THE GENDER POLICY OF UKRAINE: CONSIDERING THE EU EXPERIENCE

Objective: The research aims to establish patterns in the implementation of gender policy in the EU and Ukraine. Theoretical framework: In recent decades, the problems of sustainable development caused by economic progress have intensified interest in gender policy. At the same time, the gender policy of some countries is far from ensuring equality between men and women. The lack of gender equality between men and women creates risks of lower quality and efficiency in the implementation of relevant management decisions. Therefore, the problem of formulating and implementing gender policy in the current environment is relevant and needs to be addressed. It is necessary to balance the interests of men and women and establish partnerships between them. To do this, it is necessary to improve the mechanisms for the formation and implementation of the relevant state gender policy, to accentuate gender parity, and to ensure equality of men and women in all spheres of public life. Method


INTRODUCTION
It is established that the primary source for ensuring the formation of effective social relations, fair distribution, and use of public property and benefits is to ensure equality of people. The main condition for the development of an open state and civil society is the establishment of social equality. One of its types is gender equality, which involves ensuring equal rights, freedoms, and opportunities for women and men in all spheres of life (Bass et al., 2021).
Over the past few decades, Ukrainian society has made significant progress toward achieving gender equality, overcoming differences in social positions, roles, rights, and responsibilities of men and women (Doronina, Khovriakova, 2021). The article identifies one of the fundamental tasks at the present stage in Ukraine, as well as in any country in the world that is developing a democratic foundation. It is to ensure the principle of gender equality, which has been relevant for a long time. However, since the middle of the last century, the principle of gender equality has received a modern scientific assessment and new solutions. In this regard, it has been established that every country in the world still faces gender asymmetry to some extent. This creates obstacles to the full-fledged work of government agencies and the development of the private sector. Due to the lack of a proper mechanism for the assurance of the principle of gender equality, the problems of social injustice in society are deepening. As a result, obstacles to sustainable human development are emerging.
Nowadays, ensuring gender equality is one of the priorities on the path to a modern Ukrainian state. The issue of ensuring the principle of gender equality and the formation of a relevant national mechanism is driven by global political processes, Ukraine's international obligations, its European choice, and other factors (Ladonko et. al., 2023). This issue is of great theoretical and practical importance for legal doctrine and state development (Bass et al., 2021;Connolly et al., 2020;Haake, 2018).
Achieving sustainable development is a complex issue. Sustainable development cannot be achieved through a single approach, as it requires significant funding from a variety of sources and financial agents (Popovych et. al., 2020). The ability of governments to mobilize, reallocate and effectively use a variety of funding sources, instruments, and strategies is a crucial process for achieving and implementing the Global Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In the process of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, governments should consider the legal system, likely socioeconomic and environmental impacts, and any other constraints that may hinder the implementation of the selected instruments (United Nations, 2018).
Gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is not only an explicit goal of the 2030 Global Sustainable Development Goals but also a driving force for sustainable development in all its dimensions. In those regions and countries where women and girls are disempowered, progress is inevitably slowed down and the 2030 Agenda as a whole is jeopardized. Therefore, systematically incorporating a gender perspective into the implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is crucial (The Global Goals, 2020;United Nations, 2014;United Nations, 2018).
The research aims to establish a pattern of gender policy implementation in the EU and Ukraine. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to survey men and women to reflect on the current situation in Ukraine and the EU countries regarding the specifics of the implementation of state gender policy, considering the world's achievements and the spread of gender stereotypes in modern society.
Research objectives of the article: • To survey women and men to determine the current situation in Ukraine and the EU countries regarding the specifics of the implementation of state gender policy, considering the world's achievements. • To determine the ranking of EU countries and Ukraine according to the global gender gap index. • To distinguish between the peculiarities of gender policy and gender equality in European countries. • To display the indicators of gender parity from 2006-2022 in the EU countries and Ukraine. • To analyze the strategic goals of the national strategy of Ukraine for ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men for the period up to 2030.

