships/synergies that can be leveraged for additional funding related specifically to gender equality and inclusion, and consolidating the movement’s identified, long-term priorities related to the ongoing war, gender equality, and meaningful inclusion of marginalized groups.

As women continue to bear different and additional burdens of war, they must be represented in all decision-making platforms on de-escalation, conflict prevention, mitigation, and other processes in pursuit of peace and security for the people of Ukraine and beyond. Potential backsliding of gains in women’s and other marginalized groups’ participating in decision-making must be mitigated and with specific efforts to increase their engagement in recovery and reconstruction processes. One major opportunity aligned with United States Government (USG) policy relates to implementing United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325 on WPS.

● USAID (Democracy and Governance): USAID needs to ensure that women and marginalized groups meaningfully participate at all stages of decision-making and in future peace and recovery processes of all supported projects. Invite women CSOs and CSOs representing marginalized groups to participate in developing the activities; maybe establish a temporary advisory council at USAID/Ukraine for consultancies and validating the activities.

● USAID (Democracy and Governance) and implementing partners: Invest in programs that implement the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security to enhance meaningful participation in stabilization, peacebuilding, and countering violent extremism, and that address the ways GBV factors into engagement, sustainability, and inclusion of peace, security, and democracy programs.

● USAID implementing partners: Work with local CSOs or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to document case studies of women serving in the war, across roles, and their impact on regional and national successes in the war. Publish an anthology of these stories for Ukrainians, by Ukrainians, to support ongoing programs to integrate women in military leadership.

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ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Development and humanitarian actors working in economic growth, and seeking to reduce poverty and alleviate the challenges faced by the most vulnerable segments of the population, must focus their approaches for economic and employability recovery on the most vulnerable, isolated, and hard-to-reach citizens, namely, older and more rural women. This will likely necessitate additional activities with a focus from primarily SMEs to informal micro-enterprises. Another key and urgent barrier to women’s economic participation to address is the increased lack of childcare.

● USAID (Economic Growth): Design a new activity related to the growth of micro-enterprises with a focus on those operating in rural areas or owned/managed by marginalized groups, including rural women, older men and women, IDPs, persons with disabilities, and members of the Roma community.

● USAID implementing partners: Review existing mapping and/or conduct updated mapping of existing professional networks among women in the same sectors and support the creation (both IDP and non-IDP) or strengthening of these networks. These networks should aim to allow women to buy from, sell to, and get advice from each other across regions. Consider supporting, matchmaking, facilitating hackathons and stimulating collaborative work.

● USAID implementing partners: Consider focused entrepreneurship programming for internally displaced women and networks of IDP business owners that engages with host communities and partners with host community businesses.

● USAID (Economic Growth) and implementing partners: Develop and leverage blended finance structures (i.e., technical assistance, grant-based design funding, catalytic grants and concessional capital, guarantees, and results-based funding) as key tools to reinforce gender lens investments by developing the pipeline of investable projects and mitigating investor bias and perceptions of risk.

● USAID (Economic Growth): Directly fund local CSOs that have proven models for women’s economic empowerment (and/or household business initiatives) and specifically include soft skills components and financing models (start-up kits). USAID/Ukraine has had success with similar approaches in the past.

● USAID (Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance) and implementing partners: Upscale effective and evidenced-based models for increasing women’s and girls’ enrollment in IT/ICT/STEM programs.

Offer international exchange visits for young women/girls to see female role models in cyber security and energy professions.

ENERGY

Marginalized groups in Ukraine are disproportionately impacted by a lack of access to energy, especially in rural areas that experienced significant destruction. Energy programs in Ukraine need to look at how to address issues of gender equity and inclusion beyond, and in addition to, promoting women’s participation and leadership in the energy sector. Focused research in Ukraine is needed to understand the specific gendered outcomes related to limited access to energy as a result of the war and issues related to tariffs, and to identify specific areas for improving accounting and monitoring for the needs of marginalized groups when developing and implementing energy policy.

