Ukrainian women at the front lines of resistance and recovery

UN Women helped 180,000 Ukrainian women in 2024 to lead in recovery efforts, politics, businesses and more.

"I can't imagine myself anywhere else,” says Kseniia Mishyna, although she cannot remember when she last ate or slept or had any time for herself. As a village head of four villages in war-affected Ukraine, she leads safe evacuation of residents and drives into hard-to-reach places on the front lines to deliver food. In areas where basic infrastructure had collapsed, Mishyna delivers essential humanitarian aid.

Why you should be worried about Ukraine’s women 

Three years into the invasion of Ukraine, there is ample evidence that the effects of war are deeply gendered. Since the war abruptly upended people’s lives, women and girls have been shaken by displacement, are dealing with devastating income loss, and a shocking surge in violence.  

• More than 4,000 women and 300 girls have been killed, while 9,596 women and 750 girls were injured since 2022, although the true toll is likely much higher.   

• Cases of gender-based violence have tripled since the war began.

• Domestic abuse, sexual violence, and other forms of violence have left an estimated 2.4 million people – mostly women and girls in need of support services.

• Since February 2022, the United Nations in Ukraine has documented 433 cases of conflict-related sexual violence,, the majority involving women and girls.

• 1.8 million women and girls remain displaced within Ukraine, that’s 57 per cent of Ukraine's 3.75 million internally displaced persons, while nearly 6.7 million people need humanitarian assistance.

• Women earned 41 per cent less than men in 2023, doubling the pay gap since 2021

• Women are spending 56 hours per week on unpaid childcare in 2024, up from 49 hours before the war.

• With power cuts now a constant reality, only 35 per cent of 800 women-owned rural businesses surveyed in 2024 had backup power, leading to income loss.

As the war grinds on, gender-blind aid continues to overlook women’s specific needs, putting their safety and livelihoods in direct jeopardy.

Results that unlock opportunities for women in Ukraine 

Support from donors – governments, organizations, and individuals – has allowed UN Women to deliver urgently needed support that saves lives and unlocks opportunities for Ukraine’s war-torn women.

Women are powering Ukraine’s wartime economy and have launched more than half (59 per cent) of all new sole businesses in 2024 (up from 51 per cent in 2021). Over three years, the share of women entrepreneurs has grown from 40 per cent to 61 per cent, keeping the economy, businesses and family afloat.

Since the war began in 2022:

• 180 000 women and girls received support from UN Women in 2024, delivering life-saving supplies, providing mobile mental health teams, free legal aid, protection from conflict-related sexual violence, and professional development training .
• UN Women supported the government and members of Parliament with technical and substantive knowledge to help pass over 15  new laws and policies to protect women’s rights including the Istanbul Convention and laws on reparations for survivors of conflict related sexual violence.
• More than USD 24 million in donations to 80 women’s rights organizations operating in the hardest-hit areas were allocated from the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund. Donations have provided:
  • Life-saving basics in black-out zones: grants paid for generators, solar lamps and power-banks that keep +40 shelters, safe-spaces and hot-meal kitchens open when the grid goes down. . 
  • Direct relief for women and girls on the move: partners have distributed food parcels, hygiene and dignity kits, and winter clothing for more than 23, 000 women and their families across Ukraine’s hardest-hit areas.
  • Trauma and psychosocial support: More than 42,800 women have received therapy and trauma-focused rehabilitation services. 

From crisis response to rebuilding futures

We don’t just show up – UN Women helps shift power into women’s hands since 2022 and the start of Russia’s large scale invasion.

• 74,000 women received mentoring support connected to decent jobs through Women for the Future initiative led by the Happy Monday NGO.
• More than 10,000 women small and medium size business owners graduated from the Dream and Achieve digital-skills academy run by NGO Impact Force. 
• 160 displaced women received start-up vouchers to launch businesses and regain independence.
• Micro-grants, replacement equipment, and business-skills courses delivered through networks like the Rural Women Business Network helped displaced and rural women restart bakeries, farms and cafés, protecting family incomes.

