Eurozone GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023 was unchanged from the previous three months, according to final data from the European Union’s statistics office (Eurostat).
In annual terms, the eurozone economy grew by 0.1%.
The dynamics of both indicators coincided with the previously announced data and expectations of experts surveyed by Trading Economics. For comparison, in the third quarter, the eurozone GDP declined by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter and grew by 0.1% in annual terms.
Consumer spending in October-December rose 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, government spending rose 0.6% and business investment rose 1%. The volume of exports remained unchanged, imports – increased by 0.6%.
The eurozone economy grew by 0.4% for the whole of 2023, according to the final Eurostat data. Thus, the rate of upturn slowed significantly from 3.4% in 2022.
The European Union’s GDP in the fourth quarter was unchanged from the previous three months and grew by 0.2% in annualized terms. At the same time, the volume of the EU economy for 2023 increased by 0.4% after an increase of 3.4% a year earlier (i.e. the dynamics of both indicators coincided with changes in GDP of the euro area).
Earlier, the information and analytical center Experts Club detailed the macroeconomic situation in Ukraine and in the world – as follows
INFLUENCE TALKS FORUM, a forum of top influencers, will be held at Stereo Plaza. To ensure that the conference is of high quality and useful, the project creators decided to postpone the event and take more time for thorough preparation. So, on March 10, everyone will be able to meet with top influencers, hear interesting success stories, and make new acquaintances. The event will be organized by Kristina Golovinova and Karina Tsyganok, who have repeatedly gathered speakers to talk about the digital world.
The organizers of the INFLUENCE TALKS FORUM were the first to popularize Ukrainian bloggers, experts, and the digital sphere in general during the full-scale invasion. They have already organized more than one successful forum that brought together ambitious and motivated professionals.
Influence Talks Forum aims to take the Ukrainian market to a new level. This is the first event of this scale in Ukraine, which will bring together 2000 people to learn from the experience of the top influencers of our country. Today, influencers have more influence and an important mission than ever before, as they motivate the development of the country and popularize the Ukrainian digital sphere by their example.
“We understand that the digital sphere is a large segment that will create jobs for young people, inspire them to stay in Ukraine and try their hand at it. That’s why we are creating a forum so that people can learn from the speakers’ experience and get inspired,” say the organizers of Influence Talks Forum.
The event will also be held to support fundraising for the hospital. The Charitable Foundation for Reconstruction and Development of Ukraine is a regular partner of the event.
The media partners are the Experts Club think tank and the Open4business portal.
On March 6, Kyiv hosted the fifth anniversary award ceremony of the annual Women in Arts award. The Resistance award, which UN Women in Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute recognize the achievements of women in the field of culture and art, and from 2023, their contribution to bringing Ukraine’s victory over the aggressor country Russia closer. The event was supported by the Governments of Sweden and Japan, as well as the United Nations Women’s Fund for Peace and Humanitarian Assistance.
The names of the winners of the Women in Arts. The Resistance 2024:
Women in the Visual Arts – Kateryna Buchatska
Women in Music – Jamala
Women in the Performing Arts – Oksana Dmitrieva
Women in Cinema – Alisa Kovalenko
Women in literature – Yaryna Chornohuz
Women in cultural management – Olga Gonchar
Women in Cultural Journalism, Criticism and Research – Kateryna Yakovlenko
Special mention – Kateryna Pryimak
“The theme of this year’s award is Resistance, the resistance that Ukrainian women are putting up to Russian aggression, amplifying women’s voices and calling for a change in the world’s perception of Ukraine. I am grateful to each and every one of them, who through their tireless work encourages the international community to act. Ukrainian artists are using all their talent and all available means of art to call on the world to act and support Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression,” commented Dmytro Kuleba, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Prize.
The winners of the Prize are determined by an expert council and jury consisting of experts in the field of culture and art, representatives of the public sector and independent institutions. The board and jury consist of 42 members. More information about the experts who selected the winners this year can be found on the award’s website.
“In times of the most difficult challenges, Ukrainian women are proving themselves with exceptional resilience, dignity and determination in every sphere of public life. Their leadership, creativity, and unwavering spirit help to overcome the difficulties of war, and they are the embodiment of true resilience and hope for recovery. Today, we not only admire the unwavering spirit of Ukrainian women in the arts, but also honor the talented women who have died as a result of Russian aggression. This is a moment of great pride, deep sorrow and solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” said Sabine Fraser Günes, UN Women Representative in Ukraine.
