2024 was an election year. Direct presidential elections were held in 31 countries worldwide, and voter turnout was record high. However, only five women have been elected heads of state, making female political leadership more of an exception than the norm. Ukraine lags behind the world average in women's participation in political life at the national level. Only 22% of the Ukrainian parliament is made up of women. There are only five women in the 21-member Cabinet of Ministers. One woman heads a region, and only two women are incumbent mayors — in Poltava and Zaporizhzhia.

Women’s economic empowerment is essential to promoting women’s rights and gender equality. Central to this effort is employment, which not only fosters financial independence but also drives personal growth and achievement.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2024) concluded in Berlin on June 12, continuing the series of annual high-level political events dedicated to Ukraine’s swift recovery and long-term reconstruction since the onset of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. The conference brought together over 3,400 participants, representing a wide array of stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, financial institutions, businesses, regions, municipalities, and civil society, all united by a shared commitment to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience for as long as needed.

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

9 квітня у Києві відбулася тематична сесія Комітету Верховної Ради України з питань інтеграції України до Європейського Союзу у співпраці з ООН Жінки в Україні щодо питань гендерної рівності у процесі вступу до ЄС та ролі Верховної Ради в цих процесах. Захід підтримали уряди Данії та Швеції.

The sixty-eighth session of the Commission under the priority theme: “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective” wrapped up in New York last week. The United Nations largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment brings together representatives of Member States, United Nations entities and civil society and non-governmental organizations from across the globe.

On October 25, as part of the "Inside Out" project, 50 portraits of outstanding women of today who promote the Women, Peace and Security agenda through their work were installed in front of the main entrance to the UN Headquarters in New York. One of the 50 peacemakers featured in the Inside Out photo exhibition under the slogan "Peace begins with her" is Ukrainian human rights activist Oleksandra Matviychuk, head of the Center for Civil Liberties, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.

Before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Julia Kononchuk was studying at the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University. She won a scholarship to study in Great Britain and was supposed to begin university there in the fall of 2022, but her visa was not granted in time.

Women and marginalized groups have key role to play in leading decision making on Ukraine’s recovery, which should help build the country back better and more equal. This was the main message of representatives of the Ukrainian government, women rights organizations, civil society, and the private sector that convened at gender responsive event held ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference.

Diana Andrunyk is a social photographer and photojournalist who has been working in artistic and advertising photography for 11 years. She has been working with Veteranka, the Women Veteran Movement, since 2021 on several projects together with military personnel. One of them is "A woman warrior is first and foremost a woman.” Five months after the full-scale Russian invasion, Andrunyk was forced to leave Ukraine and move to the United Kingdom (UK) for the safety of her family.

Veronika Lytvynenko is a volunteer and graphic designer for the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine found her in Kyiv, and her entire family in Mariupol.

As of 25 March, more than 10 million people had been forcibly displaced by the war in Ukraine, with more than 3.7 million fleeing to neighbouring countries. To gage the differential impacts of the war and the specific needs of vulnerable groups, UN Women and CARE International produced a Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) and drew out recommendations on how to improve humanitarian responses.

Millions of people have been fleeing their homes in Ukraine since the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022 turned into a full-fledged war. In Cahul, a border region in the south of the Republic of Moldova, local public authorities, volunteers and civil society are doing what they can to help, guide and host those on the move.

As a result of the Russian Federation’s military invasion of Ukraine, close to 2 million people have been internally displaced inside the country and more than 3 million refugees have already crossed international borders. As of 13 March 2022, there were 106,994 refugees from Ukraine in Moldova, most being women and children. This is also the case of an extended family of 12 members of the Roma community who were forced to flee their homes in the village of Arbuzinka, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine, to seek safety, protection and assistance in the Republic of Moldova.

More than 400,000 people from Ukraine have crossed into the Republic of Moldova since Russia’s invasion on 24 February. According to Moldova’s Bureau for Migration and Asylum, over 1,600 Ukrainians had requested asylum as of 10 March.

On 24 February, Natalia, Irina and Cristina, three friends and mothers from Odessa, woke up to the sound of air-raid sirens and explosions. Russia’s military offensive had begun.

In the two weeks since Russia began its military offensive in Ukraine, more than 1,5 million people have fled their homes, the vast majority women and children. Those who flock to border crossings – and those who stay behind to defend their country – face immense risks, hardship and scarcity. Meet just a few of the women we spoke to on the front lines of the crisis in Chernivtsi.

Across Ukraine on 24 February, people awoke to the sounds of sirens and explosions as Russia began its military attack. Since that morning, more than 870,000 Ukrainians – the vast majority women and children – have fled to neighbouring countries.

Although security sector officers face trauma in the line of duty, these experiences play no significant role in their attitudes and behaviours related to gender equality. So, gender stereotypes derive not from the nature of work in the security sector but from general social attitudes, childhood experiences, and other factors. This is one of the key findings of a national study entitled Understanding of Masculinity and Gender Equality in the Security Sector of Ukraine, commissioned by UN Women Ukraine and the non-governmental organization Promundo-US at the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Ukraine.

Natalia Kalyuzhna is a Police Captain and Head of the Counteracting Gender-based Violence Unit at the Main Directorate of the National Police in Sievierodonetsk, a city in the conflict-affected eastern part of Ukraine. She applies innovative approaches to address the needs of violence survivors and women at risk.