Ukraine is a republic with a mixed presidential and parliamentary system of government. The elected President and a unicameral Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) share power. Executive power is exercised by the Cabinet and legislative power is held by Parliament. The President is elected by popular vote for a 5-year term; the President nominates the Prime Minister, who is confirmed by Parliament. Formally the Cabinet is appointed by the President on submission of the Prime Minister, but in practice the Cabinet is appointed by the President following negotiations with political parties and parliamentary factions. Constitutional changes that took effect in 2006 elections now have all 450 members of Parliament elected by party list proportional representation.

The country has been in political turmoil since the 2004 presidential election was reported as massively fraudulent. A large and lengthy protest movement culminated in what became known as the Orange Revolution. The Supreme Court ruled the election invalid and ordered a rerun. The electoral law for the presidency was changed by Parliament to reduce the scope for fraud. In the runoff election in December 2004 the incumbent President was defeated by the leader of the Orange Revolution, who replaced him as President. A prominent woman co-leader of the Orange Revolution was named as Prime Minister and served in this position until charges of corruption led to her dismissal and that of the Cabinet.

In legislative elections in 2006 the pro-Russian Party of Regions, led by the previous President who had been forced out of office for electoral fraud, re-emerged and won the largest block of seats. A 4-month political stand-off was resolved in August 2006 when Parliament confirmed the pro-Russian party leader as Prime Minister. Since his appointment, Parliament and the government have been at odds with the pro-western President. The constitutional changes for electoral reform limited the President's ability to make ministerial appointments; the Prime Minister and Parliament have dismissed ministers appointed by the President. The current political situation is fragile.

The judiciary is independent in law but is subject to pressure and reportedly corrupt and inefficient. The head of the Supreme Court found it necessary to state that the current President has not instructed him on judicial rulings.

Discrimination on the basis of race and sex is prohibited, but the legislation is not enforced and discrimination is reported against a number of groups. Police corruption and impunity are serious problems. Harassment and abuse of Roma are reported. Allegations that gangs of rogue police officers, known as "werewolves," were involved in killings and kidnappings and connected to organised crime led to physical attacks on the reporting journalists. Amnesty International charges that law enforcement officers extract confessions from detainees through force. Police act with impunity.

Freedom of speech and of the press are guaranteed. Central authorities have not attempted to direct media content, but intimidation of journalists by local officials is reported to continue.

However, since the Orange Revolution media outlets are freer and more diverse. Foreign newspapers and periodicals circulate freely. A new election law that would have prohibited independent media commentary on political parties and closed down publications upon allegations by election officials led to a public outcry and an amendment shifting the responsibility to the judicial system. The press continues to be intimidated by civil suits based on alleged damages to honour and integrity.

Access to the Internet is not restricted, but claims are made that all Internet publications and e-mail are monitored. Internet service providers have to enable authorised agencies to monitor Internet activity, ostensibly to fight corruption. Public access to some information is provided through websites. Reports charge that promises made during the Orange Revolution to ensure openness, transparency and accountability have not been kept.

Ukraine is a source, destination and transit country for persons who are trafficked. Local officials are accused of assisting organised crime groups in this activity. The government cooperates with foreign governments to prosecute trafficking cases. Women and men are forced to work in agriculture, and children are exploited in cities.

Freedom of movement is now permitted by a new system of registration introduced to replace the propyska, which previously determined where people had to live, work and receive services. Acts of anti-Semitism are reported.

Skinheads assaulted students from a Jewish day school, resulting in the hospitalisation of girls aged 11 to 16. Synagogues and cemeteries have been vandalised. An EU-funded study on discrimination against homosexuals concludes that homosexuals are treated with prejudice. A gay student was dismissed from a law college because he circulated leaflets calling for protection of the rights of gays and lesbians. Persons living with HIV/AIDS face discrimination in the workplace and have no legal recourse; harassment by police and judicial authorities as well as social isolation and stigmatisation are common.