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● USAID implementing partners and humanitarian actors: Develop strategies that describe how humanitarian services will be delivered to account for the new wave of displacement that will occur in the winter. Ensure strategies provide services that reach the most vulnerable.

● USAID (Economic Growth and Energy): Commission a study on the gender impacts of energy policy in Ukraine and specifically analyze the question of tariffs and “energy-poor” households with a focus on recommendations for engaging with the Ministry of Energy and private companies to develop gender-responsive policies and programs.

● USAID implementing partners: Document and share best practices and lessons learned from existing programs related to engaging with the energy sector to promote increased women’s leadership in management and leadership positions.

● USAID (Economic Growth and Energy) and implementing partners: Work with relevant GoU officials to set standards to prioritize the collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated data to understand policy and regulatory impacts of energy policies and programs.

HEALTH

USAID/Ukraine and its partners must work to address the gender and identity-based barriers to accessing quality mental health services. This would include gender transformative approaches for promoting gender-equitable masculinities and programs designed specifically for the needs of male and female veterans, IDPs, and essential workers working in areas with heavy fighting or that were recently liberated.

● USAID (Health) and other donors: Integrate support for the National Road Map into relevant mental health/public health programming. Continue supporting the GoU to develop and promote a nationally-recognized model for Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support (MHPSS). Any strategy should account for the need to have tailored approaches for different groups, including men, women, veterans, IDPs, and people with preexisting conditions.

● USAID (Health) and other donors: Work with the Ministry of Health and UN to develop a strategy with other relevant GoU institutions that would increase the number of certified and qualified male and female mental health providers able to work in Ukraine.

● USAID (Health) and implementing partners: Assure that any mental health program specifically addresses gender-barriers to accessing mental health service, including men and male veterans and their families. Attend specifically to approaches to gender-equitable masculinities and address male barriers to seeking mental health services.

The health system in Ukraine needs to be strengthened in regard to its ability to address the needs of women and marginalized groups. This will require specific strategies to address gender gaps in the health workforce; capacity to address mental health issues for men, women, and non-binary Ukrainians; and efforts to ensure reconstructed health facilities and services are accessible to persons with disabilities. It will also require targeted assistance and capacity-building for the Ministry of Health (MoH) to use evidence and data to inform gender- and inclusion-responsive policies, programs, and budgets.

● USAID (Health): The USAID Health Office should develop a gender strategy for its work to strengthen the health system. The strategy should be informed by a gender analysis in the current context that highlights gender disparities in the health workforce, policy, and data needs in regard to gender-responsive services; opportunities to improve the system’s responsiveness to women, 17 | USAID/UKRAINE GESI ANALYSIS REPORTUSAID.GOV

LGBTQI+ persons, and other marginalized groups; and the MoH’s capacity to develop gender-responsive and inclusive policies and programs.

● USAID (Health): Consider integrating programming specifically on Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) into existing or new USAID health programming. SRH programming should address gender-specific barriers to care, access to these services for marginalized groups, and the impact the prevalence of GBV has on family planning.

● USAID (Health) and implementing partners: Conduct rapid analyses to understand how different population groups have been impacted differently by the disruption to medical services and the extent to which implementing partners are addressing these challenges, highlighting successful approaches and recommending further action.

● USAID (Health): With the MoH, conduct a gender analysis of the health system in Ukraine to support the refining recovery plans and developing a Ministry gender strategy.

● USAID implementing partners: Work with the MoH to adhere to NGEM recommendations on appointing gender advisors and creating gender units in all sectoral ministries. Work with the MoH to develop a gender strategy to inform GoU policy, programs, and budgets to be more inclusive and effective.

● USAID (Health) and implementing partners: Include specific approaches to ensure MoH budgets employ Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) approaches that focus on government expenditure and makes the gender impact of budgetary decisions explicit.

