Bonn, June 7, 2024 – In anticipation of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin on June 11 and 12, the international humanitarian organization CARE continues to call for all reconstruction and recovery processes to ensure the participation of Ukrainian women and to promote gender equality. So far, the priorities and needs of women have hardly been considered in the discussions on reconstruction.
“The meaningful and direct participation of women, girls and marginalized groups in all decision-making processes is key to forming a recovery agenda that is equitable, inclusive, gender-responsive, and truly effective,” says Franziska Jörns, CARE Ukraine Deputy Country Director. “We need to protect and ensure equitable access to services they need and opportunities to rebuild their lives.”
Gender equality has received very little attention in the previous two Ukraine Recovery Conferences in Lugano in 2022 and in London in 2023. It has also been largely absent from the various recovery and reconstruction plans that have been formulated by donor governments and international organizations. But Ukrainian women’s rights and women-led organizations continue to drive efforts to meet the needs of the most vulnerable groups and provide vital assistance to survivors of gender-based violence. They are advocating for the rights of women and girls and are essential to increase the participation of those groups in processes and decisions that affect them now and will continue to impact them after the war. Support for these local organizations is therefore urgently needed to enable them to have a stronger voice in decision-making on reconstruction and recovery.
Women lawyers association JurFem is one of CARE’s partner organizations participating in the recovery conference. JurFem works to develop gender-oriented approaches in the work of government and business, with a focus on combating violence against women.
Khrystyna Kit, Chairwoman of JurFem, says: “Without a gender component, a just recovery is not possible. A key question is how to strengthen the rights of gender-based violence survivors in recovery. Psychological and medical support is critical but not enough. Survivors also need economic support and need to be included in social programmes. To make sure, these aspects are considered in discussions, decisions, and interventions, this is why we are here at the conference.”
CARE welcomes broader participation of Ukrainian civil society including women’s rights and women-led organizations at Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 as well as the intention to integrate gender perspectives throughout the conference. It has to be ensured that commitments are translated into concrete actions to advance gender equality in the reconstruction and recovery process and ensure that gender equality is prioritized consistently and sustainably.
For media inquiries, please contact: usa.media@care.org