Since 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has documented human rights violations perpetrated against Crimean residents and specifically Crimean Tatars. These include poor conditions of detention for Crimean residents who are detained in Crimea and are often forcibly transferred to the Russian Federation — in violation of international humanitarian law — to stand trial and serve their prison sentences there. We have documented the arbitrary use of solitary confinement and punishment cells, restriction on family visits and other communication with the outside world, and lack of adequate medical care. We spoke to Diliara Abdullaieva, a Crimean Tartar mother of two detainees, Uzeir Abdullaiev and Teimur Abdullaiev, who were forcibly transferred to the Russian Federation in 2018. This is her story. Tell us about your sons. What were they doing? What were they interested in? My children — Uzeir and Teimur Abdullaiev — grew up in Baku, and then we moved to Crimea, where they began to work as sports coaches. Together they were at the forefront of the launch of the Taekwondo UTF Olympic sport in Crimea. They devoted 20 years to coaching and trained many athletes who later participated in high-level sporting events. What happened on 12 October 2016? Why were your sons detained? On 12 October 2016, my world divided into a ‘before’ and an ‘after’. Masked armed groups surrounded my sons' homes. They broke into their houses and Teimur was immediately laid on the ground, kicked with boots, and handcuffed. They searched everywhere, and forced the small children into a corner with machine guns. The search went on for seven hours, and no one was allowed to enter while it was happening. Teimur was taken out with a sack on his head, dragged into a car and taken to the FSB. A special forces soldier burst into Uzeir’s house, and shouted "Everyone stay where you are!  We are allowed to shoot." Who would they have shot at when there was only my daughter-in-law, my son and four small children in the room? They were not allowed to see lawyers. It was only after three hours that Emil Kurbedinov (lawyer-ed.) could see Teimur, and Uzeir was not able to see a lawyer. On 12 October 2016, five Crimean Tatar men were arrested in Simferopol district in Crimea on charges of affiliation with the Muslim movement ‘Hizb ut-Tahrir’. Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in the Russian Federation, but legal under Ukrainian legislation. The arrests followed a series of house searches carried out on the same day in Simferopol. Later the same day, the FSB stated they had 'eliminated' a Hizb ut-Tahrir cell in Crimea. Diliara’s sons were two of those five.  The next day, there was a court hearing and my sons were placed in a pre-trial detention centre (SIZO). The investigation while they were in the Simferopol SIZO took over two and a half years. When the investigation was over, the case was sent to the military prosecutor's office in Rostov-on-Don. In 2018, the defendants were forcibly transferred to Rostov-on-Don to stand trial in the Severo-Kavkazskiy circuit military court. This constitutes a violation of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the deportation of a protected person outside the occupied territory.  The first judge sent the case of the "Simferopol Five", two of those are my sons, back to the Crimean prosecutor's office… Another judge took the case and sentenced my sons to prison: Uzeir to 13 years, Teimur to 17. On 18 June 2019, the Severo-Kavkazskiy circuit military court found all five defendants guilty as charged. They were sentenced to imprisonment from 12 to 17 years. What do you know about Teimur and Uzeir’s conditions of detention? Teimur has been in prison for five years now. He spent a year and a half of this time in a SHIZO (punishment cell-ed.). Nobody can visit him (while in a punishment cell-ed.), there are restrictions on receiving packages and family visits. Only lawyers are allowed visit him. OHCHR has reported on the systematic use of disciplinary cells by penitentiary authorities in the Russian Federation to punish Crimean detainees for arbitrary reasons. They are often placed in solitary confinement, combined with restrictions on visits and inadequate medical assistance (including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic). Relatives of detainees have voiced concerns that the punishment has adversely impacted the mental health of the detainees. Solitary confinement may only be imposed in exceptional circumstances as a last resort, for as short a time as possible and subject to independent review, and only with the authorization of a competent authority (United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, rules 43(1), 45(1). On 25 May 2021, I had a short four-hour meeting with Teimur. My son looked exhausted, as if he was living in a concentration camp. Compared to last time I saw him, in 2020, he had lost 15 kilograms, and has become thin and hollow-cheeked, had red eyes. A punishment cell (SHIZO) is a small solitary cell in a basement. There is no space to move around, no place to sit, no place to lie down. At 5 a.m. the bedding is taken away, and the iron bunk bed is fastened to the wall until 10 p.m. The solitary cell greatly impacts him, creating great psychological pressure.  