Women, Peace & Security in Ukraine: Lessons Learned
On Tuesday 16 June, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women, Peace and Security, in collaboration with the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy hosted a roundtable on Women, Peace & Security in Ukraine: Lessons Learned.
The roundtable was addressed by Khrystyna Kit, Co-Founder and Head of JurFem, The Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association. Khrystyna shared her insights on women’s movements and organisations in Ukraine, and how they have been an important driver for change, including during active conflict.
The women’s movement in Ukraine has a long history, with the first formal Ukrainian women’s organisations founded in 1884. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, women’s rights organisations (WROs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) have responded to ongoing and emerging challenges.
This has involved collaboration between CSOs, WROs and Ukrainian state authorities. For example, collaboration between civil society organisations, the General Prosecutors Office and international experts has strengthened Ukraine’s strategy for investigating conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). This includes the preparation of guidance for working with survivors to build trust within the justice system. Civil society organisations will also advocate for improved practice and the development of new strategies where there are policy gaps.
The WPS agenda has been implemented in Ukraine during ongoing active conflict, including before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukraine’s second Women, Peace and Security (WPS) National Action Plan (NAP) was adopted in 2020 and updated in 2022 following the full-scale invasion, making it one of the few countries that has adopted a WPS NAP during active wartime.
The 2022 NAP update included response to Russian crimes, particularly CRSV, as well as developing and strengthening mechanisms to support the 70,000+ women who have served in the Ukrainian armed forces since 2022. Supporting women veterans was another key update in the plan, as well as ways to strengthen women’s participation in decision-making processes and peacebuilding.
Ukraine has a unique approach to implementing the WPS agenda through its NAP, with regions in Ukraine having their own 1325 action plan for WPS. This approach towards decentralisation started in 2014. When a new NAP is approved, regional and local action plans are developed which include specific activities and measures to be implemented by local authorities. This ensures that the NAP is responsive to the different challenges experienced in different regions of Ukraine, for example those near the frontlines of conflict or where critical social infrastructure has been destroyed as a result of war. 1325 regional coalitions, bringing together WROs and regional representatives, further advance implementation of the agenda.
In 2025 the Ukrainian Government started work on the third NAP, collaborating in consultation with WROs to co-own the process. Khrystyna stressed the important role of civil society in delivering on WPS commitments in Ukraine, explaining that in regions where civil society organisations are less active, implementation of regional actions plans is noticeably weaker.
Russian aggression toward Ukraine has shown that women do not only need to be protected as victims of violence and conflict, but are leaders in responding to conflict, serving in the military and advancing the manufacture or arms. However, more women still need to be involved in decision-making and negotiations.
Read more about WPS implementation in Ukraine here.