On 8 March 2025, join us to celebrate International Women’s Day under the theme, “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” This year’s theme calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a feminist future where no one is left behind. Central to this vision is empowering the next generation—youth, particularly young women and adolescent girls—as catalysts for lasting change.

The event was organized by the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service, the Higher School of Public Administration and the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the EU Standards with the support of international partners, including UN Women Ukraine and the Government of Sweden. The main topics included gender equality in government policies and programs as a prerequisite for EU accession and for ensuring Ukraine's gender-responsible recovery; gender-responsible and inclusive adaptation and reintegration of female and male veterans into civilian life, namely the demand of society and the state's offer; preservation of human capital, including barrier-free and gender-responsible public service.

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.

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.

Gandzia Morozova is a casting manager and film director from Kyiv. Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Morozova became the head of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement, known as VETERANKA, which delivers humanitarian aid to de-occupied territories and war hot spots. Since 24 February 2022, the organization has strengthened its focus on humanitarian assistance and started a series of psychological support sessions with support from UN Women, under the project “Transformative approaches to achieve gender equality in Ukraine,”supported by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine and funded by the Government of Sweden.

Ukrainian women-led civil society organizations were among the first to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. In partnership with UN Women, they continue to play a leading role, which is key for the post-war recovery.

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.