Attachments
Executive Summary
The suspension of United States foreign assistance has created a crisis for women-led and women’s rights organizations (WROs) in Ukraine, threat-ening their ability to sustain operations, protect and aid vulnerable groups and advance gender equality at a time of growing insecurity due to the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Seventy-three percent (73%) of the 99 organizations that responded to the survey re-port significant disruptions, and 93% said they were forced to suspend at least one Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program. The effect is likely to be dramatic especially on the women and girls living in the most war-affected regions in east and south of Ukraine.
Critical gender-focused initiatives have been put on hold, weakening efforts in humanitarian re-sponse, early recovery, and development. The im-pact is far-reaching; survey respondents calcu-late that at least 109,000 of their beneficiaries will lose access to essential services in the short term, including protection from gender-based violence, mental health support, and economic empowerment programs. The number of wom-en and girls affected by the United States’ funding suspension is likely to be much higher as not all women led and WROs operating in Ukraine re-sponded to the questionnaire. The most affected programs are those addressing gender-based violence (GBV), with over 60% of organizations forced to reduce or suspend services, leaving survivors without safe spaces or legal and psy-chological support. Women’s economic empow-erment, peace and security, and advocacy for gen-der equality is also being cut, threatening progress made in recent years to women’s access to rights, services, and opportunities.
Financial instability has placed organizations in a precarious position, with many struggling to pay rent, salaries, and service providers. More than 60% are now facing unpaid invoices, while over half cannot fulfill contractual obligations, leading to reputational risks and strained partnerships. Ensuing staff reductions are weak-ening institutional knowledge and limiting orga-nizations’ ability to respond to growing needs.
Sixty-seven percent (67%) of organizations have been forced to reduce their work force, and half anticipate further layoffs in the coming 3 months due to the suspension of the United States’ financial support. Furthermore, seven-ty-three percent (73%) of WROs will have to sus-pend their operations if there is no change at the current level of their fundings.
The search for alternative funding has become a top priority, yet solutions remain elusive. All of the organizations surveyed are now turning to inter-national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for resources; some are also seeking the support of institutional donors and private foundations; some are pursuing community-based funding models. However, 40% of organizations sur-veyed have no immediate access to addition-al financial resources. While some have funding from other development or humanitarian donors, or rely on membership fees and crowdfunding, these sources are unlikely to compensate due to the scale of the funding shortfall.
Beyond the immediate financial crisis, the broad-er implications for gender equality and the wom-en’s movement in Ukraine are deeply concerning.
WROs fear deteriorating conditions for women and girls, with reduced access to protection services, economic opportunities, and repro-ductive healthcare. There is a perception of or-ganizations surveyed that gender equality will be deprioritized at the policy level, and the influence of civil society organizations will be weakened.
Competition for scarce resources is intensify-ing, making it particularly difficult for grass-roots organizations to survive.
Despite these challenges, WROs are demonstrat-ing resilience by seeking new funding models, strengthening coalitions, and looking for ways to adapt to the shifting donor landscape.