The Women’s Peace & Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) has launched a Call for Proposals in Ukraine to support civil society organizations working to increase women’s participation in humanitarian and crisis response and enhance the protection of women and girls displaced by the war in the Ukraine.

The Women’s Peace & Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) has launched a Call for Proposals in Ukraine to support civil society organizations working to increase women’s participation in humanitarian and crisis response, enhance the protection of women and girls, and improve the socio-economic recovery and political participation of women and girls displaced by the war in Ukraine.

December 9, 2022, Кyiv, Ukraine - Denise Brown, the United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Geeta Kuttiparambil, UN Women Ukraine Representative, a.i., and Tetyana Kudina, Programme Coordinator, UN Women Ukraine, co-hosted the United Nations Thematic Dialogue with Ukrainian Women’s Civil Society Organizations. The event was held in Kyiv on December 7th.

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 war has severely impacted social cohesion, community security and the resilience of local communities, especially women and girls. Lack of access to social services including schools and strained community resources have increased the care burden of local women who responsible for the care for children, disabled and elderly family members.

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.