Local councils of oblast centers comprise 3,181 members, 2,621 men (82%) and 558 women (18%). When comparing this data with membership of the Verkhovna Rada, we get similar figures. Thus, 80% of MPs in Ukrainian Parliament are men and 20% - women. These are monitoring results from Civil Network OPORA, which covered 52 city and oblast councils as of April 2020.
Around 640 rotations in all regional councils and city councils of oblast centers of Ukraine have actually had no impact on representation of women and men in councils.
The following oblasts have the largest percentage of women among council members: Donetsk oblast - 35.3%, Luhansk oblast (Sievierodonetsk City Council) - 33.3% and Dnipropetrovsk oblast - 22%. Oblasts with the smallest representation are as follows: Zhytomyr - 12.4%, Cherkasy - 10.5% and Zakarpattia - 10%.
The following local councils have the biggest number of women: Mariupol - 35.8%, Kramatorsk - 34.4%, Berdiansk - 34.3% and Sievierodonetsk - 33.3%. Councils that have the smallest number of women are as follows: Cherkasy City Council - 10%, Bila Tserkva City Council, Zhytomyr Oblast Council, Ivano-Frankivsk City Council, Odesa Oblast Council - 9.5% each and Uzhhorod City Council - only 8.3%
Most women among parties that are represented in local councils by over 100 members, are from the Samopomich - 28% and the Opposition Bloc - 25.2%. Factions with the lowest women representation are as follows: Batkivshchyna - 14.5%, Svoboda - 13.6%, European Solidarity - 12.4%, and Vidrodzhennia - 11.1%.
It should be mentioned that the following factions have the biggest number of women MPsin absolute numbers, not as a percentage: Opposition Bloc - 79, European Solidarity - 67, and non-faction - 65. It is interesting that rotations in factions had the strongest impact on gender balance among non-faction MPs. Women representation among non-faction MPs has increased from 10% to 19.4%.
Civil Network OPORA is realizing an informational and monitoring project, aimed to raise awareness of citizens about activities of political parties, network of their cells and membership, whether they use inter-party democracy instruments, and how they keep contact with the voters. The monitoring covers all oblast centers of Ukraine, as well as the cities of Bila Tserkva, Berdiansk, Kremenchuk, Kamianske and Mariupol.