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND

The USAID Regional Mission for Ukraine and Belarus (USAID/Ukraine) is currently in the fourth year of implementing its 2019-2024 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). In November 2021, prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, USAID/Ukraine held a midcourse stock-taking to assess whether assumptions and theories of change still stood. The changed context of November 2021 further shifted, dramatically and rapidly, on February 24, 2022, with Russia’s unprovoked invasion.

USAID/Ukraine currently relies on its last country level gender analysis, conducted in 2017.1 Since that time, Ukraine has seen significant changes in the reform landscape, has a new president, advanced innovative anti-corruption measures across sectors, and is a decidedly different environment. Outdated under normal circumstances, the analysis is even less relevant within the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine, particularly given the war’s impact on women and vulnerable populations.

In line with the requirements in the USAID Automated Directives System (ADS) 201.3.2.9 and ADS 205, USAID/Ukraine partnered with EnCompass LLC via the Ukraine Monitoring, Learning, and Support (UMLS) contract, to undertake a gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) analysis to inform the USAID/Ukraine's strategic planning moving forward. The analysis is aligned with the current CDCS and future programmatic priorities to meet in-country advances in gender equality and social inclusion vis-à-vis support to Ukraine during Russia’s war, response, and recovery. The importance of this analysis is heightened considering the ongoing programmatic pivot, necessitated by the war.

This GESI analysis is aligned with USAID’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy, the 2021 National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence (2022), Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment (WEEE) Act (2018), U.S. Strategy on Global Women's Economic Security (2023); United States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (2019), USAID Policy on Countering Trafficking in Persons (2021), and USAID’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy (2022).2

1.2 PURPOSE OF THE USAID/UKRAINE GESI ANALYSIS

The GESI Analysis provides data to enhance the integration of GESI in USAID/Ukraine’s programming portfolio across key sectors. Consultation with relevant USAID/Ukraine staff helped to decide the purpose of the GESI analysis. The GESI analysis will:

1. Capture key GESI developments in Ukraine since USAID/Ukraine’s last gender analysis (2017);

1 USAID Gender Analysis Report, April 2017.

2 USAID Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy, 2012; National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, 2021; U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence, 2022; Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act, 2018; U.S. Strategy on Global Women's Economic Security, 2023; United States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, 2019; USAID Policy on Countering Trafficking in Persons, 2021; USAID’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy, 2022.

https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pa00mq3k.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/National-Strategy-on-Gender-Equity-and-Equality.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GBV-Global-Strategy-Report_v6-Accessible-1292022.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GBV-Global-Strategy-Report_v6-Accessible-1292022.pdf https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ428/PLAW-115publ428.pdf https://www.state.gov/reports/united-states-strategy-on-global-womens-economic-security/ https://www.state.gov/reports/united-states-strategy-on-global-womens-economic-security/ https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/WPS_Strategy_10_October2019.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/December-2021_Revised-C-TIP-Policy.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/December-2021_Revised-C-TIP-Policy.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USAID_DEI_Strategy_Summary_-_Final.pdf

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2. Identify GESI-related risks as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine and subsequent mitigation strategies, across key sectors;

3. Recommend programmatic strategies or approaches for USAID/Ukraine’s existing/new programming to address the specific needs of marginalized groups; and

4. Recommend USAID/Ukraine and implementing partner operational tools and methods to improve integrating GESI considerations in activity design, solicitation, and implementation.

The GESI analysis is structured around key sub-sectors of the USAID/Ukraine portfolio (see Table 1) and aligned with USAID’s new Strategic Framework for Engagement in Ukraine’s Recovery and Reconstruction. Specifically, the GESI analysis key sectors align with the Strategic Framework’s key programmatic lines of effort. The GESI analysis addresses the USAID ADS 205 gender analysis domains, priority cross-cutting themes, and intersectional variables, including youth, elderly, internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, veterans, rural and urban populations, persons with disabilities, Roma people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons. In the report, gender-based violence (GBV) is a priority cross-cutting theme but has its own sub-section. USAID/Ukraine’s gender point of contact helped define the list of intersectional variables, which aligns with marginalized groups identified through Ukraine-specific literature.

