57 
ABSTRACT
The study examines how the specifics of Ukrainian lawmaking and the practices of regulatory implementation impact achieving state policy goals. The subject of the analysis is the National Action Plan for the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security for the period until 2025. Based on this, the study outlines the prospects for developing and implementing a Ukrainian counterpart to the Swedish Comprehensive Defence concept. Ensuring collective resilience during crises requires a formal legal framework and cooperation within the “government–civil society–business” triad; therefore, the constraints and enablers identified in this report regarding the current policy document will be instrumental in building a comprehensive defence system.
Keywords: comprehensive defence; lawmaking; Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda; state program; local self-government bodies; 1325 coalition.
CONTENTS
RESEARCH TEAM
CONTENTS
ACRONYMS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
Methodology
Research Context
THE REALITIES OF DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATIVE ACTS AND STATE PROGRAMS: THE CASE OF NAP 1325 ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
Initiation and Preparation
Development and Approval
Implementation
Oversight, Monitoring, and Evaluation
CONCLUSIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Appendix A. The Cycle of Legislative Adoption and Implementation in Ukraine
Appendix B. The Development and Implementation Cycle of State Policy Documents
Appendix C. Case Study: The 1325 Zakarpattiya Coalition and Budget Allocation for the Regional 1325 Action Plan
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This study is dedicated to assessing the capacity to develop and implement cross-cutting inter-agency programming documents (using NAP 1325 Women, Peace, and Security as a case study) within the framework of the Comprehensive Defence concept. The objective of the study is to identify constraints and successful implementation practices of such documents, to examine the decision-making system within government authorities, and to explore the role of the local level.
Overall, the study confirmed that prior to the full-scale invasion, Ukraine had made significant progress in the field of gender equality. At the same time, numerous barriers to program implementation at the local level were identified. For instance, the analysis shows that state policies (including NAP 1325) encounter obstacles during their implementation at the local level. The study also established the critical role of funding: programs with clearly allocated resources have a higher chance of effective implementation, whereas a lack of funding leads to a formalistic approach. These generalized findings have defined the primary thematic areas (local barriers, the role of resources, and engagement with civil society) for further in-depth analysis.
The study encompasses the following key areas:
Legislative and conceptual foundations, including an analysis of Sweden’s Comprehensive Defence concept (objectives, priorities, and coordination bodies) and a comparison with Ukrainian strategies. Specifically, the study examines how Ukraine’s National Security Strategy articulates societal involvement in defence and how NAP 1325 complements this approach by seeking to ensure the equal participation of women and men in security and conflict response.
The development and approval process of NAP 1325. The study highlights the history of the initiative (the role of women's CSOs and international organisations), the selection of the coordinating body, and an analysis of the drafting and reconciliation process (specifically, donor involvement and the availability of data and indicators).
Engagement of stakeholders from civil society, local authorities, the private sector, and the security and defence sector in the development and implementation of the document. The study examines communication channels between CSOs, local self-government bodies (LSGs), the central government, and the community, as well as the role of the Ukrainian-Swedish experience in networking and building coalitions (e.g., the "1325 Zakarpattia" Coalition). It was established that, in practice, community engagement remains limited. Established practice relies on a "top-down" approach to task-setting, characterized by a lack of teamwork oriented toward socially beneficial outcomes; a formalistic approach dominates the implementation of NAP 1325 at the local level.
Plan Localization and Implementation. The study describes the key stages: the development of Regional Action Plans (which was mandatory for all regions) and implementation at the community level (carried out on a voluntary basis). Specifically, the analysis reveals that Regional Action Plans (RAPs) 1325 were frequently developed without genuine adaptation to regional specificities. Numerous barriers to the implementation of RAPs 1325 were identified: bureaucracy (centralized management), local staffing shortages, a lack of strategic planning within communities, inter-departmental coordination issues, funding deficits, overlapping functions between programs, and weak communication.
A focus on vulnerable groups and gender. The study places increased emphasis on the target groups of NAP 1325 (including women, IDPs, veterans, and others). It was established that while addressing these groups is the primary goal of NAP 1325, local implementation is often reduced to formal activities and remains constrained by insufficient planning and funding.
The Role of Finance and Resources. The study evaluates the impact of budgetary provision on implementation effectiveness. In particular, experts noted that earmarked funding for NAP 1325 activities (at either the national or local level) significantly increases the probability of their successful implementation.
Swedish Experience: Lessons for Ukraine. The study compares Ukrainian practices with the Swedish experience (specifically regarding gender equality trajectories and the roles of non-governmental organisations in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325).
The analysis of the study results provides a basis for the following general conclusions. Firstly, state policies such as NAP 1325 face numerous barriers when implemented at the local level. It is precisely local factors — such as a lack of resources, bureaucratic hurdles, and low motivation among implementers — that create the greatest difficulties for program execution. Secondly, the study confirms that the availability of budget funds significantly enhances the quality of plan implementation: policy documents with clearly defined funding have substantially higher chances of success than those left unfunded. Thirdly, the involvement of civil society organisations (particularly women’s groups) can partially offset resource constraints and facilitate the implementation of inter-agency documents. In practice, however, local authorities often view cooperation with CSOs as an additional burden rather than a collaborative solution.
Finally, the study demonstrated that the traditional administrative culture within state and local government bodies — inherited from Soviet-era approaches — complicates the implementation of cross-cutting strategies. In conclusion, gender mainstreaming and its related initiatives (such as NAP 1325) continue to be treated as low-priority issues.
Thus, the study demonstrates that for the successful localisation of the Comprehensive Defence concept through a gender-responsive lens, it is essential to strengthen financial and human resources, foster inter-agency cooperation, actively engage communities and the private sector in practical implementation, and elevate the priority of gender issues within the security system.
The research was conducted by the CSO "Expert Resource Gender in Detail" as part of the project “Gender Mainstreaming in the Context of Comprehensive Defence”, funded by the grant “Best Practices of the Swedish Gender Approach as a Tool for Empowering Ukrainian Women to Implement Sustainable Reforms and Promote Ukraine’s European Integration”, with financial support from the Swedish Institute and in partnership with the Swedish International Liberal Centre.
The project draws on gender mainstreaming practices within Sweden’s comprehensive defence system and represents the first attempt in the Ukrainian context to explore the possibilities of implementing a Swedish-style comprehensive defence strategy in Ukraine while simultaneously integrating a gender perspective across key sectors, including the economy, care work, the armed forces, civil defence, governance, information policy, and the volunteer movement.
The project’s concept author and project lead is Tamara Zlobina, PhD in Philosophy and Head of the CSO "Expert Resource Gender in Detail".
Project mentors and reviewers of the analytical reports:
Olena Strelnyk, Doctor of Sociological Sciences
Hanna Hrytsenko, Gender Expert
Project managers: Alyona Hruzina, Halyna Repetska