It must seem to Teimur that the whole world has forgotten about him, especially as he only receives his mail once every six months. He hasn’t received many of my letters - they have kept him in such a void. Persons deprived of liberty should be allowed to communicate at regular intervals with family and friends through correspondence and by receiving visits. (United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, rule 58. Communication No. 74/1980, Estrella v Uruguay, Views adopted by the Human Rights Committee on 29 March 1983, para. 9.2.) This right is not to be denied for “more than a matter of days”. (Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, principle 15.) I haven’t spoken much about Uzeir, my eldest son. Despite the fact that he is also put in a SHIZO every six weeks, he at least comes out to the general prison, to the barracks. There, he can drink hot tea, eat, and communicate with the other prisoners. And that's why I'm talking more about Teimur. Do you know why your sons are sent to the SHIZO? I received a document about the disciplinary action. It states that he [Teimur] didn’t say hello to the officials who came in, or said hello too quietly; or that one of his buttons was unbuttoned, or something like that. The internal rules of conduct in the penal colonies is written in such a way that it’s impossible not to violate it. International human rights standards recommend that prison authorities only use disciplinary measures on an exceptional basis and only when other methods to resolve disputes cannot maintain proper order. In any case, prison administrations shall ensure proportionality between a disciplinary sanction and the offence for which it is established. (United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, rules 36-39) Do you happen to know where Teimur is being held now? On 9 June 2021, Teimur was transferred to a cell with strict conditions of detention [known under Russian acronym SUS - ed.]. This is a separate cell, outside the penal colony, which is surrounded by fences. There are only 12 beds for 30 people. You cannot lie down or sleep during the day, and if you sit on a bed at the ”wrong” time, you get punished. You are also punished if you don’t sleep after “lights out” [10 PM]. I don’t know how they sleep there, probably in turns, they must be very sleep-deprived. Teimur also showed me the mosque. I asked him if he was ever able to go there. He said: “No, I never had the chance. This is only allowed for those who are being held under the general conditions of detention". However, for Teimur, compared to a SHIZO, the SUS is much better. There, he can communicate with other detainees, he can drink hot tea, eat, have a shower and go for a walk. In the SHIZO, he wasn’t allowed to communicate with other prisoners. If he greeted someone during a walk, his time in the SHIZO was extended. And if the other detainee responded or greeted him, then that one would be placed in the SHIZO as well. And ‘a walk’ means inside, in a similarly-covered cell, only bigger. The sky is not visible there... Do your sons have the opportunity to read books and magazines, or watch TV? I tried to send magazines and newspapers to Teimur, but they were not accepted. Maybe there is a library there, but I didn’t ask him honestly, so I don’t know. There is no television, no radio. Uzeir is allowed to receive five kilos of stationery. I send newspapers for him, magazines (those that are allowed in Russia), crossword puzzles, things like that. How are your sons doing, healthwise? Teimur's health is getting worse. He still suffers from the complications of his COVID-19 infection. His body is dehydrated, his blood pressure is constantly increased - 240 to 110. Doctors only visit the SHIZO when a prisoner has a complaint. In general, people in penal colonies can wait for doctors for months. Basically, they have one treatment for all diseases - paracetamol for pain and fever. But they [her sons, - editor] take medication, I buy them and pass it through the medical unit. Uzeir, my eldest son, has problems with his vascular system. The whole world helped to save his life when he was in the Simferopol SIZO. Now, he lives on the medication that I send every month to him. 8.01 All persons deprived of their liberty retain the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. (ICESCR art. 12 (1)) Authorities should monitor and address health issues of detained persons, even if an individual has not specifically requested medical assistance. (Communication No. 763/1997, Lantsova v Russian Federation, Views adopted by the Human Rights Committee on 26 March 2002, para. 9.2) Sick prisoners, whose treatment cannot be facilitated within the prison, should be transferred to a civilian hospital or specialist prison hospital. (United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, rule 27 (1).) How is your family doing now? I don't know if this can even be called ‘living’. I just exist. I do not give up because I want to obtain my son’s release. All of this is of course a psychological trauma for my grandchildren. They’re being treated by psychologists. These children have seen real terror. They saw their fathers being taken away in handcuffs, they suffered a lot of stress. It is impossible to explain all of this to a child... If you had the opportunity to address the global community, what would you say? I would like to raise the issue of the release of Ukrainian prisoners in Crimea. The issue of prisoners in Donbas is on the agenda in all negotiations. And people detained in Crimea are simply forgotten. I would like this issue to be resolved. We need to talk about this constantly, to shout about this, we cannot be silent.  