Table 1. Key elements of the gender analysis

SECTORS

USAID ADS 205 GENDER

ANALYSIS DOMAINS

CROSS-CUTTING THEMES

INTERSECTIONAL

VARIABLES

● GBV prevention and response

● Economic recovery and sustainability

● Democratic governance

● Energy sector reform

● Health

● Laws, policies, regulations, and institutional practices

● Cultural norms and beliefs

● Gender roles, responsibilities, and time use

● Access to and control over assets and resources

● Patterns of power and decision-making

● GBV

prevention and response

● Women’s economic empowerment

● Impacts of war

● Youth/Elderly

● IDPs/Refugees

● Veterans

● Rural/Urban

● Persons with disabilities

● Roma

● LGBTQI+

persons

Through a rigorous desk review and synthesis of existing literature, the GESI analysis team developed lines of inquiry by sector and programmatic lines of effort (Sector) detailed in USAID/Ukraine’s Strategic Framework for Engagement in Ukraine’s Recovery and Reconstruction. The lines of inquiry by sector can be found in Annex A.

1.3 REPORT STRUCTURE

This GESI analysis report is organized in three parts with accompanying Annexes, as summarized in Table 2.

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Table 2. Report structure of USAID/Ukraine GESI Analysis

REPORT

SECTION

DESCRIPTION OF SECTION ORGANIZING ELEMENTS OF GESI ANALYSIS

Section 3: Country Context

A country level overview of GESI provides background on gender and social inclusion in Ukraine and in the context of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Annex D includes review, by ADS 205 domains, of the GESI context since 2017.

Country context

Russia’s war against Ukraine

See also Annex D.

Section 4: GESI Analysis Findings and Recommendations:

Cross-Cutting

Cross-cutting findings and recommendations related to Russia’s war against Ukraine are provided to address shared challenges identified for advancing GESI across all sectors, specifically since the upscale of the Russian-led war against Ukraine in February 2022.

GBV and Trafficking in Persons (TIP) is addressed under this section.

Engagement with National Gender Equality Machinery (NGEM) Women’s Rights Civil Society Organizations (WRO), Women-Led Civil Society Organizations (WLO) and gender equality advocates Access to humanitarian services Marginalized Groups Gender-Based Violence (GBV)

TIP

Sections 5-8: GESI Analysis Findings and Recommendations by Development Objective

Findings and recommendations presented by sector. Each of the four sectors examines intersecting variables.

Economic Recovery Energy Democratic Governance Health

Section 9:

Conclusions

Final GESI analysis conclusions based on and synthesizing findings across all sectors and cross-cutting themes.

Annexes Annex A: Lines of Inquiry by Sector Annex B: Additional information on Methodology Annex C: List of Source Consulted Annex D: Overview of the GESI Context Since 2017 According to USAID’s Gender Analysis Domains Annex E: Stakeholders Interviewed Annex F: Mapping of NGEM Annex G: Reconstruction and Recovery and Gender Mapping Annex H: Endnotes

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2. METHODOLOGY

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

The gender analysis research team conducted a desk review of secondary data sources in July-August 2022 to identify major GESI-related policy shifts, advances, and gaps in Ukraine vis-à-vis key sectors associated with USAID/Ukraine’s programming priorities. The researchers reviewed over 200 resources (see Annex C: List of Sources Consulted) and used the results to develop research questions and subsequent tools. Additionally, the research team used secondary data to triangulate primary data findings.

Secondary data and literature are integrated in Sections 4-8.

2.2 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION

Prior to primary data collection, the research team submitted the research methodology to EnCompass and received exemption from internal and national requirements for Institutional Review Board review. This GESI analysis is exempt from Institutional Review Board approval because it will be used solely for the purpose of improving programming.

