Not Giving Up: Women in Ukraine’s Humanitarian Response
"I was desperate to come back. I didn’t feel mentally well being away from the war."
Iryna spent only a few weeks outside Ukraine. At the beginning of the invasion, she evacuated alone with her cat to Hungary, but she soon realized she needed to go back and supported colleagues and acquaintances in leaving Ukraine, and she decided she could never leave again—her place was in Ukraine.
Anhelina fled Kherson under gunfire, heading to Slovakia. Yuliia was abroad when the war broke out, and Olena moved west in search of safety. But all of them ultimately decided to return to support the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
Iryna, from activism to humanitarian work
"It’s been a decade of war," Iryna reflects. "I can hardly remember life without it. And I think for many of us, it has become part of our identities, part of our way of life."
Since taking part in the Euromaidan revolution in 2013, shortly before Russia invaded Crimea, she has been committed to activism. She never considered returning to her previous career in human resources; instead, she wanted to contribute to society. That’s why her work with ActionAid, focusing on women's rights, is more important than ever.
But, it's not easy.
"My sleep was affected. I couldn’t sleep. I still rely on pills—I became a bit dependent. I haven’t been able to go back to normal. I also couldn’t read books for a while, to concentrate. Our lives have become so intense. You’re constantly in this survival mode."
Despite this, she feels safe in her lifelong neighbourhood, Podil (Kyiv), where she still visits the same café every morning.
"Another challenge [...] are those emotional moments when you find out that a friend or a colleague has gone missing or has died. You can’t normalize these experiences—it always hurts. We are getting used to the war, to the security situation, to the explosions... to many things. But that part is always hard." Her thoughts quickly drift to a friend. "Honestly, I don’t think he’s alive […] It’s been over two years since he disappeared. I’ve had dreams about him. It’s hard to explain. But you just can’t accept that a friend of yours may not be alive anymore."
Despite everything, working alongside Ukrainian organizations inspires her to keep going. "Seeing how people come together and come up with brilliant ideas... For example, a partner organization working in Kherson, providing medical services in extremely unsafe conditions, traveling from village to village. […] Or incredible women's rights organizations creating shelters for women and children. People are responding to the situation, to the challenges, with the resources they have, mobilizing volunteers..."
Anhelina, a new purpose amid conflict
Anhelina was a teacher in Kherson. After three months of Russian occupation—facing severe food shortages, water and heating cuts—she and her family knew they had to leave. She took with her the postcards that her students had drawn for her at school. She later brought them back to Ukraine after returning from Slovakia, where she was refugee for a year and a half.
Now, as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at ActionAid Ukraine, her work is very different from what she did before, but she is happy to be able to help. "As a person, my life has changed. I lost my home, my friends, my job, my... rhythm of life. But now I have a new job, new friends, a new home, a new opportunity [...]. I’ve always loved helping people, and I enjoy working in the humanitarian field. It’s about being useful, about connecting with people."
When the sirens go off and she hears explosions, she takes shelter near her new home—in a basement where she has started writing stories and finding solace in the books she loves.
"It’s been a difficult time, but it was also a good time to understand myself—what I want, what I can do. It’s important to know yourself, how you feel, what you want, and how to cope with psychological challenges."
Her family, especially the example set by her mother and grandmother, is fundamental in rebuilding everything she left behind. But she also feels a strong sense of support from society. "The war in Ukraine is not just a news headline. It’s real life, real people whose lives have been destroyed and changed forever. We lost our homes, friends, families, jobs […]. For us, it’s so important to have someone who can say, 'I stand with you, and I will stay with you.'”
Yuliia, the hope of change
When the war began, Yuliia was abroad, and her biggest fear was her parents' wellbeing in Kharkiv—one of the most heavily bombed cities. When she finally managed to relocate her family to Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, she could breathe a little easier.
For Yuliia, her family is her anchor, her pilar. "At some point, I realized I needed professional help, and I’ve been working with a therapist for a long time… But my family is also a very important. When I have really difficult moments, I know I can call my sister."
She admits that her work feels deeply personal. "Sometimes it’s hard to see it as just a job. I’m still on both sides of the humanitarian response. I’m deeply connected to local issues, and sometimes it’s difficult to separate work from my personal feelings."
Yuliia has always felt a bit like a nomad. In her 27 years, she has travelled to more than 30 countries. But she knows she made the right decision in coming back to Ukraine. "Being abroad was difficult—very lonely […] This war connected me with a feeling of helplessness, and when I was away, that feeling was even stronger […] So returning was a difficult decision, but it was the right one at the time."
She believes that this same sense of helplessness is what has driven people to mobilize.
“The biggest change that I saw was the change in people's behaviour […] how people were mobilized and how they were helping each other and how [they] were trying also to do whatever they can […] Somehow, this mood and this huge change in a very self-organized society it was very important. I think also gives hopes for better future”.
Olena, an unwavering commitment
"Before February 2022, I wanted a family. There was a guy... there were some moments that weren’t perfect, but I was thinking of a family. But then… all the dreams I had just stopped existing."
Olena remembers how suddenly her life took a 180-degree turn when the war started.
"It changes everything—your entire life, your relationships with people, your priorities. It changes your life from top to bottom."
After spending some time in Lviv working for an organization, she was offered a position in Kharkiv, one of the most devastated cities. "People there had the greatest needs, so I decided to go. Kharkiv was heavily bombed—the city felt like a wounded human being, or a wounded animal—hurt, but still alive.
There, she also learned the importance of resilience, despite the immense hardships. Her lowest point was hearing about the death of a former colleague. "He was just 21 or 22, a great guy—an activist, full of values, incredibly intelligent, deeply empathetic, with a promising future in the sector... I didn’t even know he had joined the military until a few weeks before I found out he had been killed."
Despite the pain, she keeps working every day to support the Ukrainian organizations she collaborates with. "You can’t lose motivation. You understand that there’s something bigger than you, something greater than your own efforts or those of the people working alongside you."
Iryna, Anhelina, Yuliia, Olena are some of the thousands of women who are on the frontline responding to this humanitarian crisis.
Women, and Women Rights Organisations are offering vital services despite facing significant limitations and being excluded from important decision-making processes at all levels despite playing a critical role in the humanitarian response. The leadership of women and young people’s organisations in Ukraine is paramount; just guarantying real participation and quality and timely resources, we will ensure that the needs and rights of women and girls are at the heart of this response.