Holosy: Voices on Gender in Ukraine

The ongoing war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the lives of women and girls, who make up the majority of those displaced in the country and across Europe.

Displacement, coupled with economic and social disruptions, have left many women and girls facing increased safety and protection risks while reducing their access to critical resources and services.

In this context, digitalization presents new opportunities for women to overcome these challenges, unlocking new sources of economic growth and opportunity while also promoting greater social and economic resilience in society.

While Ukraine has made significant strides in digital transformation in recent years, from offering digital state services to its citizens to improving the infrastructure and supporting entrepreneurs in creating and scaling businesses during the war, challenges remain.

This episode explores these challenges from the perspective of women entrepreneurs in and outside of Ukraine.

Even prior to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, LGBTQIA+ communities faced rampant discrimination, and barriers have only increased since it began in February 2022. At the same time, transnational solidarity amongst the LGBTQIA+ community has grown stronger during the crisis. This episode explores what barriers LGBTQIA+ community are facing in and outside of Ukraine, and how the needs of LGBTQIA+ communities should be integrated into the humanitarian response.

In the second episode, Kirkach Natalya Aleksandrovna and Dr. Salla Turunen explore the potential of humanitarian diplomacy in the context of the Ukraine crisis, reflecting on how gender can influence access to humanitarian negotiations and how to build the capacity of women to overcome gender barriers to humanitarian diplomatic efforts.

The first episode, featuring guest speakers Valentina Urtan and Steliana Rudco, explores how young activists have been affected by the Russian invasion, what barriers they have faced to engage in and be represented in humanitarian efforts, and what changes they wish to see to address their unique needs in the humanitarian response.