Woman in the diplomatic service: history, problems and prospects
Authors: Okladnaya Marina , Menkova Liliya 
Published: January 2021

Problem setting. Today, one of the priorities of the European policy direction is the effective implementation of such a principle as gender equality. Ensuring and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in socially important decisions, equal opportunities for them to combine professional and family responsibilities, preventing gender-based violence, and ensuring that women have a real opportunity to participate in diplomacy, including embracing high-level positions are one of the most important goals that modern democracies must fully achieve.

Analysis of resent researches and publications. The topic of gender equality in their works was considered by such scholars as: O. Zakharova, T. Martsenyuk, V. Kobylyatska, E. Makarenko, G. Rudenko, T. Zonova, S. Khabibullina and others, but the current state of women’s participation in the diplomatic life of Ukraine scientists have considered superficially.

Target of research. The purpose of this article is to consider the historical development of the principle of gender equality of women in relation to their participation in the diplomatic life of states, as well as to determine the current state and problems of compliance with this principle in Ukraine and identify ways to solve them.

Article’s main body. Ukraine has ratified the main international instruments on equal rights and opportunities for men and women, namely the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and acceded to the UN Millennium Declaration and committed itself to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Defining for itself the provision and implementation of gender equality as one of the priorities of public policy. At the national level, gender equality is guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine, the Labor Code of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men”, the State Program for Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men until 2016 and other legislation. The prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sex was also included in the new law on civil service. However, the statistics and realities of our state say otherwise, as the number of women diplomats in high positions differs significantly from the number of men who hold them. The main reasons for this situation are traditional gender stereotypes, cultural customs, insufficient attention of foreign policy institutions to ensure gender equality and more. Of course, our state needs a modern revision and an effective legislative and practical solution to this issue. In this article, the authors review the historical development of the establishment and implementation of the principle of gender equality in different countries, namely the direct participation of women and their high positions in the performance of diplomatic functions in the diplomatic service; the opinions of scholars who express the positive impact of women’s participation in the diplomatic sphere, as well as the arguments of those who do not agree with this position; the current state of the quantitative indicator of women in positions in diplomatic missions of Ukraine, including in high positions, is studied; the modern directions of our state concerning the effective decision of a gender problem and full realization of this principle are analyzed; Obstacles that affect the implementation of a balanced gender policy in Ukraine are identified and some ways to solve them are suggested.

Conclusions and prospects for the development. The authors came to the conclusion that the involvement of as many women as possible in the diplomatic service of Ukraine will ensure the effective implementation of gender equality and will indicate real reforms in the diplomatic sphere. Stereotypes about women’s weakness and vulnerability must be a thing of the past, as history has repeatedly shown strong women capable of changing their own country or even world trends. Therefore, for our country, the active encouragement of women to diplomatic work will only demonstrate the desire of a democratic state to seek new and innovative in this area. It is with the active participation of women in all world processes, including in diplomatic life, that we will be able to guarantee equality in society, peace and cohesion in different countries of the world.