New assessment by UN Women and partners: foreign assistance cuts are weakening women’s organizations and their ability to deliver life-saving services

Kyiv, 20 February 2026 - Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 5,000 women and girls have been killed and 14,000 injured, and the real toll likely far higher. As the war in Ukraine intensifies and energy attacks cripple daily life, a third crisis is tightening its grip on women and girls: collapsing funding for women-led and women’s rights organizations, the very lifeline keeping women and girls alive, protected, and supported.

As humanitarian needs surge, women’s rights and women-led organizations across Ukraine are being driven to the brink. A new UN Women report, The Impact of Foreign Assistance Cuts on Women’s Rights and Women-Led Organizations in Ukraine, documents the scale of the funding crisis and its impact on the lives of women and girls.

• One in three women’s rights and women-led organizations surveyed warn they may only survive six months or less at current funding levels. The assessment estimates that women’s rights and women-led organizations lost USD 27.4 million in foreign assistance in 2025 and are projected to lose a further USD 25.5 million in 2026 (at least USD 53.9 million in total across 2025 and 2026). 
• Women’s rights and women-led organizations surveyed warn they will be forced to stop lifesaving services for at least 63,000 women and girls in need in 2026, with the actual figure likely higher.
• Those hit first and hardest are people already most at risk: women and girls in frontline and rural areas, older women, women-headed households, and women and girls with disabilities will be cut off from protection, humanitarian aid, and recovery at a time of escalating danger.

As shown in the report, developed by the Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group in Ukraine, co-chaired by UN Women, NGO Girls and CARE Ukraine, the effects of the funding cuts are compounded by a growing nationwide energy crisis and an increase in attacks. While Ukrainian women’s organizations continue to deliver on their mandates, their operational capacity, access to populations in need, and the well-being of their staff are severely impacted by power outages. This is especially urgent today when millions of Ukrainians are deprived of essential services, including electricity, heating and water.

The findings highlight practices that undermine resilience during sustained funding contraction. Organizations most frequently cite short-term grants, limited flexibility tied to narrow outputs, delays in contracting or payments, reduced overhead coverage, and increased reporting requirements.

UN Women and partners call for increased investment in women-led and women’s rights organizations in Ukraine through direct, flexible, and longer-term funding modalities, to prevent long-term disruptions in services and to safeguard the continuity of lifesaving and gender-responsive support for women and girls amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

About the assessment

The assessment was conducted in January 2026 by the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group in Ukraine, co-chaired by UN Women, NGO Girls, and CARE Ukraine, with financial support from the UN Women National Committees.

It builds on a rapid impact assessment carried out in February 2025, enabling comparative analysis of trends, risks, and sustainability challenges over time. A total of 108 women-led and women’s rights organizations responded to the second survey round.