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.

Gandzia Morozova is a casting manager and film director from Kyiv. Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Morozova became the head of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement, known as VETERANKA, which delivers humanitarian aid to de-occupied territories and war hot spots. Since 24 February 2022, the organization has strengthened its focus on humanitarian assistance and started a series of psychological support sessions with support from UN Women, under the project “Transformative approaches to achieve gender equality in Ukraine,”supported by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine and funded by the Government of Sweden.

Ukrainian women-led civil society organizations were among the first to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. In partnership with UN Women, they continue to play a leading role, which is key for the post-war recovery.

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.