OSCE holds gender awareness workshop for mine action actors in Ukraine

As women are increasingly more involved in the traditionally male-dominated mine action sector, it is important to ensure that gender equality principles are taken into account across all aspects of demining work, including identifying areas to be demined, awareness raising, administrative and managerial roles. This will help increase efficiency, ensure higher safety standards and provide greater security for communities.

On 10 September, the OSCE Secretariat Extra-budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine, in co-operation with the country's Ministry of Economy and with primary financial support from the European Union , gathered representatives of key mine action actors for the gender awareness workshop in Kyiv. Forty-five officials from governmental agencies, non-state operators, experts and representatives from international organisations reviewed the key gender challenges and existing gaps in mine action policies and explored the most pressing needs.

"Gender inclusion, particularly in humanitarian demining, is not only a human right but also an advantage to all players, as it ensures that the needs of all the society are considered, which ultimately leads to increased efficiency. We are looking for very specific measures that you will discuss and propose for workable, operational and effective solutions that change the reality on the ground for the better," said Pierre Baussand, the Chief of Operations of the OSCE Support Programme for Ukraine in his opening remarks.

A number of practitioners used the workshop as an opportunity to highlight potential positive contributions women can make in the sphere of humanitarian demining. For example, in many occasions it was noted that traumatized people from war-affected areas are more inclined to talk and share valuable information to female interviewers doing non-technical survey, a process used to identify mined areas. Participants discussed the challenges and their responses, touched upon the national legislation and international best practices, and worked in groups during intensive interactive sessions. Their ideas, including gender-responsive budgeting, recruitment, professional development and leadership courses for women, flexible working arrangements, will be further processed by state representatives, experts and relevant participants to develop practical recommendations for government institutions and mine action operators on implementing gender inclusiveness in their operations, including through the introduction of relevant policies.