Education is free, universal and compulsory to age 15. Public education is poorly funded. Teachers are now being paid salaries regularly, though other monetary benefits are not paid in some places. Increasing numbers of poor children are leaving school. The Committee for the Protection of Children reports that a lack of schooling is a significant rural problem.

Violence and crime are growing inside and outside schools, with vocational schools in particular being cited for violence.

The number of homeless children is estimated at 150,000 and increasing. Many of them have abandoned orphanages, where conditions are very poor.

National political leaders are working to create a transparent system of adoption to protect children. Members of a Crimean human rights group have criticised the Crimean government for allowing schools to use textbooks that contain inflammatory and historically inaccurate material about Tatar Muslims. 2 opposition political parties complain that thousands of their supporters, many identified as doctors and teachers, have been dismissed from their jobs during the year because of their political affiliation.

A 3-year programme begins at age 3. The Net Enrolment Rate (NER) is 41%. There are 118,143 ECE teachers (99% female). The pupil/teacher ratio (PTR) is 8 : 1.

Education is compulsory for ages 6 to 15. Primary school begins at age 6 and continues for 4 years. The NER is 82% (49% female). Of students who enrol in Grade 1, 99% reach the last grade of primary school. There are 99,515 primary teachers (96% female), and all are trained. The PTR is 19 : 1.

Secondary education begins at age 10 and is completed in 7 years. 23% of students in upper secondary education study in technical vocational programmes. The NER is 84%. There are 360,752 secondary teachers (79% female). The PTR is 12 : 1 in secondary school.

2,465,074 students (54% female) study in tertiary institutions, for a Gross Enrolment Rate of 66%. At this level 12% of education is private. 15,622 foreign students are studying in Ukraine, with their countries of origin unspecified. At the same time, 25,188 Ukrainian students are studying abroad, mainly in Germany (7,618), the Russian Federation (6,841), the USA (2,004), Poland (1,809) and Hungary (1,005).

The issue of disability is a serious one for Ukraine. The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986 resulted in radiation poisoning. It is believed this led to an increase in the number of disabled children being born and an increase in the incidence of various forms of cancer. Self-help groups were established by parents to help care for their disabled children. Chernobyl raised awareness of the denial of the rights of children that results from prejudice and poor resources.

Discrimination against persons with disabilities is illegal in education and in other state services, but in practice services for disabled children and adults have been poor. Official statistics note that 54,100 children with special education needs receive education in 396 special schools. Some 7,716 children with special educational needs live in 56 boarding schools. Conferences have been held in 2005-06 to help develop a policy for students with special educational needs.

The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the government has established a system for providing protection to refugees. The UNHCR and the EU report that border guards unlawfully return to Russia many Chechens who apply for asylum. Article 20 of the Law on Refugees in Ukraine gives refugees employment rights equal to those of Ukrainian citizens.

About 90% of refugee children of school age have access to schooling in Ukraine. They arrive with a limited knowledge of Russian or Ukrainian languages. Many of them graduate from secondary school or from specialised education despite having missed periods of schooling due to instability in their home country. The Constitution of Ukraine states that everyone has the right to a general secondary education, with no limit on those rights for refugees or asylum-seekers. However, Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine on Higher Education does differentiate between citizens of Ukraine, who have the right to higher education paid for by the state, and non-citizens, who have the right to higher education not paid for by the state. A Resolution by the Cabinet states that those with permanent residency should enjoy the same rights as citizens with regard to higher education, but refugees do not enjoy this right.

Police harassment of black and Asian refugees is reported.

In 1995 Ukraine, as a member of the Council of Europe, signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Ukraine includes populations of Armenians, Azeris, Bulgarians, Belorusians, Chuvashes, Czechs, Gagauz, Georgians, Germans, Greeks, Roma, Hungarians, Jews, Kazakhs, Lithuanians, Moldavians, Mordvins, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Slovaks, Tatars and Uzbeks.