Ivanna Levchenko is a second-year student at the Kyiv National University of Economics, a member of the international organization AIESEC, which aims to remove barriers between people and countries. Today, more than half the world’s population is under 30 years of age. Students and youth are the new generations of leaders and changemakers and it's critically important to understand their priorities as we shape the gender equality movement to change the world. Created by UN Women, the HeForShe solidarity movement in Ukraine has launched the HeForShe University Tour. This is a chance to listen and learn from students about the issues and opportunities they see when it comes to achieving gender equality. In the framework of the tour Ukrainian students shares their views on stereotypes and the path to gender equality. In the city where I was raised, a woman does not have the decision-making power in the family and possibilities for self-expression. Luckily, I did not saw firsthand the violence or bullying, but I always understood perfectly well that life will be much harder for me, only because I am a girl. As a student of the graduation class, I launch the project aimed to help single mothers and women who survive different types of violence, including sexual violence. I also participated in student social theatre to highlight the issues of domestic violence and gender inequality. With other volunteers, we visited women in small communities in Kyiv oblast to deliver the clothes, toys, and sweets for their kids and emotionally support them. At the same time, we launched lectures and pieces of training on sex education and the prevention of sexual violence. Inspiration and support of women was the main goal of this work. Inequality has various forms. Economic, gender, racial, social inequality, all lead to discrimination. Sexual violence and the unequal distribution of unpaid housework, including childcare, discrimination at work, remain major obstacles for women. In my opinion, ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls is not the only realization of basic human rights, it is also crucial for the sustainable development of all societies. I am proud, that students and professors at my university could discuss any tough topics and spread the idea of gender equality as one of the Sustainable Development Goals. There is also GENIUS (Gender Initiative for University and Society) project team works in the university. GENIUS implements European practices of gender policy and works for deep structural changes in the Kyiv National University of Economics by the dissemination of information about the gender equality among students and professors.

