Mayor Debra Button recently travelled to the Ukraine to take part in a two-day Gender Equity National Forum. Button helped to lead a Canadian delegation of mayors representing the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) at the forum. The delegation included Mayor Linda Osinchuk from Strathcona County, Alberta and Mayor Shari Decter Hirst from Brandon, Manitoba.
"It was my honour to work alongside these two distinguished Canadian female mayors in helping the women of Ukraine develop capacity and expertise in governance," said Mayor Button.
This forum is being implemented under the auspices of the Municipal Local Economic Development (MLED) project that is managed by the FCM, in conjunction with the Association of Ukrainian Cities.
The goal of the forum was to contribute to improved economic opportunities for Ukrainians through more inclusive and effective local government that meets the needs of their citizens and the business community with support from enabling institutions. The forum also worked at achieving better gender balance in the Ukrainian municipal government.
"Gender equality, in other words, securing equal rights and opportunities for women and men, is an important goal of the MLED program. One of MLED's overall goals is to promote more equitable participation by women in local governance and economic development," said the Mayor.
Over the course of the forum, mayors and city councillors came to a common understanding of the situation and challenges for women and men in the Ukraine context concerning their equal rights and opportunities. They also learned about policies and practices initiated by their peers in cities and towns in the Ukraine and Canada.