LITERATURE REVIEW
In the 20th century, the problem of actualizing gender equality is emerging. Its solution requires the implementation of an appropriate gender policy aimed at forming a new system of values, and a new attitude to the role of women in society in general and in the public administration system (Martiyanova, Lazarev, 2015;Mateos del Cabo et al., 2012;Strikha et. al., 2021). Gender policy has become the most widespread legal phenomenon in all democratic countries of the world after the formation of a special UN Commission in 1946 to monitor the status of women and to promote the implementation of equal rights for both women and men. From that moment until now, world democracies have been working hard and implementing appropriate gender policies to improve the guarantees of gender equality at both the national and international levels (UN Women, 2023).
Given the current conditions, the main priority worldwide is to include the concept of sustainable development in government programs (United Nations, 2014). Promoting the development of society without gender bias and integrating gender awareness in society is one of the main tasks of the Equal Opportunities and Women's Rights Program in Ukraine. Ensuring gender equality is implemented following the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men" with a focus on the best practices and experience of EU countries, primarily Finland and Sweden (Doronina, Khovriakova, 2021).
It has been determined that the concept of "gender" means a social superstructure over biological or social sex. As Martiyanova M.P. and Lazarev M.V. note: "Gender is defined as a "cultural mask" of sex, which is outlined by our socio-cultural ideas". That is, gender denotes the role-based social expectations of female and male representatives (Martiyanova, Lazarev, 2015). In contrast to the concept of "sex," gender refers not only to the physiological properties that distinguish men and women but also to the socially formed traits inherent in "femininity" and "masculinity" (Fesenko, Fesenko, 2017;Weiner, MacRae, 2014;Jorgensen, 2019;Bakhov et. al., 2021;Melnyk et. al., 2022).
We propose that the concept of "gender policy" should be understood as the activities of public authorities, civil society institutions, and international organizations aimed at forming mechanisms for ensuring the principle of gender equality, as well as at promoting the complete elimination of all forms of gender discrimination at all levels. It has been determined that gender equality is defined as a sensitive indicator of the level of development and democracy of the state. A high rate of women's representation in political and other spheres there promotes the conditions for the development of tolerance, inclusiveness, economic and political diversity, a high level of civil rights and freedoms, and interpersonal trust (Shchutska, 2021;Valls et al., 2019;Rosati et al., 2018;Reguera-Alvarado et al., 2017;Ben-Amar et al., 2017;Barrientos et al., 2018;Levytska et. al., 2020;Lytvyn et. al., 2022).
In many years of the historical development of society and the state, differentiated types of state gender policy have been formed and scientifically systematized. Therefore, based on the generalization of international experience, science, and practice establish the following categories of gender policy: 1. Patriarchal gender policy of the state. Its main goal and content are to emphasize the primary place and role of women in fulfilling their natural functions, namely motherhood and household management. It includes restrictions on women's professional activities and their exclusion from the public sphere, as well as the recognition of women's dependence on power, property, and ideology, which is formed by men. 2. Paternalistic gender policy of the state. It consists in directing state activities towards women. Its main goal is to protect the rights and freedoms of women on an equal footing with men and to ensure the organized involvement of women in state forms of government and administration. It is equally important to regulate women's participation in production, to protect the image of women as equal to men, and to create a system of benefits and maternity and child protection. 3. Egalitarian gender state policy. It consists of ensuring the state's purposeful activity to create conditions and opportunities for women on an equal footing with men, to ensure guarantees of their freedom, self-realization, and self-affirmation, and to establish the personal power of both sexes (Hrytsai, 2018).
There have been significant changes in the form and content of the activities of the public, the state, and international actors to promote the principle of gender equality. However, despite this, over the past decades, Ukraine and other countries have been researching the protection of women's rights in differentiated spheres of society. Also, the process of intensifying the study and analysis of problematic issues related to men's rights is equally important, since the study of women's and men's rights and freedoms is not mutually exclusive, but is part of understanding certain processes of social development (Bass et al., 2021;Bondar, Mikhalyonok, 2019;Bondarenko et. al., 2022).
