Honouring humanitarian heroes in Ukraine: Stories of healing, hope and resilience

Ukraine faces one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises, displacing millions and pushing communities to their limits, as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As of 2025, 12.7 million people - one in three Ukrainians - require humanitarian assistance, with needs most acute in frontline regions and amongst women and girls. Approximately 3.6 million people remain internally displaced (IDPs) within the country.

Amid shrinking resources and growing needs, women humanitarian workers stand as pillars of strength and resilience, providing lifelines to those most affected. On 19 August, when the world marks World Humanitarian Day, we join the global call to recognize the vital work of professionals who risk their lives to help others in crisis. Today, we honor three such women: Olena Osadcha, Anastasiia Tkachenko, and Nataliya Sidorova – whose daily efforts help ensure that women and girls not only survive this war, but emerge from it stronger, empowered, and ready to lead the way toward a just and equal future.

Their efforts are supported by UN Women, with funding from the Governments of Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, UN Women National Committees across the world, and from the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF). UN Women National Committees are independent non-profits that raise funds, promote women’s rights, and amplify the visibility of women and girls globally.

We call on all partners and decision-makers for renewed financial and political support to women’s rights organizations and women leaders in Ukraine to deliver humanitarian assistance, participate in early recovery, and engage in peace processes.

Olena Osadcha: Staying in Dnipro so women with disabilities know they are not alone 

Olena Osadcha, a woman with disabilities and head of the NGO “I Know You Can,” Dnipro, Ukraine. July 2025. Photo Credit: UN Women/ Sofia Patricia Munoz Gonzalez 

In Dnipro, a frontline city that hosts hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, 33-year-old Olena Osadcha leads the non-governmental organization “I Know You Can,” which supports women and girls with disabilities and mothers of children with disabilities. Living with a disability herself, she understands firsthand the compounded barriers of war.

“I know from experience how hard it is to be a woman with a disability during wartime,” she says. “But I also know this: we are strong. And if we have support, we can get through anything.”

Since 2022, mobility barriers have worsened. For women who use wheelchairs or have visual impairments, many shelters are physically inaccessible — if they exist at all. “Even if there’s one in their building, getting to it isn’t always possible. And often, there’s no ramp or accessible exit,” Osadcha explains. But the biggest challenge, she says, is loneliness and constant fear.

In June 2025, her team began implementing the project “Humanitarian Response and Recovery: Strengthening the Leadership of Organizations of Women with Disabilities,” carried out by the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine and funded by WPHF with UN Women’s technical support. The project offers leadership training, legal consultations, psychosocial support groups, and humanitarian aid.

“We want women to know their rights, to have support, and to know where to turn in cases of discrimination or crisis,” she says. “But most of all, we want them to know they matter.”

A key part of the project is distributing food packages to women with disabilities. Over the coming months, 100 women in Dnipro and nearby areas will receive them. “Food prices rise every day, but social benefits do not. For many women, a food package is a lifeline,” Osadcha notes.

Psychosocial support is equally vital. After heavy shelling, many women suffer panic attacks, anxiety, and insomnia. The project’s support groups, led by a psychologist experienced in working with women with disabilities, offer a safe space “where they can breathe and are understood.”

Despite the ongoing threat, Olena Osadcha has chosen to stay in Dnipro. “If I leave, who will be here to help? This is my home, my city, my country,” she says. Her message to women with disabilities is simple: “You are not alone.”

Anastasiia Tkachenko: From civil service to supporting war-affected women in Sumy 

Anastasiia Tkachenko, case manager at NGO “Girls,” working in her office in the frontline city of Sumy, Ukraine. August 2025. Photo credit: NGO Girls/ Denys Kryvopyshyn 

In another frontline city, Sumy, 300 kilometers from Kyiv, 33-year-old Anastasiia Tkachenko works as a case manager at NGO “Girls,” supporting women and girls affected by violence and the ongoing war. Her journey into humanitarian work was shaped by personal and professional challenges, including abuse and discrimination in her former job and the demands of raising two young children with health issues.