Special guests of the ceremony were the multimedia performance project Liniya by Christina Kirik, which combines the worlds of music and theater to create immersive experiences through live performances and sensory installations.
The ceremony was hosted by journalist, presenter, poet and screenwriter Oleksandra Hontar and stand-up comedian and volunteer Vasyl Baidak.
Media partners of the fifth Women in Arts Award ceremony: Starlight Media, Radio Culture and Public Culture and Harper’s BAZAAR.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the award has acquired a new meaning – recognizing and honoring the resistance and resilience of Ukrainian women artists and the entire Ukrainian people. This idea is reflected both in the name, to which the prefix “The Resistance” was added, and in the symbolic slogan “Until the Storm is Over” chosen for this year’s ceremony.
A minute of silence was observed at the event in memory of the artists who died as a result of Russian aggression.
The winners of the award were presented with the traditional statuettes by sculptor Maria Kulikovska in the form of intertwined female hands. According to the artist, women’s hands symbolize support and protection, as well as women’s labor. This year, the color of the statuettes is a delicate sky blue, symbolizing the light that remains with us in these turbulent times and the hope for a clear and peaceful sky after the war.
Women in Arts is an independent award founded in 2019 by the Ukrainian Institute and UN Women in Ukraine as part of the HeForShe movement for gender equality. The purpose of the award is to draw attention to the achievements of women artists and to popularize Ukrainian culture in the country and around the world. The winners of previous years include Oksana Zabuzhko, Sofia Andrukhovych, Irma Vitovska-Vantsa, Alevtina Kakhidze, Iryna Tsilyk and others.
For reference: The Ukrainian Institute is a state institution under the management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The mission of the Ukrainian Institute is to strengthen Ukraine’s international and domestic subjectivity through cultural diplomacy. We establish international cultural ties between people and institutions and create opportunities for Ukrainians to interact with the world.
UN Women is a United Nations entity that focuses on achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women.
HeForShe is a global solidarity movement for gender equality, founded by UN Women, that puts men and boys at the center of change. Since its launch in 2014, the campaign has been joined by heads of state, leading scientists, CEOs of global corporations, athletes, artists, and opinion leaders who share the philosophy of gender equality. The movement was launched in Ukraine in 2018. Support is provided by the Government of Sweden.
The Open Data Quality Index in Ukraine currently scores only 42%, an indicator that reflects the principles of open data guaranteed by law: openness by default, efficiency and clarity, accessibility and use, and comparability. Data from state registers, which are supposed to be public by law, still remain semi-open. The Verkhovna Rada, the State Judicial Administration, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are the most conscientious in publishing data. The anti-rating is led by the Tax Service, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Health.
Opendatabot analyzed how the quality of government data has changed in recent years.
We monitor data openness on the Open Data Quality Index in Ukraine page.
Less than half of open data in Ukraine meets international requirements. The Open Data Quality Index currently stands at 42.37%. For comparison, in the second half of 2023, the Index was 37.11%.
The invasion of Russia in one day threw Ukraine back 6 years in terms of transparency and accessibility of public information. In the early days, the state closed registers to protect information from the enemy.
After a break, some government agencies – data managers – began publishing sets of data, just as they did before the great war. Despite this, the Open Data Index in Ukraine has not yet reached the levels before the full-scale invasion. As a reminder, at the beginning of 2022, the Index stood at 57.6%.
Graph of the Open Data Quality Index
The improvement of data quality and the growth of the Index score were influenced by the publication of the following government data:
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine – information on MPs, their activity and property status;
SJA – the Unified State Register of Court Decisions;
The Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine – Register of Construction Activities;
State Property Fund – Register of corporate rights of the state in the authorized capital of business entities
Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries – Register of Gambling Business
At the same time, some datasets stopped being updated and were closed altogether:
SJA: details for paying court fees
Pension Fund of Ukraine: data on taxpayers with arrears of payments to the Pension Fund
Ukrpatent: State Register of Intellectual Property Representatives (patent attorneys)
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the SJA, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs remain the leaders in terms of data quality.
