UKRAINE IN THE RANKING OF GLOBAL GENDER GAP: ESSENCE AND SIGNIFICANCE

Abstract

Based on the Global Gender Gap Index, which is an important tool for assessing the progress of countries in ensuring gender equality and helps to identify areas that require further efforts and reforms, and is based on a methodology that integrates the latest statistics from international organizations and surveys of executives within the framework of the World Economic Forum research, the paper analyses the essence of gender equality in Ukraine in terms of key indicators of Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, Political Empowerment. Since its introduction in 2006, this is the oldest index that tracks the progress of countries around the world in overcoming gender gaps in these indicators over time. It has been determined that Ukraine is mainly in the middle of the global gender gap ranking. In different years, Ukraine's position varies depending on the progress or regression, socio-political and economic situation in certain areas. The largest fluctuations are observed in Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment indicators. The author substantiates that Ukraine's consistently high performance in Health and Survival and Educational Attainment is a testament to the tendency of post-Soviet countries and countries of the Eastern European region to saturate these areas with women and provide equal access for both sexes and is only partially due to the successful policy of the state in the field of education and health care. It is established that the main challenges include the low representation of women in politics, the gender pay gap, and other forms of discrimination in the workplace. It is proved that women's political participation is the most problematic area of gender equality in Ukraine, which requires serious reforms to increase women's representation at all levels of political power.