When the war began in 2022, Anastasiia Tkachenko evacuated from her village near Sumy to her parents’ town 60 kilometers away. There, she helped build support networks among women evacuees, sharing vital resources such as medicines and hygiene products.

Returning home in April 2022, she joined the NGO “Girls.” Today, Tkachenko works under the project “Enhancing the Safety, Protection, and Mental Well-Being of Women and Girls and Ensuring the Realization of Their Rights,” implemented in partnership with UN Women and funded by Sweden, Denmark, Latvia and UN Women National Committees.  

Her role involves assessing needs, planning responses, distributing aid, and connecting women with a variety of services, from legal to medical support for mine injuries, to other state and NGO service providers. Her team distributed hygiene kits and coordinated cash assistance provided by UN Women. She recalls a story of one woman who received 10,000 UAH and, for the first time in a long while, arrived at a meeting “glowing with happiness.”

“It’s a large amount. Many women can’t believe they can simply receive this money and buy what they need. Many are older women, IDPs, or those with mine-related injuries.”

Anastasiia Tkachenko describes her work as empowering for both herself and the women she serves. “Helping others gives me strength to cope with fear, exhaustion, and constant uncertainty.”

Yet barriers to assistance often include a lack of information and bureaucracy in conflict areas. Tkachenko stresses the importance of information and advocacy, while also relying on support from her psychologist and family to sustain her own resilience.

Her message to those in need is clear: “Don’t be afraid to ask questions - solutions often exist, and you are not alone.” 

Nataliya Sidorova: Changing women’s lives by staying by their side 

Nataliia Sidorova, case manager at the Women’s Space Charitable Fund, based in the frontline city of Dnipro, Ukraine. July 2025. Photo credit: UN Women/ Sofia Patricia Munoz Gonzalez  

In Dnipro, 36-year-old Nataliya Sidorova works as a case manager at the charitable foundation “Women’s Space,” supporting women in vulnerable situations. Her empathy comes from lived experience: born in Georgia, she fled to Ukraine with her family in 1991 when war broke out.

“I clearly remember how my parents rebuilt a new life from scratch. That’s why I understand women who have lost their homes now,” she says.

Nataliya Sidorova is often the first point of contact for women seeking help, whether they are living with HIV, tuberculosis, or disabilities; single mothers; survivors of violence; or others in crisis. “I know how much it means just to feel that you are not left alone,” she notes.

Her decision to work in humanitarian aid was sparked by personal tragedy: a close person found out about their HIV-positive status and was left to face it alone. “No one helped her - neither doctors nor acquaintances. That turned my world upside down. I realized I wanted to be someone who would not leave people alone in such situations,” Sidorova recalls.

She now works within the “Feminine Power!” project, implemented by Women’s Space and funded by WPHF with UN Women’s technical support. The initiative offers social and psychological assistance, legal aid, vouchers for food, medicine, and hygiene products, microgrants for women-led businesses, self-help groups, and a mobile app with essential medical and psychological information.

“The women we work with are often in very difficult circumstances. This can be HIV, internally displaced person status, and situations of violence all at once. When we give out vouchers, some might say, ‘Finally, I can buy food or medicine I haven’t been able to afford for a long time.’ It’s touching and gives me strength to keep working,” she explains.

Informing women about their rights is a central part of her work. “It makes me happy when a woman says, ‘I know what the National Health Service of Ukraine is and why it’s important to know your rights.’”

Despite constant missile strikes and air raid alerts, Sidorova stays in Dnipro. Her parents refuse to evacuate, and she cannot abandon the women who rely on her. “Many displaced women are here. I stay because my actions make a difference. Not immediately, not on a huge scale, but they do change something,” she says.

Her main concern is the shrinking humanitarian funding: “Support is decreasing, funding is often reduced, and the needs in a country at war are only growing. A woman who has suffered violence, is HIV-positive, or has a disability cannot wait. She needs help now.”