The GESI analysis team designed primary data collection tools to address data gaps identified during the literature review and aligned with key sectors and programmatic priorities. The data collection tools included semi-structured key informant interviews. The research team used a sequenced data collection process by first collecting data from USAID/Ukraine staff and then moving to USAID implementing partners and external stakeholders, including Government of Ukraine (GoU) officials (at all levels), civil society organizations (CSOs), and other bilateral/multilateral organizations and donors. For more on methodology related to sampling, please see Annex B.

The research team conducted 99 remote interviews from September 16 to November 4, 2022. The majority of stakeholders interviewed were female (82) because of purposive sampling that targeted GESI experts/focal points and leaders of CSOs working with marginalized groups, who tend to be women in the Ukrainian context. Table 3 below summarizes all interviews. See Annex E for a complete list of stakeholders interviewed.

Table 3. Primary data collection methods, stakeholders type, and sample size

TECHNIQUE STAKEHOLDERS SAMPLE SIZE ESTIMATES (MALE & FEMALE )

Semi-structured interviews

USAID Staff 19 (12 Female and 7 Male)

USAID IPs 28 (23 Female and 5 Male)

GoU Officials (including NGEM institutions and sectoral ministries- gender focal points & sector technical expert, and MPs)

17 (15 Female and 2 Male)

CSOs, associations, and local experts (working in gender equality and/or with

23 (22 Female and 1 Male)

RESEARCH GUIDING

PRINCIPLES

Do No Harm Free Prior Informed Consent

Informant Confidentiality Protection of Information Non-Discrimination and

Respect Ethical Data Collection Holistic Participation

Collaborative Learning Cultural Sensitivity

Intersectionality

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TECHNIQUE STAKEHOLDERS SAMPLE SIZE ESTIMATES (MALE & FEMALE )

marginalized groups in rural and urban areas: youth/elderly; IDPs/Refugees;

persons with disabilities; veterans; Roma LGBTQI+ persons)

Other international organizations, multi- /bi-lateral and donor (gender advisors and sector technical experts)

12 (10 Female and 2 Male)

TOTAL 99 interviews 82 Female and 17 Male

DATA ANALYSIS

The research team conducted interviews in both English and Ukrainian. When respondents agreed, the research team recorded interviews. Each interview was then transcribed and Ukrainian interview transcripts translated into English. Once transcribed, the GESI analysis team lead reviewed and cleaned all transcribed interviews and entered them into Atlas.ti, a qualitative software program for coding and cross-classifying textual data. The research team added notes in a memo section offered by the software to aid in data analysis and to clarify any specific interests to the research objectives. The research team lead saved all data in a secure and encrypted file. In October-November 2022, the gender analysis team used Atlas.ti to code and analyze all data.

The researchers employed both deductive and inductive techniques, beginning by coding interviews based on the initial topics covered in the interviews as led by the research questions. Next, the researchers reread transcripts and inductively identified emerging themes that were not overtly included in the interview guide topics. The GESI analysis team discussed codes and emergent or unexpected themes to improve the reliability of coding. Atlas.ti helped the researchers summarize key patterns from the qualitative data and illustrate those patterns with meaningful quotes.

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS VALIDATION CONSULTATIONS

The GESI analysis team met with USAID GESI focal points online on December 14, 2022, to validate and interpret the preliminary gender analysis findings and to collaboratively develop conclusions and recommendations. The GESI analysis team also solicited feedback from all study respondents, seeking validation of findings and separate individual consultations for additional suggestions on recommendations and conclusions. Feedback from the data validation was considered while developing this final gender analysis report.

LIMITATIONS

Remote/online data collection. Risks of interrupted connectivity and lack of ability to read body language were considered by the researchers during their analysis. The team mitigated these potential risks by triangulating all relevant data with existing literature. The preliminary results were made available to all respondents to validate findings and receive feedback on recommendations.

Language. The data collection team is experienced in translations between Ukrainian and English and included a Ukrainian researcher who is fully bilingual. The team lead supported data cleaning and points of clarification reached by team agreement on the meaning of each participant’s dialogue. However, a

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majority of interviews were conducted in Ukrainian. Interview transcripts were translated into English, possibly leading to some missed data points.