Women who have long since been fighting for their rights, are frequently forced to get on average 21% less pay than men performing work of equal value. Sometimes, they are not even hired for funny reasons. However, not only they are subjected to discrimination in terms of job placement. Young professionals and persons with disabilities are also unable to find a job because of backward views and approaches. In an interview to the ICTV Facts, Sergiy Savchuk, the National Coordinator of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Ukraine, told about discrimination at the labour market and necessary changes to eliminate it. What is a pay gap between men and women in Ukraine? What standard should we strive for? - The pay gap between men and women is 21% on average. It exists everywhere. There is no country where it would not be present. If we talk about the EU, it’s about 14%. That is, we have something to strive for. We see that a 7% decrease in the gap is a short-term plan. A final aim, of course, is a zero gap, that being an overarching objective requiring a lot of effort and time. Prime causes of the pay gap vary. In Ukraine, this is about a pay gap between women and men not for work equally performed but for work of equal value. It’s a very important feature, because it’s difficult to compare work when we have solely male and solely female sectors. Ensuring equal remuneration for work of equal value is one of the fundamental principles in the world of work. In support of the Convention No. 100, also ratified by Ukraine, the ILO, in cooperation with the UN Women and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), have launched the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) initiative, meaning the international coalition for equal labour remuneration. It's an international club where governments, trade unions, employers, companies, and civil society organizations declaring and making their contribution to narrowing of the pay gap are invited. Ukraine became the second country after Canada to have joined the EPIC not only with its government but also with its employer trade unions. It’s important because to reduce a pay gap one needs to revise the national legislation and create an environment that would promote narrowing of the gap at the legislative level. However, tremendous work must be done by employers and trade unions because it’s about specific jobs, a collective bargaining tool where they would discuss additional measures to reduce such gaps, and implement job assessment in terms of equal remuneration. That is, one should work both at the national level and expand the practice to cover the enterprise level. Is there any sense to make all sectors tend to be equally male and female ones? - One of the measures likely to help narrow the pay gap between women and men is overcoming horizontal gender occupational segregation. Only four or five years ago, the Ministry of Health order prohibiting employment of women in more than 400 occupations was reversed. The doors to various occupations had been closed to women for their sex only. It is believed to be a manifestation of discrimination. Nobody may ban a woman from working if she is qualified and willing to work in a certain job. I think that reversal of the MOH order was a tectonic shift. The Ministry of Defence has also revised its provisions concerning women’s participation in the Armed Forces. And now we see a great number of women in the Ministry of Defence; in law enforcement bodies, the number of women is also growing because barriers have been removed. As regards civilian professions, it seems to me that the MOH order reversal alone is too little although it was a very important step. Educational institutions need to adapt to the changes and actively encourage the sex having lower representation in a profession. The education sector should be ready to admit, for example, girls willing to work in male professions. Not just to write down that they are encouraged but to provide appropriate conditions. Accordingly, to create a non-discriminatory environment. This should also be introduced, though being a long way. The issue of ageism is rather acute in Ukraine. That is, the “ceiling” for workers is somewhere about 35 years. After attainment of that age, employers are usually reluctant to employ people. Can this be combatted somehow? - The right to non-discrimination is a fundamental human right in the world of work. Everything not pertaining to my competences, talents or experience should not be considered when examining my application for a certain job. An employer needs not a man or woman of some age. An employer needs an individual able to do some or other job in the best way. The right to non-discrimination is present in the ILO Convention No. 111 ratified by Ukraine. It is essential that Ukraine observe it not only at the level of its legislation or the State Employment Service but also at the level of every single employer submitting a job advertisement. Earlier, there was a great deal of vacancies stating that they needed, for example, a man aged between 25 and 35, non-married, etc. Five or six discrimination grounds could be found in one advertisement. Why should that be a man, non-married, and of that age? There is also indirect discrimination. For example, a worker at least 180 cm tall is required. They don’t even mention sex or age. Clearly, a great part of potential applicants for that vacancy is cut off because women are usually a little shorter than men. We held a major international conference to consider discrimination in job advertisements. In our country (in Ukraine, - Ed.), the experts engaged in this field are rather well aware of what discrimination is. However, when there is no effective supervision, when the labour inspectorate does not have enough powers to consider such cases and respond to them, they cannot be avoided. Ageism is just one of the aspects in discrimination in the world of work. It can also be discrimination against women (sex-based discrimination – Ed.) or against women who have just returned after a maternity leave. It can be a woman of the age in which an employer can reject her application, thinking