On December 18th, 2018 the Club of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine hosted an official awards ceremony for the finalists of the Best Local Self-Government Practices in 2018 competition. The competition was organized by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine under the auspices of the Ministry’s permanent partner, the Council of Europe, as part of the program “Decentralization and Reform of Local Self-governance in Ukraine”.

For two consecutive years now, PLEDDG Project has been supporting the Ukrainian Women’s Congress, a landmark nationwide event that brings together the most active women and men from various areas of public life – politicians, businesspersons, representatives of the non-governmental sector, the media, etc., – to unite them around the idea of gender equality as a basic element of sustainable development of Ukraine as a state. The Congress’s initiator and organizer is the Interfactional Deputy Association “Equal Opportunities” co-chaired by Ms. Aliona Babak (Samopomich), Ms. Svitlana Voitsekhovska (Narodnyi Front), Ms. Maria Ionova (BPP), and Ms. Olena Kondratiuk (Batkivschyna).

On December 6th, 2018, the First All-Ukrainian Forum of Signatory Cities to European Charter for Equality of Women and Men (Charter) took place in the framework of PLEDDG Project. The aim of the Forum was to provide cities with methodological support in joining the Charter, as well as help the participants gain an insight into implementation practices and еру monitoring of implementation measures.

On November 22-23rd, PLEDDG held the 2nd International Conference on Inclusive Business Development. The event became a follow-up to the first inclusive business development conference that took place in November 2017. The objective of the Second International Conference on Inclusive Business Development was to increase awareness of representatives from Ukrainian cities of new approaches to inclusive business development through the analysis of successful Ukrainian and international cases of innovations and investments.

PLEDDG activity focuses on supporting social entrepreneurship and inclusive development in Ukraine, with a special emphasis on including women in economic development. On October 9-18, 2018, a study tour to Canada took place, aimed at introducing representatives of PLEDDG partner cities to Canadian experiences of supporting social entrepreneurship and the start up and growth of women-led businesses.

PLEDDG Project organized a study tour on women entrepreneurship for representatives from Project partner cities from Poltava, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zaporizhia regions, the tour taking place on September 19-21, 2018. In the course of the study tour, participants learned about Vinnytsia’s women entrepreneurship best practices and received valuable knowledge and useful skills related to women entrepreneurship as well as discovered what role therein is played by local authorities, NGOs, and business associations.