The UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and the UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, together with the European Union (EU), started the Phase II of the regional programme “EU 4 Gender Equality: Together against gender stereotypes and gender-based violence”. The programme aims to reduce gender discriminatory attitudes and practices between women and men in institutional and community spheres, including unpaid domestic and care work in six Eastern Partnership countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine.

Since the launch of the Russian Federation full-scale invasion on 24 February, 2022, over 2,000 women have been confirmed dead in attacks that have wrecked homes and civilian structures across Ukraine. Total numbers are likely to be much higher: according to the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, women account for nearly 40 per cent of the over 21,000 civilian casualties recorded in 2022. And of the estimated 7.9 million internally displaced peoples in Ukraine, women now constitute at least 90 per cent.

Oleksandra Matviychuk is a human rights activist from Ukraine. Following the “Maidan” demonstrations in November 2013, which led to the ousting of the Government and left many casualties among activists, she created the Euromaidan SOS Facebook page. As head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, she also provided legal assistance to protesters victimized during the crackdown. Together with her team, Matviychuk has documented over 18,000 reported war crimes against the Ukrainian people since 2014. The Centre for Civil Liberties won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.

Rural women face multiple forms of discrimination and are extremely vulnerable amid Russia’s military invasion. Sofia Burtak founded the Rural Women Business Network NGO in 2016, which now unites over 300 rural women, including farmers, self-government officials and others. It is actively engaged in supporting the rights of rural women and advocating for a gender-sensitive agricultural sector that takes the interests of women farmers and women’s agricultural businesses more into account. Burtak explains that since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, rural women have been bearing an immense burden in caring for families, ensuring food supply for the army and hosting millions of internally displaced Ukrainians.

The public association the Rural Women's Business Network recently signed a Partner Agreement with the UN Women Project, Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment through Decentralization Reform of Ukraine. This initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. Under the new Partner Agreement , the Association will facilitate mobilization of women from 13 communities to participate in local governance across four regions: Volyn, Chernivtsi, Kherson and Sumy.

The enhanced participation of women in public life can bring transformative changes to their communities. Women want to be actively engaged in local decision-making processes and they have proved that they can drive positive results when in top political positions, believes Sofia Maksymenko. She is the self-help group leader and newly elected head of Zvanivka, a community in the conflict-affected Donetsk oblast located near the contact line.