that she is likely to become pregnant. It can be a person representing a certain vulnerable group, a HIV-positive person. In such a case, it translates into multiple discrimination – when a person is not hired because of a number of parameters which by no means concern the person’s qualification for doing some or other job. It’s very harmful not only to the employer who narrows down the pool of applicants to a minimum but also to the labour market generally. Such phenomena need to be combatted. There has been a case recently where a woman was denied (employment – Ed.) because she is Ukrainian-speaking. I don’t know how that story ended but the HR specialist who refused to hire her on the ground of language has been dismissed. However, have you heard that such cases were submitted to court? We are aware of discrimination existing but we see only few real cases which could be addressed, summarized, and analyzed. What is the situation concerning recent graduates? They are also rejected during job search quite often. - Actually it’s a rather complex problem where one must not accuse only one party. First of all, the education sector develops in parallel with the labour market. Much has often been said about specialists being produced in our country who are not in demand already at the stage when a prospective student enters a higher educational institution. For example, it has been said that the Ukrainian labour market is not able to absorb such a quantity of specialists in that field. However, the education sector continues to train them. Many graduates want to get a better job, so to speak, a white-collar rather than blue-collar job. Few young people see themselves in vocational education. Besides, the vocational education is substantially detached from the labour market needs. Employers even resort to such measures as supporting vocational and higher education institutions to train specialists for themselves. The Federation of Employers has been working quite actively in this field. The Confederation of Employers has also been raising the issue of qualification for the labour market needs all the time. Another large cluster of problems. To solve it, one needs to work with young people, strengthen vocational guidance, and tell about the professions which will be in demand. We know that entire occupational clusters are likely to disappear in the next 10 or 15 years due to technological progress. Young people should be focused on a specialty that will bring them professional satisfaction and certain income so that they, having got a degree, don’t come to the employment service next day to register as unemployed. Now back to the discrimination theme. Quite often, one doesn’t want to hire a young individual because the person has no experience. Theoretical knowledge must be reinforced by practical knowledge so that a new graduate could work from the very first day. Dual education – where theory is combined with practice, and a student spends increasingly more time at an enterprise with every passing year – is the approach that enables saving huge funds and giving important knowledge. Our legislation provides for incentivization of employers to hire persons with disabilities but such cases are very rare in our country. What incentives are required to engage such persons in work? - The “we don’t need persons with disabilities” stance is an absolute manifestation of discrimination. This issue should be addressed in a comprehensive way. The education system must be constructed in a way to be inclusive. Unlocking the full potential of each man and woman also applies to persons with disabilities. In Ukraine, that work was for some time carried out by means of establishing professional rehabilitation centres for persons with disabilities which operated as educational institutions with modular programmes. It’s perhaps an outdated approach from the present day viewpoint, which should be abandoned. How can we talk about inclusion when we single them out and work with them separately already during their vocational training period? Barrierlessness should be created throughout the education system so that persons with disabilities have the right to acquire a profession on equal terms with all other people. That is, a certain path needs to be travelled yet to ensure that not only the Ukraine University which has done quite a lot in the inclusiveness domain but also all other educational institutions are accessible to persons with disabilities. Employment of persons with disabilities is an important topic as well. There are examples for us to follow among international companies. For instance, when you come to supermarkets you can see people having hearing or speech impairments, they may not hear you but they do their job the same as anyone else. And they do it to a high standard. It's a striking example showing that it’s possible and normal, that it’s the way it should be. These people must not be isolated, they must be included in the life of society. Labour is the instrument of self-fulfilment that makes them productive and happy members of society because they are not isolated. There are many small enterprises which perhaps would like to employ persons with disabilities. However, they are quite cautious about that, not knowing how to approach that. The role of the state is very significant in this process. It should help employers adapt workplaces. Not only ramps but ergonomic furniture are meant. Creation of a climate is the most important point. It’s what can promote unlocking the potential of an individual or alienate them – that is, the employer hires the person but other workers don’t accept him or her. In that direction, the State Employment Service rearranges its activity following European best examples, and we help it do that within the framework of our project financed by the Danish government. With our assistance, the service has reformatted its activity to divide its staff into career counsellors. One career counsellor helps a jobseeker. That is, a person comes to the employment service, a file is made up for them, and a service employee manages the case up to job placement. There are counsellors for employers