Nataliia Novitska 36, is Project Manager at the NGO “Positive Women”, which provides assistance and information to women living with HIV across Ukraine, even amid the Russian invasion. It is among the organizations supported by UN Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF).

With more than 20 years of experience helping women from vulnerable groups across the Ukraine, Lyubov Maksymovych heads the NGO "Women's Perspectives", whose work has become more relevant and necessary than ever since the country’s full-scale invasion. In February, her team created a temporary shelter for internally displaced people that has already hosted nearly 600 women and children. Recently, the NGO received funding from the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), aimed at providing vital assistance to women and girls affected by the war in Ukraine. The NGO also helps women find jobs, provides psychological and legal aid, offers social support and works as a support hub for other women’s organizations in eight regions of Ukraine.

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.