PPMI completed its support to ILO Ukraine on the expansion of childcare services in the country.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has brought many men to the frontlines and a large share of the population fled abroad. This has placed significant pressure on the country's economic development, due to increasing labour shortages. It is estimated that Ukraine will need to rely significantly on labour migrants in the upcoming years, to fulfil its labour needs and to support its economic growth.
Equal opportunities, and the creation of suitable working environments for women is crucial to facilitate mothers' return to the labour market, which subsequently supports Ukraine's economic recovery. Therefore, women have an important role to play in post-war recovery. To create such opportunities for women, the ILO is exploring models to expand childcare for children aged 0-3: An age group for whom current childcare supply is insufficient.
PPMI conducted an assessment of the flexibility of the current legal system of Ukraine to enable the introduction of alternative childcare models, such as work-based childcare. Based on the Ukrainian legal context, we assessed which good practices from other post-Soviet EU member states could be adopted in Ukraine as well.
As part of the project, we had the pleasure to welcome a Ukrainian and Moldovan delegation in Vilnius on a study visit, where we invited Estonian and Czech experts as well. During the visit, we explored different models that could be useful for Ukraine, and visited childcare providers to see how they work in practice.
