The beekeeping family of Olga and Oleksandr Krysiuchenko continues to work and build their future in Pryozerne, a village in the frontline region of Kherson. The couple has been engaged in beekeeping for 7 years, and since the Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they have not only managed to stay afloat but have also turned their passion into a business.

The war shattered Oksana Posternak’s life into a thousand pieces—her hometown of Veletenske in Kherson was occupied, she endured a difficult evacuation, constant relocations, the destruction of her home by enemy shelling, and the inability to return. Having lost everything, she was left with pain and emptiness. But one thing remained unchanged—her talent for creativity. She never imagined that her hobby could become her profession.

Olga Klushanova knows what it means to start over from scratch. She lost her home for the first time in 2014 when the war forced her to leave her native Donetsk and relocate to Kostiantynivka. In 2022, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine once again tore her away from her everyday life. Together with her family, Olga moved to Dnipro, leaving behind everything that had once seemed permanent. She lost a lot but refused to let circumstances break her. Read below about how support from UN Women Ukraine and The United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) gave her the strength to move forward.

Women-led and women’s rights organizations (WROs) in Ukraine have been severely impacted by funding suspensions by the United States (U.S.), a new survey by UN Women, the Apparatus of the Government Commissioner for Gender Equality Policy of Ukraine, and the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group, reveals. UN Women calls for more direct, flexible, and long-term funding to women’s rights organizations to ensure life-saving programs for women and girls to meet sudden funding gaps.

The Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group convened for an overview meeting to review the 2024 results of its activities with partners and to plan its 2025 work.

Every day the team of the partner organization 'Volonter-68' listen to many life stories from women and girls who are provided with humanitarian aid and evacuation. The team shared the story of Lyudmila Lisnikova from the city of Druzhkivka, Donetsk region.

In the turbulent Zaporizhzhia region, a mere 40 kilometers from the front line, daily raid sirens last up to 5 hours. Despite these harrowing conditions, over 200 thousand internally displaced persons (IDPs) have sought refuge here, fleeing the temporarily occupied territories of the region and rebuilding their lives amidst war. Among them is 26-year-old Olga Prykhodko.

Kseniia Mishyna is a community leader from Ukraine. Throughout the war, Kseniia has exemplified selfless dedication and unwavering resilience as the village headwoman of the Dniprovks district in Bilozershchina, Kherson region, where she manages four villages, inspiring change and providing crucial support to her community.

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.

Since the launch of the Russian Federation full-scale invasion on 24 February, 2022, over 2,000 women have been confirmed dead in attacks that have wrecked homes and civilian structures across Ukraine. Total numbers are likely to be much higher: according to the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, women account for nearly 40 per cent of the over 21,000 civilian casualties recorded in 2022. And of the estimated 7.9 million internally displaced peoples in Ukraine, women now constitute at least 90 per cent.

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.

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.

Anastasia Perepylytsia, 44, is no stranger to displacement. In 2014, she had a stable job in finance and lived a normal life together with her husband and two children in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. But when the Russian army invaded her hometown, she had to flee with her family to Zaporizhzhia, a city situated on the banks of the Dnieper River in the south-east.

Currently, 15.7 million people in Ukraine are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Attacks on populated civilian areas and infrastructure continue in eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, endangering people’s lives and access to basic services. UN Women Ukraine has reprogrammed its activities to reach those women and men that are most in need of essential items not available in the territories experiencing the fiercest attacks in the eastern Donetsk region.

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.

As the war in Ukraine continues to take its toll on women and girls, UN Women reiterates the UN Secretary-General’s urgent call for peace. The war must stop now.

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.