S. Zaluzhna: War has created a phenomenon of extraordinary resilience of Ukrainian women. How can we help them?

By Svitlana Zaluzhna, Ukrainian social and cultural activist, Ukrainian CEO at Ukreate Hub – community of Ukrainian activists, based in Vilnius. S. Zaluzhna shared her insights during panel discussion "Peace as a prerequisite for human rights, welfare, and gender equality" in 28 March, 2023 in Vilnius.

War is an extremely difficult challenge. Because we have to fight not only for physical life and existence, but for the Faith in Humanity. At the same time, the war created new roles in Ukrainian society and economy for women and the phenomenon of extraordinary resilience of Ukrainian women during the war.

Loss of Identity, Relationships, and Independence?

During the year of Russia's war against Ukraine, more than 7 million Ukrainian women were forced to relocate to other cities in Ukraine, and more than 5 million women sought refuge abroad.

Most of them are competent and accomplished women who have lost their previous source of income and need to re-establish themselves and rebuild their professional lives.

Having worked with hundreds of women and heard their needs and challenges throughout the year, I can identify three main challenges.

1. Loss of female identity

Most Ukrainian women now have the role of mother and father at the same time.

They have to take care of their children, cope with their own anxiety and trauma, and with the trauma of their children.

In fact, they have to start life from scratch in a new country or in a new city in Ukraine. This is often a burden that is beyond their capabilities.

They have to take care of family relationships and long-distance relationships with their husbands, as the amount of tension and uncertainty continues unabated. It is believed that in times of crisis, couples put off their problems for later, but later go through a difficult stage and come to a delayed divorce. This is what happened in 2018. Institute of Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine believes that the situation may repeat itself this year.

Many Ukrainian young women are currently forced to live with their parents (mothers).

2. Loss of professional identity

The need to provide for the family forces women to reinvent themselves, study and start their own business at best, and at worst to take low-skilled jobs, such as cleaning, etc.

In the programs I run in Lithuania, I hear stories of a woman nuclear physicist working at a supermarket checkout, and an English professor working in a restaurant kitchen. However, they are all immensely grateful to Lithuania for the incredible warmth and opportunities.

According to an International Organization for Migration, IOM Ukraine, survey conducted in May 2022, almost two-thirds (64%) of those internally displaced persons who had jobs before the full-scale war lost them.

According to the study by IOM Lithuania, 46.2% of the respondents, Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania, indicated they were considering starting their own business in Lithuania but needed more information.?

3. Lack of vision of the future (no direction literally)

We realize that the role of women in the recovery in Ukraine will be enormous. Because:

• We are losing many men and there will be more losses
• Men who return from the war will need time to recover, undergo treatment and integrate into ordinary life.

The Vital Role of Women in Ukraine's Recovery: Overcoming Challenges and Seizing Opportunities?

That is why we need to take care now of the potential of Ukrainian women who can become a powerful force in the recovery and economic growth of Ukraine after the war.

So what can we do: ?

• We have now developed a project to support Ukrainian women social entrepreneurs in Lithuania and in Ukraine (particularly in Zaporizhzhia). The program includes training, mentoring, residency programs, development grants, and community building. Such programs or initiatives that could activate, educate, inspire, and support Ukrainian women to start their own business or project in Lithuania and Ukraine are extremely necessary. Currently, we need donors, partners, and professional communities to help us scale such programs across regions and towns, not only in Lithuania but also in Ukraine.

Many women have become volunteers and public figures, and programs are needed to help them become professional leaders of civil society organizations, professional agents of change in civil society. They need to be trained and empowered for leadership.

• And, of course, we need to continue long-term programs to support the emotional state and work with trauma for women and families, because this is the basic stage of recovery and development.