who help the latter find the best candidate. The third category of career counsellors are specialized counsellors. A specialized counsellor helps jobseekers facing certain barriers or difficulties in job placement. This is the category that persons with disabilities fall into. It’s a very broad and difficult area of work that we support in the State Employment Service. I would like to say that certain progress has been achieved in that. Changes have occurred in structural terms, we have elaborated and been implementing the career counsellors function. We have delivered training to the former two counsellor categories, and are going to train specialized career counsellors in autumn to improve quality of services they provide, in particular to persons with disabilities. How considerable is the problem of so-called staff burn-out? Is this an issue solely within the pandemic context? - I don’t think it can be viewed solely within the pandemic context. It think the pandemic has just aggravated the issue. The professional stress problem has always been rather important. When we were presenting a manual on prevention of work-related stress, we expected 25 or 30 participants but more than 100 participants registered, representing institutions and organizations from different regions of Ukraine and economic sectors. To me, such a considerable interest is the best evidence of the problem being serious enough. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that many employers also take care of these matters. They underlined two main theses: care for a worker and care for an enterprise. Stress adversely affects labour productivity – therefore, the enterprise’s economic results. We talked about discrimination that also has an impact on stress. An unhealthy working environment results in stress. Stress in turn is connected with labour productivity. All these are interrelated concepts, and they should be addressed in a holistic way. The original interview is published in the ICTV Facts at https://fakty.com.ua/ua/ukraine/suspilstvo/20210730-dyskryminatsiya-stres-ta- modernizatsiya-osvity-savchuk-pro-ukrayinskyj-rynok-pratsi  

The Government of Ukraine updated its Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent by 2030 from the 1990 levels. Ukraine’s previous commitment was to reduce emisions by only 40 percent.   In commenting on the announcement, Roman Abramovsky, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, said climate change has become one of the world's most acute problems. “In the last few years alone,” he noted, “the number of extreme weather events in Ukraine and around the world has increased, causing deaths and significant economic losses. Considering this, the approach of business as usual is the most dangerous. Lack of action today can have catastrophic consequences tomorrow.” UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Manal Fouani applauded Ukraine’s move, echoing the Minister’s opinion that if the world fails to take action now, the economic losses could escalate to hundreds of times the amount of funds needed to gradually reduce emissions. “Therefore,” she said, “Ukraine’s announcement serves as a model for other countries seeking to ramp up their own contributions to the tremendous challenge of confronting this climate crisis collectively.” Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are national plans, designed by each signatory to the Paris Agreement to address the climate change challenge. Every five years, countries need to review and enhance the level of ambition reflected in those national climate action plans to ensure that the global average temperature will not rise above 2°C, with aims to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. In Ukraine, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over the next ten years will be achieved through a number of complex solutions, including: ·       Modernizing and upgrading energy infrastructure and industrial enterprises; ·       Developing renewable energy sources;  Increasing share of renewable energy in total energy consumption; ·       Introducing energy efficiency measures in more sectors of the economy; ·       Promoting thermal modernization of buildings; ·       Ramping up organic agriculture and resource-efficient agricultural practices; ·       Promoting use of electric vehicles and upgrading transport fleets, ·       Introducing more efficient waste management; ·       Accelerating reforestation schemes and reforming forest management. The updated Nationally Determined Contribution was adopted after studying results of the modelling developed by a group of Ukrainian and international experts. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided support to the Government of Ukraine through improving the national greenhouse gas inventories, and conducting a gender analysis of the national climate policy perspectives. Under the EU/UNDP EU4Climate Project, UNDP is currently assisting the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources in developing the NDC Roadmap and Financial strategy, alongside an Investment Plan that will run until 2030 to enable successful implementation of the revised NDC. For reference The EU4Climate initiative, implemented by UNDP with the financial support of the European Union, contributes to the mitigation of consequences and adaptation, the development of a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement. The project aims to help six Eastern Partnership countries take measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change to achieve greenhouse gas reductions and manage the effects of climate change. The Climate Promise initiative, implemented by UNDP, aims to support global, transformational climate action by supporting countries to enhance their NDCs in 2020 and beyond. The initiative is being delivered in over 119 countries – making it the world’s largest support offer of this kind. UNDP’s Climate Promise is supported by Germany, Sweden, EU, Italy, Spain and other core contributors. For more information, please contact: Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Communications Team Leader at Yuliia.Samus@undp.org, +380971391475