A major issue in a patriarchal world is the protection of women’s interests. In the past, this was not given much importance, but with the development of society and the pursuit of gender equality, it has become clear that men who hold influence and power in governments cannot make decisions on behalf of women.
In 2000, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325. This document emphasizes the important role of women in conflict prevention, resolution, and peacebuilding, and calls on member states to ensure greater participation by women at all levels of decision-making in national, regional, and international institutions, as well as in mechanisms for conflict prevention, management, and resolution. The resolution served as an institutional framework for integrating women into the security sector. In 2016, Ukraine developed an action plan to implement Resolution 1325 and continues to take steps toward its implementation.
The WA Sphere team trained and exchanged experiences with female activists from Kharkiv, Lviv, and Vinnytsia as part of the program “Advocacy for Women’s Interests at the National and Local Levels”, supported by EL*C and the European Union.
Together with Natalia Shkodenko, a gender expert, analyst, and coordinator of the Poltava Region’s Coalition 1325, we discussed the importance of integrating Resolution 1325 into Ukrainian foundations and civil society organizations, as well as the impact of the war on the implementation of the action plan. Political scientist Yulia Bidenko led a lecture and discussion on the realities of implementing the resolution, the risks and prospects, and we discussed the creation and implementation of advocacy campaigns.
The lectures were interesting and informative, delivered by Hanna Rozhkova, a lawyer specializing in public international law and an expert on security and defense sector reforms, the protection of military personnel’s rights, and gender policy, and Oleg Maksymiak, an advocacy manager at the NGO “Fulcrum UA” and an advisor to members of the Ukrainian Parliament on advocacy at the parliamentary, government, and local council levels, as well as on working at the local level, building coalitions, and identifying stakeholders. Anna’s insights on successful advocacy for legislation concerning women in Ukraine, particularly in the military, were particularly valuable.
We are sincerely grateful for the opportunity to share experiences, collaborate on practical projects, and find inspiration to achieve our goals. Despite the complexity of the processes and the pressures we face in the fight for the rights of women and queer women, we continue to do more and move forward toward our goal. Once again, we are convinced that women’s interests are always top of mind.
The event was supported by the EuroCentralAsian Lesbian* Community and the European Union.
