The educational program “Dream and Achieve” announces the start of applications. The program is aimed at supporting Ukrainian women affected by the full-scale Russian invasion. Participation in the program provides an opportunity to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to create or develop an online business, as well as financial support in the amount of $1,000 upon completion of the program.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in Ukraine has issued a tender for the refurbishment of its new office premises

Lviv, 27 October 2023 – UN Women facilitated the Women’s Entrepreneurship Satellite Expo 2023 bringing together over 150 participants, particularly established women entrepreneurs from across Ukraine, who are seeking professional growth, as well as self-employed women and women employees seeking new opportunities and collaborations with private companies.

Yuliya Savynska is a 32-year-old confectioner and entrepreneur from eastern Ukraine who, like millions of other Ukrainians, was forced to leave her home and lost her business due to Russia's full-scale invasion of 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 and enhance the protection of women and girls displaced by the war in the Ukraine.

Julia Pysmenna is the founder of the online platform taker | maker, a web-service that brings together different professionals offering digital content creation on demand for small and medium-sized businesses. Based in Ukraine, the company helps its customers to create photos, videos, text and design for social media, blogs and websites through a database of over 120 high-quality content creators, as well as digital marketers, social media marketing managers and content producers. Pysmenna is one of the women entrepreneurs that have been selected to participate in the Women’s Entrepreneurship EXPO mentorship programme.

Anna Zavertaylo is co-owner of a bakery and a café volunteering to support local people in Kyiv during the Russian invasion.

From 21–22 November, a two-day Women’s Economic Empowerment Congress (WEE Congress) convened more than 100 Ukrainian businesswomen, representatives of the private and public sectors, as well as academics, both in-person in Lviv and broadcast online.

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.