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.

Viktoria Nazarenko is the Secretary General of the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPD), an association of more than 100 organizations representing people with disabilities from different regions of Ukraine. NAPD works with various UN agencies, including UN Women, to include people with disabilities in humanitarian assistance and advocate for their rights.

Nataliia Onipko is the Founder and President of the Zaporuka Foundation that helps children with cancer and their families. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation has expanded its operations to provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable internally displaced people, including women, and their host communities.

December 9, 2022, Кyiv, Ukraine - Denise Brown, the United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Geeta Kuttiparambil, UN Women Ukraine Representative, a.i., and Tetyana Kudina, Programme Coordinator, UN Women Ukraine, co-hosted the United Nations Thematic Dialogue with Ukrainian Women’s Civil Society Organizations. The event was held in Kyiv on December 7th.

Valentyna Dobrydina is a representative of the Government Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, in western Ukraine. She also heads the non-profit public organization, “Leader: the Chernivtsi Regional Organization of People with Disabilities.”