Mariupol is the city that Iryna Hadar and her son were forced to leave due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. She survived shelling, a dangerous escape, and life in uncertainty. Eventually, Iryna found a new home and rediscovered herself. Her story is not only about loss, strength, and courage—it is also about how support from UN Women in Ukraine and The United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) helped her recognize the violence she had experienced before the war.

The beekeeping family of Olga and Oleksandr Krysiuchenko continues to work and build their future in Pryozerne, a village in the frontline region of Kherson. The couple has been engaged in beekeeping for 7 years, and since the Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they have not only managed to stay afloat but have also turned their passion into a business.

The war shattered Oksana Posternak’s life into a thousand pieces—her hometown of Veletenske in Kherson was occupied, she endured a difficult evacuation, constant relocations, the destruction of her home by enemy shelling, and the inability to return. Having lost everything, she was left with pain and emptiness. But one thing remained unchanged—her talent for creativity. She never imagined that her hobby could become her profession.

The participants of the She Drives project continue learning about the bus driving profession and gain valuable insights directly from transportation companies.

Olga Klushanova knows what it means to start over from scratch. She lost her home for the first time in 2014 when the war forced her to leave her native Donetsk and relocate to Kostiantynivka. In 2022, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine once again tore her away from her everyday life. Together with her family, Olga moved to Dnipro, leaving behind everything that had once seemed permanent. She lost a lot but refused to let circumstances break her. Read below about how support from UN Women Ukraine and The United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) gave her the strength to move forward.

Alina Shadura, 44, is from Kharkiv. She is a lawyer who has spent many years working at a charitable foundation, providing psychosocial support to women who have experienced gender-based violence. Following the onset of the full-scale Russian invasion, Alina and her family relocated to Cherkasy, where they lived for three years. Alina is one of the 100 participants in the She Drives project aimed at training and employing female bus drivers.

‘The idea was my husband’s. We position ourselves as 'producers of cheese from happy cows’ milk.' The cows in the Hutsul region graze freely; they roam wherever they like, eat fresh grass and are supplemented only with pure hay without additives. From this milk, we craft our cheese. Here, in Shepit village, most people in the area had a tradition of keeping cows. We decided that this tradition was worth preserving, so we started buying milk from local residents...

‘By profession, I am a math and physics teacher and worked in the city. However, I always dreamed of owning a house in a village. In 1998 or 1999, I came across the concept of rural green tourism in Ukraine. It fascinated me, so I began attending conferences and talking to people who already had experience in this field. I realized it could become an exciting hobby for me...

Women-led and women’s rights organizations (WROs) in Ukraine have been severely impacted by funding suspensions by the United States (U.S.), a new survey by UN Women, the Apparatus of the Government Commissioner for Gender Equality Policy of Ukraine, and the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group, reveals. UN Women calls for more direct, flexible, and long-term funding to women’s rights organizations to ensure life-saving programs for women and girls to meet sudden funding gaps.

‘The idea emerged about three years ago. We were united by gender issues: women’s rights, equality, their realization in the world, and their place in civil society... It so happened that this has already become our dream. Iryna and I have a generational difference, but these generations have come together, and their dreams have intertwined into a common goal — we strive to bring our ideas to life, which are filled with philosophy...

On March 7, the national campaign “Give Yourself a Chance” was launched to help Ukrainian women navigating in career, freelancing opportunities, and business ventures. The campaign includes a podcast and manifesto, as well as educational opportunities — an educational online course and a mentorship program — that will support women at different stages of their professional development.

Ukrainian women are serving in the armed forces, pursuing careers, and achieving success on equal terms with men. However, they often face another challenge: managing household responsibilities and caring for their children. This is why Anna Zaporozchuk, the heroine of this story, emphasizes the importance of supporting women in the workplace and creating comfortable working conditions for them.

‘My story is both ordinary and extraordinary. Our great-grandparents had vineyards. My great-grandfather made wine and kept a wine cellar. In 2010, my husband and I received a wedding gift from our parents — a plot of land and a small country house. From that moment, we began searching for our path. We wanted to do something that was both interesting and profitable...

‘We lived in Bakhmut, Donetsk region. We had our own home and a large family. On May 19, 2022, after a Russian missile struck the city center, we decided we could no longer risk our children's lives and made the difficult decision to leave our home. We relocated to the Poltava region. Relocating people is not the same as transplanting a garden. We lost everything: our home, our jobs, our belongings, and the connections and community we had built. All of it is gone...

Patron Demining is a national operator in mine action. The company focuses on training deminers to clear land in Ukraine. This is a top priority for the state, as Ukraine is currently the most mined country in the world. According to UN estimates, 23% of the country's territory is at risk of contamination from landmines and unexploded ordnance.

During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a Russian missile struck the house where Natalia’s grandmother lived and where her father was staying that day while caring for her. Natalia’s father was killed along with almost all the other residents of the house. Only Natalia’s grandmother survived...

‘It all started in 2017. Initially, it was just a hobby that grew into a business. I was making a knife sheath as a gift for my husband. He asked me to sew it, but I kept putting it off, and eventually, he had to do it himself (Laughs). He found a piece of leather and started working on it. That’s how our interest in leather goods began.

Women founded half of all businesses opened in the past two years. In 2024, they opened 61% of all newly created individual entrepreneurial ventures. However, in medium and large companies, management positions are predominantly held by men. The team at the Epicentr chain of shopping centers aims to address this issue by spotlighting the contributions of Ukrainian female entrepreneurs.

‘I am a music teacher by education, with 15 years of teaching experience in schools, but I’ve been cultivating mushrooms for about 20 years. So, I’ve been an entrepreneur longer than I was a teacher. I started by producing mycelium — the planting material for mushrooms. After the pandemic we noticed that dried products like tomatoes and fruits were popular, but there were no mushrooms in this segment. So, we decided to give it a try. We developed a process, created recipes with various flavors—and that’s how the story of "Mushroom Jerky" began...

‘I worked in the corporate sector, focusing on marketing, customer service, and analytics, but I wanted to ground myself. When I learned about organic greenhouses, it sparked my interest. For three years, I studied various agricultural crops, horticulture, and vegetable farming, attended conferences and workshops, and visited farms that welcomed guests...