The rights of minority groups to ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious freedom are guaranteed. They can profess their religion, use national symbols, celebrate national holidays and take part in traditional national ceremonies. In regions where national minorities are more densely populated, their native language can be used as a working language in cultural or educational bodies on equal terms with the official language.

A hearing has been held on the situation of Roma who throughout the country face police abuse and social hostility. Social intolerance is greater toward Roma than toward any other ethnic group, but harassment of all racial minorities is reported as a continuing problem.

Pro-Russian organisations complain of the increased use of the Ukrainian language in schools, the media and the courts. They claim their children are disadvantaged in academic entrance examinations since they must take a Ukrainian language test. 20% of Ukrainian students attend the 1,500 schools that teach in Russian. 550 schools teach students in 2 languages, either Russian and Ukrainian or Russian and Crimean-Tatar. Over 27,000 schoolchildren study in Romanian, some 20,000 are taught in Hungarian, 6,500 in Moldovan, 6,000 in Crimean-Tatar and 1,400 in Polish.

The security services are reported to maintain offices for the protection of state secrets in scientific and research institutes, including those not conducting classified research. Administrators of universities are reported to silence colleagues by denying them the ability to publish, by withholding pay and housing benefits and by terminating their employment.

Private and religiously affiliated universities report that educational reforms are being implemented very slowly. Theology is not recognised as a subject for academic study, and students in this and other non-recognised fields are subject to military conscription. University rectors are reported to have a little more autonomy. While some schools have instituted admission by examination systems, nepotism and bribery are cited as common for admission and also influence the granting of degrees.

Equal rights for women and men and established protection against gender discrimination have been decreed. But discrimination against women continues to be a problem. The gender of employees is specified in job advertisements, and employers ask for information on a woman's family situation. Women who are likely to become pregnant are denied work. Physical appearance and age are also taken into account in employment decisions. Equal pay for work of equal value is provided in labour legislation, which is generally respected. Jobs dominated by women have the lowest relative wages and are most likely to be affected by wage arrears. Few women hold top managerial positions in government or industry.

Violence against women remains a problem. Spousal abuse is illegal but is not always reported. Sex tourism is increasing, and no laws are in place to address the problem.

The legal minimum age for employment is 16, though with parental consent a child of 15 can work in certain non-hazardous industries and a child of 14 can work on a short-term basis. Young children work in the agricultural sector, and the trafficking of children for the purpose of forced labour and sexual exploitation is a problem. Legislation to protect children from exploitation in the workplace is not enforced.

An ILO project is being implemented aimed at eradicating the worst forms of child labour in the informal economy and to prevent the trafficking of children. Commercial sexual exploitation of children is a serious problem. A substantial amount of child pornography available on the Internet is reported to originate in Ukraine, where studios use girls aged 8 to 16 for the purpose.

Workers have the right form and join trade unions, with certain exceptions, such as for nuclear power plant employees. Registration allows a union to negotiate and sign agreements with government ministries. 2 national trade unions exist. The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine represents 40 national-level industrial sector unions, while the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine has 69 trade unions as members, though only 6 are national-level unions. Collective bargaining is permitted but not always practised. A World Bank study indicates that 90% of unionised employees are covered by collective agreements. The right to strike is guaranteed, except for workers in the civil service, the judiciary, the armed forces, security services, law enforcement agencies and the transportation sector. Strikes must not jeopardise national security, public health or the rights and liberties of others.

Forced or compulsory labour is illegal, but it occurs. Military conscripts who opt for alternative service are reported to be used as compulsory labour in the construction of private houses for military and government officials. The monthly minimum wage, pensions and other social payments have been increased. The monthly minimum wage is US $66 (UAH 330), which is said to reach subsistence level but does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Wage arrears have increased by 15.9% to about US$258 million (UAH 1.29 billion). The maximum work week is 40 hours.