The United Nations Thematic Dialogue with Ukrainian Women’s Civil Society Organizations was co-hosted by Denise Brown, the United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Geeta Kuttiparambil, UN Women Ukraine Representative, a.i., and Tetyana Kudina, UN Women Ukraine’s Program Coordinator. The event took place in Kyiv on December 7, a press release from ReliefWeb states.
This gathering of 27 women CSO representatives was the first in a series of dialogues intended to give Ukrainian women’s CSOs a platform to highlight new and urgent priorities in the fields of human rights, humanitarian aid, and recovery efforts, as well as to allow direct interaction between women’s CSOs and the diplomatic, development, and humanitarian communities.
Denise Brown, the United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave an overview of the objectives, saying that they were there to listen to everyone and work with them to put the priorities and concerns of war-affected women at the forefront of their response.
The measures that will help to preserve and strengthen the leadership and accomplishments of the Ukrainian women’s movement during the war, the risks, restrictions, and potential obstacles that women CSOs currently face in meaningfully advancing their work, and how the United Nations can better support women activists and CSOs to maintain the momentum of their efforts and amp up advocacy were all topics covered during the meeting.
The lively discussion confirmed that, in the midst of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, women’s leadership and the concerted efforts of all stakeholders are crucial for navigating these difficult times, minimizing the war’s detrimental effects on women and girls, and streamlining the humanitarian response and recovery efforts.
Political representation of women and increased assistance for war-affected women in starting enterprises to sustain their families were other issues brought up by participants. These issues come on top of an already unequal labor market and a rise in the proportion of households led only by women. Other top objectives included support for women with disabilities and access to services connected to gender-based violence.