Ongoing stress of war with multiple demands for stakeholder time. Organizing remote consultations with identified stakeholders was difficult given the ongoing war and competing priorities. It was particularly challenging to secure meetings with GoU officials across sectoral ministries. For stakeholders located in Ukraine, ongoing power cuts interrupted data collection multiple times.

Consultation fatigue. Some stakeholders expressed exasperation at the request for interviews. GoU officials expressed hassles from numerous, time-consuming requests by stakeholders and donors from international organizations. The in-country stakeholders clarified that many of these partners were marginally invested in ongoing partnerships or ongoing relationships with Ukrainians. In some instances, interviews were cut short, or respondents referred the GESI analysis team to existing public domain documents.

Inability to talk with refugees and limited consultation with those in occupied territories.

The majority of stakeholders consulted were either outside of Ukraine, in Kyiv, or located in safer parts of Western Ukraine. Though many respondents reported engaging with those remaining in occupied territories, the voices of countless Ukrainians living in these areas were not well captured.

3. COUNTRY CONTEXT

Ukraine is Europe’s second-largest country with a population of 41.27 million people and large amounts of fertile agricultural land with pockets of heavy industry, especially in the east.3 Ukraine has more than 130 ethnic groups and some minority language groups.4 The Roma, with a population of up to 400,000 living in Ukraine, form the largest ethnic minority population and face significant marginalization.5 In 2020, across all age groups, women accounted for 53.7 percent of the total population and 52.5 percent of the total rural population.6 Women in Ukraine have a longer average life expectancy than men, and the gap is as much as 10 years for the rural population (the life expectancy for rural women is 76.2 years compared with 65.6 years for rural men).7

Ukraine became independent in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At this time, Ukraine declared its intentions for closer integration with Europe. Over the course of 30 years of democratic reforms and development, Ukraine experienced three revolutions with the active participation of women as protesters, activists, and political leaders (see Annex D for more information). During this time, the number of women MPs increased from 2.5 percent in 1991 (12 female MPs of 475) to 21 percent in 2019 (86 female MPs of 422).8 In 2014, protests against pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych ushered in a series of movements to support Ukrainian Euro-integration. Russia used the opportunity to pursue a military occupation of the Crimean Peninsula and wage war against Ukraine in

3 State Statistics Service of Ukraine population data (excluding the occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol), November 2022.

4 CARE International and UN Women. 2022. Rapid Gender Analysis of Ukraine.

5 CoE. 2021. Kyiv International Roma Inclusion.

6 State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2021.

7 Ibid.

8 International IDEA. 2022. Gender Quota Database: Ukraine.

https://ukrstat.gov.ua/express/expr2021/12/153.pdf%20.

https://ukrstat.gov.ua/express/expr2021/12/153.pdf%20.

https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2022/05/rapid-gender-analysis-of-ukraine https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2022/05/rapid-gender-analysis-of-ukraine https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/country-view/292/35

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the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.9 In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Despite a challenging economic and security environment due to the ongoing war with Russia, the political leadership of Ukraine continues to be broadly committed to GESI principles as part of the country’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration.10 This commitment is notably enshrined in the implementation of the previously taken covenants, ratification, and joining of relevant human rights treaties and international agreements. See Annex D for the full list. The GoU has also adopted the following national legislative and policy instruments to comply with the international commitments and advance gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE). Notably, the Law on Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men to 2030, adopted in 2005 and amended in 2017.11

To support the implementation of various GEWE laws and policies, in 2017, the GoU sought to strengthen the NGEM, which includes a wide range of stakeholders with varying capacities of partners and complex accountability and reporting requirements that focus on results.12 See Annex D and Annex F for more details on the NGEM in Ukraine.

In Ukraine, wage gaps between men and women are pervasive (see Finding 5.1).13 Ukraine ranks 81 out of 146 countries, with a score of 0.707 (one indicating parity) in the 2022…