On a Saturday morning in early October, 145 youth ran through the streets of Simferopol, Ukraine on a mission to combat gender stereotypes while engaging in MATRIX: ReGENDERation, a role-playing quest based on the film The Matrix. Muskie alumnus Maksym Klyuchar observed as youth completed the day-long quest that he helped to organize. A spring 2011 graduate of The University of Texas at Brownsville, Klyuchar is now a Local Expert/Coordinator in Crimea for the European Union-United Nations Development Program Equal Opportunities and Women’s Rights Programme (UNDP EOWRP).
Events like MATRIX: ReGENDERation promote gender equality in the local Ukrainian community, a goal that Klyuchar emphasizes when he speaks about his work. “Ukrainian society as a whole is still choosing between the familiar patriarchal values and the new values of equality of opportunity, which – if adopted step by step by each next generation – will become a cornerstone for a more egalitarian society,” said Klyuchar.
Klyuchar connects his interest in gender issues to his Muskie internship at the UN Information Center (UNIC) in Washington, DC. “It was [at the ‘Women Deliver’ conference] that I heard the UNDP Director, Helen Clark, speak alongside the now leader of UN Women and former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet. I attended multiple round tables and presentations related to maternal and child health, including presentations led by Melane Verveer, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. I think that my experience in the summer of 2010 in Washington has proven to be extremely helpful for my present career.”
When speaking about the future of gender equality in Ukraine, Klyuchar is resolutely optimistic. “[Benefits of UNDP EOWRP] will be seen by those who have been able to successfully launch a career or to better synchronize work and family life, by those entrepreneurs, who are benefitting from unique and diverse women’s talents, and by the economy as a whole, when we finally recognize that the goal of a career woman who can bring up her children and a career man, who has more time to stay at home with his family, is reachable in the long run.”
The youth of Ukraine are already benefiting from Klyuchar’s experience in the US and his expertise in gender. Through role-playing assignments as visitors from a world of equality, youth participants in MATRIX: ReGENDERation learned to recognize and combat gender stereotypes, ultimately becoming better prepared to advocate for values of equality in Ukrainian society.
The Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, US Department of State, and administered by IREX.
On a Saturday morning in early October, 145 youth ran through the streets of Simferopol, Ukraine on a mission to combat gender stereotypes while engaging in MATRIX: ReGENDERation, a role-playing quest based on the film The Matrix. Muskie alumnus Maksym Klyuchar observed as youth completed the day-long quest that he helped to organize. A spring 2011 graduate of The University of Texas at Brownsville, Klyuchar is now a Local Expert/Coordinator in Crimea for the European Union-United Nations Development Program Equal Opportunities and Women’s Rights Programme (UNDP EOWRP).
Events like MATRIX: ReGENDERation promote gender equality in the local Ukrainian community, a goal that Klyuchar emphasizes when he speaks about his work. “Ukrainian society as a whole is still choosing between the familiar patriarchal values and the new values of equality of opportunity, which – if adopted step by step by each next generation – will become a cornerstone for a more egalitarian society,” said Klyuchar.
Klyuchar connects his interest in gender issues to his Muskie internship at the UN Information Center (UNIC) in Washington, DC. “It was [at the ‘Women Deliver’ conference] that I heard the UNDP Director, Helen Clark, speak alongside the now leader of UN Women and former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet. I attended multiple round tables and presentations related to maternal and child health, including presentations led by Melane Verveer, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. I think that my experience in the summer of 2010 in Washington has proven to be extremely helpful for my present career.”
When speaking about the future of gender equality in Ukraine, Klyuchar is resolutely optimistic. “[Benefits of UNDP EOWRP] will be seen by those who have been able to successfully launch a career or to better synchronize work and family life, by those entrepreneurs, who are benefitting from unique and diverse women’s talents, and by the economy as a whole, when we finally recognize that the goal of a career woman who can bring up her children and a career man, who has more time to stay at home with his family, is reachable in the long run.”
The youth of Ukraine are already benefiting from Klyuchar’s experience in the US and his expertise in gender. Through role-playing assignments as visitors from a world of equality, youth participants in MATRIX: ReGENDERation learned to recognize and combat gender stereotypes, ultimately becoming better prepared to advocate for values of equality in Ukrainian society.
The Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, US Department of State, and administered by IREXOn a Saturday morning in early October, 145 youth ran through the streets of Simferopol, Ukraine on a mission to combat gender stereotypes while engaging in MATRIX: ReGENDERation, a role-playing quest based on the film The Matrix. Muskie alumnus Maksym Klyuchar observed as youth completed the day-long quest that he helped to organize. A spring 2011 graduate of The University of Texas at Brownsville, Klyuchar is now a Local Expert/Coordinator in Crimea for the European Union-United Nations Development Program Equal Opportunities and Women’s Rights Programme (UNDP EOWRP).
On a Saturday morning in early October, 145 youth ran through the streets of Simferopol, Ukraine on a mission to combat gender stereotypes while engaging in MATRIX: ReGENDERation, a role-playing quest based on the film The Matrix. Muskie alumnus Maksym Klyuchar observed as youth completed the day-long quest that he helped to organize. A spring 2011 graduate of The University of Texas at Brownsville , Klyuchar is now a Local Expert/Coordinator in Crimea for the European Union-United Nations Development Program Equal Opportunities and Women’s Rights Programme (UNDP EOWRP).
Events like MATRIX: ReGENDERation promote gender equality in the local Ukrainian community, a goal that
Klyuchar emphasizes when he speaks about his work. “Ukrainian society as a whole is still choosing between the familiar patriarchal values and the new values of equality of opportunity, which – if adopted step by step by each next generation – will become a cornerstone for a more egalitarian society,” said Klyuchar.
Klyuchar connects his interest in gender issues to his Muskie internship at the UN Information Center (UNIC) in Washington, DC. “It was [at the ‘Women Deliver’ conference] that I heard the UNDP Director, Helen Clark, speak alongside the now leader of UN Women and former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet. I attended multiple round tables and presentations related to maternal and child health, including presentations led by Melane Verveer, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. I think that my experience in the summer of 2010 in Washington has proven to be extremely helpful for my present career.”
When speaking about the future of gender equality in Ukraine, Klyuchar is resolutely optimistic. “[Benefits of UNDP EOWRP] will be seen by those who have been able to successfully launch a career or to better synchronize work and family life, by those entrepreneurs, who are benefitting from unique and diverse women’s talents, and by the economy as a whole, when we finally recognize that the goal of a career woman who can bring up her children and a career man, who has more time to stay at home with his family, is reachable in the long run.”
The youth of Ukraine are already benefiting from Klyuchar’s experience in the US and his expertise in gender. Through role-playing assignments as visitors from a world of equality, youth participants in MATRIX: ReGENDERation learned to recognize and combat gender stereotypes, ultimately becoming better prepared to advocate for values of equality in Ukrainian society.
The Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, US Department of State , and administered by IREX.
Publication Date:
November 2, 2011