Gender policy in Ukraine is about promoting equal rights and opportunities for women and men. Thus, the basic principles of gender policy have been defined, which form a new, modern ideology of gender equality. It is important to take into account the specific interests of women and men when formulating gender policy, and implementing programs and projects. Achieving gender equality regardless of gender means equal rights and opportunities for men and women. Moreover, women should have access to decision-making at all levels. Gender equality is seen as an integral part of all policies, programs, and projects. It can be achieved through a partnership between women and men based on the principles of parity democracy. Achieving gender equality requires the implementation of special measures aimed at reducing gender inequality. It is crucial to ensure equal participation of men and women as equal subjects in economic, social, and cultural processes (United Nations, 2018;Shchutska, 2021). To summarize, it should be noted that today, in every society that has chosen the democratic path of development, one of the priority tasks is to ensure the principle of gender equality and to map out a targeted path for all gender policy actors to achieve this. Implementation of the principle of gender equality involves systematic and multidimensional activities of both public authorities and civil society (Bass et al., 2021;Woodward, 2003;Waylen, 2014;Lombardo, 2003;Kantola, 2014). An in-depth analysis of the issues outlined in this article allows us to conclude that the topic of gender policy in the EU and Ukraine is sufficiently studied today by foreign and Ukrainian scholars and is significantly reflected in scientific publications in the form of theoretical research and practical studies. This is particularly relevant due to the conditions for achieving and implementing the Global Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, as well as the deeper integration of national economies into the structure of the global socio-political space. However, the issue of promoting the implementation of gender policy in modern society remains relevant and open for further research, taking into account the World Economic Forum reports on gender equality in the world.

METHODS
The realization of the research goal involves the use of such research methods as: Identification of certain features of the formation of gender policy in Ukraine was carried out using descriptive statistics, the data of which were provided as a result of a survey using MS Forms Pro. The survey was conducted to determine the current situation in Ukraine and the EU countries regarding the peculiarities of implementing the state gender policy, taking into account international achievements, and to analyze the spread of gender stereotypes in modern society and the need to raise awareness on this issue. An online survey was conducted, collecting information from 2720 respondents from September 27, 2022, to February 20, 2023. These participants answered questions about their experience of gender discrimination, gender stereotypes, gender equality, etc. The questions were as follows: 1. Do women and men have equal rights? 2. Have you ever encountered gender stereotypes about yourself? 3. 3. Do you think there are cases of gender discrimination?

RESULTS
According to the Global Gender Gap Report, the global gender gap was closed by 68.1% in 2022. So, at this rate of progress, it will take 132 years to reach full parity. There is a slight four-year improvement compared to the 2021 estimate (136 years to parity) (see Figure 1). Based on a comparison of the 2022 results with the 2021 results, it was estimated that the overall gender parity index increased from 67.9% to 68.1%. The economic participation and opportunity sub-index also increased from 58.7% to 60.3%, as did the health and survival subindex from 95.7% to 95.8%. The educational attainment sub-index fell from 95.2% to 94.4%, while the political empowerment sub-index remained unchanged at 22% (see Table 1). It was discovered that the overall regional progress based on the comparison of the 2022 results with the 2021 results has mostly plateaued. As Figure 2 shows, on average, the regions had little change, with variations in scores of less than 1 percentage point. In 2022, Ukraine was ranked 81st among 146 countries, losing 7 positions compared to the 2021 ranking. According to the health and survival sub-index, Ukraine ranked 37th, the educational attainment sub-index -53rd, the economic participation, and opportunity sub-index -62nd, and the political empowerment sub-index -100th [16]. For Ukraine, we suggest adopting the experience of the two most progressive EU countries in this regard -Finland and Sweden, which respectively rank 2nd and 5th in the Global Gender Gap Index (see Table 2).  8   Finland  2  18  1  78  2  France  15  40  1  81  20  Germany  10  75  81  70  8  Greece  100  83  84  98  108  Hungary  88  67  42  1  117  Ireland  9  35  1  113  11  Italy  63  110  59  108  40  Latvia  26  9  25  34  45  Lithuania  11  21  85  1  22  Luxembourg  46  51  32  110  51  Malta  85  89  1  To analyze Ukraine's gender policy in 2022-2023, a survey was conducted to determine the situation with the spread of gender stereotypes among young people and the need to raise awareness of this issue. It was found that 92% of women and 90% of men believe that women and men have equal rights. At the same time, 94.4% of women and 67.8% of men believe that there have been cases of gender discrimination (see Table 3). Having studied the gender profile of Ukraine among other EU countries according to the Global Gender Gap index, we can see that women are represented in politics by 25.5%, and in management positions by 15.8%. At the same time, the gender gap in average monthly wages is 63.8%. These figures indicate a deterioration in the situation.
The Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine has developed a national strategy for ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men until 2030. Its main goal is to create conditions for reducing existing inequalities between women and men in all spheres of society and achieving European standards of equality. The expected results from the implementation of this strategy should demonstrate actions and gender approach in the activities of public authorities, local governments, civil society institutions, and other business entities, as well as compliance with the strategic goals shown in Figure 3. Thus, it is necessary to further improve legislation in the area of guaranteeing equal rights and opportunities for women and men. This will ensure the implementation of an effective gender policy, increase the efficiency of the functioning of the socio-political systems of states and create favorable conditions for the formation of effective social relations, fair distribution, and use of public property and benefits.

DISCUSSION
The results of the study of the current situation in Ukraine and the EU countries regarding the peculiarities of implementing the state gender policy in light of international achievements led to the following conclusions. For several decades, gender equality has been the subject of extensive research around the world. It remains relevant today, especially in the economic and social spheres. However, in the current environment, we observe that there is an underestimation of women's abilities, certain gender stereotypes, and prejudices about women's ability to hold leadership positions, etc. (Mateos del Cabo et al., 2012).
First, the study revealed the current state of gender equality in the EU and Ukraine. It needs to be improved to achieve full parity in the world, which will take 132 years. Considering women in society alongside men, through the prism of gender stereotypes, we note that not only in Ukraine but also in other developed countries there is an unresolved and significant problem of gender stratification. Equality is enshrined in the law and international regulations. Nevertheless, society cannot deviate from the guidelines that manifest themselves in the superiority of men over women, which is quite clearly seen in women's choice of profession, career development, self-realization, etc. There have been significant changes in the form and content of the activities of state and international actors promoting the principle of gender equality. However, research on the protection of women's and men's rights in various spheres of society in Ukraine and other countries should be conducted on an ongoing basis, where this approach is part of understanding certain processes of social development and gender policy at the national and international levels (Bass et al., 2021).
Secondly, the survey shows that there is a need to address problems related to the implementation of gender policy in all spheres of public life in Ukraine. It was found that the implementation of gender approaches in the main state strategies is rather weak. Moreover, the existing gender policy sector within the ministry responsible for gender equality is insufficient to implement a consistent and high-quality state gender policy. Therefore, a high level of intraagency and inter-agency coordination is needed to ensure the effective implementation of gender equality in society. Third, gender policy is defined as a priority area of EU programmatic action. It is an integral part of the developed EU member states and one of the conditions for joining the association, as the EU is focused on ensuring high social standards of living. Therefore, countries that have joined the EU or intend to become EU members in the future need to improve the level of social guarantees and opportunities, including in the area of gender equality (Bondar, Mikhalyonok, 2019).
Thus, in the process of implementing the state gender policy, countries will face differentiated problems under global changes in society. However, an in-depth study of this issue will lead to increased attention to improving approaches to ensuring effective gender policy. This will help to eliminate the existing imbalance of rights and opportunities for men and women in the long run.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the study, it can be concluded that in the context of intensifying globalization processes, the implementation of gender policy in the context of sustainable development is becoming increasingly important. It has been found that the problem of mainstreaming gender equality issues requires immediate resolution. Moreover, the quality and effectiveness of state reforms in the social sphere depend on Ukraine's integration into the EU and the international community in line with objective trends in globalization. To ensure gender equality in society, it is necessary to enshrine in law provisions for the mandatory establishment of special supervisory associations for equal rights and opportunities for women and men in organizations, enterprises, institutions, and other entities. Given that the problem of gender stratification is visible in modern society, disciplinary liability for infringement of women's rights should be imposed. The practical significance of the study is that the conclusions and recommendations developed by the author and proposed in the article can be used by the public authorities of Ukraine for strategic planning and implementation of an effective gender policy in the context of sustainable development. One of the promising areas of research should be the development and implementation of effective mechanisms to ensure equal career opportunities for women and men, considering the specifics of professional activities. Another potential direction for further research on this issue is the development of theoretical and conceptual provisions for the implementation of an effective gender policy in the context of sustainable development as an important type of social activity of public authorities.