INTRODUCTION

1. This assessment of gender responsive public financial management (GRPFM) of the government of Ukraine (GoU) has been conducted using the draft Supplementary Framework for Assessing Gender Responsive Public Financial Management and is one of the first pilots using this framework. The purpose of the PEFA supplementary assessment on gender responsive budgeting (GRB) is to collect information on the extent to which gender is mainstreamed in Ukraine’s public financial management (PFM) system and to establish a baseline for future assessments. The government of Ukraine has been at the forefront of introducing and mainstreaming gender, so the assessment results are expected to facilitate the measurement of progress on an initiative that is already underway.

2. The PEFA GRPFM assessment was carried out as part of the World Bank-led PEFA assessment from April to December 2019. The assessment covered 2016-2018. The last completed financial year was 2018, the next financial year was 2019, and therefore the last budget submitted to the legislature was 2019.

3. The Ministry of Finance coordinated the PEFA GRPFM assessment on behalf of the government. This effort included collecting data, advising the World Bank on individual indicators, and facilitating meetings between the PEFA assessment team and representatives of the Ministry of Finance. In addition, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) assisted with the provision of required information from other government institutions (service delivery ministries).

4. Review of the assessment report:

• Validation Report draft circulated on January 25, 2020 to the Government of Ukraine and to peer reviewers from the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, World Bank, PEFA Secretariat and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Ukraine; on January 27, 2020 – to the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and on February 25, 2020 – to the UN Women Country Office in Ukraine.

• Invited reviewers and dates when they provided comments: Ministry of Finance of Ukraine – July 14, 2020 and October 30, 2020; Olena Yena (Program Director, Women Lead, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Ukraine) – March 3, 2020; Lewis Hawke (Lead Governance Specialist, Public Sector Governance Global Practice, The World Bank) – February 4, 2020; PEFA Secretariat – 1st review on January 29, 2020 and 2nd review on January 27, 2021; Alexandra Janovskaia (First Secretary, Policy Officer; Economic Reforms – Public Finance Management, the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine) – February 13, 2020; Elisabeth Klatzer (International Gender and Public Expert, the Head of EU GRB Network of Experts, Vienna University of Economics and Business) – February 2, 2020; Dominika Stojanoska (The Head of Office ad interim of the UN Women Country Office in Ukraine) – March 10, 2020.