“Initially, I found it difficult to open up; however, I later realized that participating in the programme is not only about business but also about support, which I found to be very valuable.”

Aliona Demchenko, who fled Zaporizhzhia, now runs her own online business and has doubled her earnings with help from Dream and Achieve. Read more here.

Laws, policies, and budgets that work for women

In times of war, when laws and budgets do not pay attention to women’s needs and realities, equality suffers setbacks that take decades, or generations to reverse. UN Women advises the Government of Ukraine and lawmakers on legal and policy changes that protect women and girls and safeguard their rights. Since 2022, more than fifteen laws, policies and strategies have been passed in Ukraine which advance women’s access to rights, and services and to support their full and equal participation in decision-making. 

While international aid is critical for Ukraine, out of the USD 19.2 billion allocable aid in 2023, only USD 3.6 billion included any gender equality objectives, according to the OECD. Within the aid given to Ukraine that year, less than half a per cent was dedicated to gender equality as the principal objective.

As Ukraine rebuilds from war, how money is spent matters more than ever, especially for women and girls. That’s why UN Women, together with its partners, has been working closely with the Ukrainian Government to make sure national budgets support gender equality. UN Women is also supporting the Alliance for Gender Responsive and Inclusive Recovery a multistakeholder international forum of over 80 members advocating for better financing for gender equality in Ukraine’s recovery and women’s leadership in decision making. 

The result – a major win in 2025 – Ukraine has passed a law that requires “gender-responsive budgeting” by all government institutions In simple terms, it mean s making sure public funds go to things that truly meet all people’s needs, including women and girls – like healthcare, education, jobs, and safety. This law, along with Ukraine’s Gender Equality Strategy for 2022–2030, puts women and girls front and centre of the country’s recovery efforts. 

Women lead where others can’t 

Since the war began, UN Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund has backed over 65 women-led organizations across 20 regions in Ukraine. These women are delivering aid, offering mental health support, and leading recovery efforts in places still being regularly attacked by missiles and drones.

More than 70,000 women have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine – an unprecedented shift in the country’s military. Of those, at least 5,500 are serving in active combat zones. As war rumbles on, Ukrainian women are not only defending their country, they are taking their safety and dignity into their own hands, refusing to be passive victims of war.

From the battlefield to community frontlines, women are asserting their power, protecting their rights, breaking into previously male-dominated professions, and demanding a future shaped on their terms. UN Women is training them to be municipal bus drivers as well as deminers. 

“What seems ‘not a woman's job’ may turn out to be your mission. We are strong. We can do it all!" says Tetiana Rubanka, who began her career in humanitarian demining to support Ukraine’s recovery. Read her story

The women and girls of Ukraine need you more than ever

In a world reeling from geopolitical conflicts and rising inequality, it is women and girls who are paying the highest price. Many have lost paid work and education opportunities, caregiving has intensified, and their voices are still missing from the rooms where decisions about their lives are being made.

As rights are rolled back, a movement to silence feminism and its potential is creeping into the mainstream, threatening women’s safety, freedom and hope for an equal future. In Ukraine, women are pushing back, claiming leadership to decide about the kind of future they want. They will not be silenced and victimized. 

And yet, women’s organizations, the torchbearers of women’s rights worldwide and in Ukraine, are being “stretched to the brink” amid global aid cuts. 

Without sustained support, life-saving services could vanish, access to security and rights could further crumble. Livelihoods could collapse. Women could be silenced and made powerless.

This is our moment to act

For 15 years, UN Women has worked with all women and girls, for women’s rights and gender equality. We will never give up. Now is the time to stand with us. You have the power to protect progress, sustain local women leaders, and deliver true change.

We are experienced enough to deliver. We are bold enough to transform.

Donate now. For ALL women and girls.