The women behind the impact of WHLF

Ukrainian women today are living through profound challenges. Their experience is not unique—women in many countries affected by conflict have faced similar hardships. Yet this does not make their experience any less significant.

As the war continues, Ukrainian women have taken on responsibilities far beyond those they carried before. Alongside their personal, family, and social roles, many have become the primary source of stability and support for their families and communities. While countless men serve on the front line and many families mourn the loss of loved ones, women are stepping into new professions, filling gaps in the workforce, rebuilding disrupted lives, and responding to emerging social and economic needs. They are not only mothers, wives, daughters, or friends. They are also protectors, providers, caregivers, and leaders. Many are doing this while adapting to unfamiliar places after being forced to leave behind homes, communities, and lives they once knew. 

Amid these challenges, Ukrainian women continue to preserve our culture and traditions while facing stereotypes, discrimination, and barriers to the full enjoyment of their rights and freedoms. In this context, the fight for equality, dignity, and justice becomes even more relevant. We will never return to the world we knew before, yet we have not fully reached the standards of equality and opportunity to which we aspire and are entitled. 

This is why the support provided through the Women’s Humanitarian Leadership Fund (WHLF) is so important. At a time of shrinking humanitarian funding, growing fatigue, and ongoing uncertainty, it is essential to sustain women’s rights organisations that continue to defend fundamental rights, amplify women’s voices, and provide hope. Their work reminds us that human rights are not privileges granted to a few—they belong to all of us simply because we are human.

Written by Kateryna Ukrainets, Partnership & Safeguarding Specialist, Oxfam Ukraine Response