As the fourth Humanitarian Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) takes places today in Brussels, organized by the European Commission’s Directorate-General ECHO, CARE emphasizes the critical importance of sustained humanitarian assistance to all war-affected people in Ukraine, with deliberate attention to those often leading the response but also frequently the most affected, women and girls.
The ongoing war in Ukraine is disproportionately impacting women and girls who are also at increased risks of gender-based violence (GBV), including of intimate partner violence and conflict-related sexual violence. Ukraine’s Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HRP) for 20241 estimates that 2,5 million people will be in need of GBV prevention, response and risk mitigation during the year. But the HRP has made financial provisions to target only about a third of people in need of GBV services, or 811.000 people.
While eventually more people were reached with GBV interventions than initially planned in 2023, only 33% of the total GBV funding requirements were provided by donors2, raising questions whether the full suite of GBV services required for a qualitative survivor centred response are truly being delivered.
Franziska Joerns, CARE Ukraine Deputy Country Director, remarked, "Now, even against the backdrop of escalating humanitarian needs and increasingly frequent shelling of civilian infrastructure, leading to innocent civilian deaths, in both the frontline and western regions of the country, we see a decrease in donor support in Ukraine. Internally displaced women, children, and the elderly are forced to return to their homes, often in dangerous regions, because they do not receive adequate aid to live in safety and dignity where they have been displaced Meanwhile, with the intensifying conflict there are new waves of internal displacement. As basic needs (food, accommodation, health, etc) are increasingly unmet, existing and newly internally displaced populations and returnees, especially women and girls, face increased protection and gender-based violence risks, including conflict-related sexual violence.”
CARE urges donors to fully fund Ukraine’s response plan, including the full suite of Gender Based Violence prevention and response services, to fill the growing gap between needs and aid being delivered, and to uphold the minimum GBV standards. "Failure to do so may increase risks, including Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH) and cause more harm to GBV survivors already exhausted and traumatized by over two years of violence, displacement and deprivation. This implies increasing the funding that goes to women led organisations (WLOs) in Ukraine. WLOs are leading GBV efforts but they are forced to do more with less, often operating on a shoestring and taking unreasonable risks” says Joerns. Funding for reconstruction must be additional and not at the expense of meeting current escalating humanitarian needs, including protection and GBV. “How can we even rebuild a country with unaddressed trauma of so many GBV survivors, men and women?” Asks Joerns.
Promotion and support of the direct, safe and meaningful participation of local organizations in the response, including of women-led and women's rights organizations, who are the backbone of GBV prevention and response efforts is needed. These organizations play a crucial role as first responders in Ukraine, providing vital assistance to affected communities. However, their voice in relevant processes such as humanitarian coordination and recovery efforts is often marginalized, due to limited access to funding. “Without funding, WLOs and WROs in Ukraine can’t hire more staff or procure equipment that would make their work more efficient. Yet, needs keep on increasing so WLOs and WROs staff push themselves to do more, up to the point of burnout. Women leading WLOs and their staff are often heads of households and the main bread winners. They are responsible for childcare, for other direct and extended family members, they are leaders, volunteers, counsellors and more in their community, facing the double burden of responding to others’ needs while being directly impacted by the war,” commented Daria Chekalova, Deputy Director CARE's partner organization "Girls".
Donors must increase the volume of quality funding to WLOs to support their programs and interventions but also their institutional development and organizational strengthening. This should include budgets for psychosocial support to avoid and / or address staff burnout as well as budgets for women leaders’ participation in relevant coordination mechanisms and for increased networking between WLOs. Failure to involve women's organizations in humanitarian decisions often simply means not responding to women and girls’ needs.
Gender Justice must also be central in the transition from humanitarian assistance to recovery and reconstruction. CARE underscores the importance of upholding principles of inclusiveness, including gender equality, and solidarity. It is imperative to ensure that no one is left behind on the path to rebuilding Ukraine, including women led and women’s rights organizations and organizations representing marginalized groups.