However, the most closed agencies remain, despite the requirements of Resolution 835 of the Cabinet of Ministers:
State Tax Service
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Economy.
“Two years after the start of the full-scale war, the state has not yet created transparent and clear rules for open data. The closure of information as a temporary measure that is supposed to protect information from the enemy is actually creating opportunities for fraud and preventing the country’s economy from developing.
Over the year, we have made progress in the fight for open data – for example, the publication of the Register of Corrupt Officials and officials’ declarations was resumed with a significant public outcry. However, among the most important registers for business, tax debts, VAT and single tax remain closed,” comments Oleksiy Ivankin, Head of the Open Data Hub.
Signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are present in 44% of Ukrainian children.
Such data of the study of children’s well-being in Ukraine “Index of the Future” conducted by the Kyiv School of Economics on the initiative of the Olena Zelenska Foundation and with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine are quoted by the Health Ministry on its website.
In addition, according to the study, the share of children vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis has decreased by 16% since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the share of children vaccinated against polio has decreased by 22%.
According to the study, the current vaccination rate against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis in Ukraine in 2023 is 37% lower than in EU countries.
In addition, according to the study, 13% of children aged 14-17 systematically (at least once a week) drink alcohol and 16% smoke cigarettes. Moreover, boys resort to such risky behavior more often than girls. In addition, 56% of children have consumed alcohol at least once, 53% have tried smoking, and 3% have used drugs.
According to the survey, 71% of respondents consider themselves happy. At the same time, this assessment was more often given by children from the East of Ukraine and Kyiv most often said.
At the same time, 44% of children in Ukraine have signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The study was based on data from five sources: government and open sources, quantitative studies of children, interviews with experts and graduates and alumni of institutional care.
The study included a representative online survey with 1,313 respondents aged 0-17 across Ukraine, excluding temporarily occupied territories.
Earlier, the Kiev-based think tank Experts Club announced the launch of a project on psychological recovery of people with the help of art therapy. Read more about the project here – https://open4business.com.ua/ru/stolichnyj-uchebnyj-czentr-experts-club-vmeste-s-art-gallery-universe-otkryl-programmu-art-terapii-dlya-postradavshih-ot-ptsr/
Given the current challenges related to preserving life and health in wartime, it is of great importance to train journalists to act effectively in extreme situations. That is why the Experts Club think tank hosted a regular workshop on first aid for media representatives in Kyiv.
The organizers, including Experts Club, the ADONIS medical center network, and the Help For Ukraine and Pryirpinia Community Foundation charitable foundations, emphasized the importance of first aid skills for journalists, especially those working in risky environments.
The seminar included lectures and practical classes conducted by anesthesiologist Mariana Bolyuk. The participants learned the basics of basic life support, methods of stopping bleeding, and how to apply tourniquets. Such training is extremely important, given the statistics of casualties among journalists in military conflicts.
“The war has significantly increased the risks for journalists, so the development of first aid skills should be part of their professional development. Our colleagues constantly face risks and bear great responsibility. That is why we strive to provide them not only with information, but also with the means to save their lives,” emphasized Maksym Urakin, founder of Experts Club.
According to Urakin, such initiatives are planned to be expanded to include more representatives of the media community and other professions that are at increased risk during the war. This, in turn, will not only help to save the lives of journalists, but also help in providing first aid to the victims until the arrival of medical professionals.
“At a time when the information field is full of news from the frontline, professional training of journalists to act in emergency situations becomes an integral part of their responsibility to society,” said Tetiana Lagovska, Executive Director of the Pryirpin Community Foundation.
In his turn, volunteer Oleksandr Holizdra emphasized that the education and training of journalists will not only contribute to their own safety, but will also increase the efficiency of their work in difficult conditions, which is key to informing the public and maintaining overall security.
The Experts Club project plans to expand its program to include more journalists and bloggers. Training in this critical area should become a standard for media representatives, as the role of journalists in society becomes increasingly important and dangerous in times of conflict. The development and support of such initiatives is a step towards increasing the level of security in society.
ADONIS, EXPERTS CLUB, FIRST AID, JOURNALISTS, MEDIA, PRYIRPIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, URAKIN, БОЛЮК, ГОЛІЗДРА, Лаговська
