Today, Ukraine is in a critical phase of war, and more than always it needs military and financial support from western countries to defeat the modern axis of evil (a coalition of Russia, North Korea and Iran). Support from the West does not always arrive on time, which leads to the failure of territories and human lives. 1 of the key factors influencing the rate of western support is the strength of advocacy from leaders of Ukrainian civilian society, in peculiar women leaders.
At a time erstwhile the western planet is tired of the war in Ukraine, and is beginning to trust the political leadership of Ukraine less, the advocacy mission of civilian society representatives, in peculiar Ukrainian women leaders, is becoming critically important.
The key goals of Ukrainian advocacy:
- Mobilizing the planet around global initiatives that are essential for Ukrainian victory, namely the “Tribunal for Putin” (T4P) as well as #MakeRussiaPay. This second initiative aims to transfer to Ukraine frozen Russian assets amounting to 300 billion US dollars that are located in G7 and EU countries.
- Quick responses to the emergence of unexpected crisis moments in the context of financial and military support from western countries to Ukraine (for example, the fresh financial aid package to Ukraine from the US government in the amount of 60 billion US dollars).
Women leaders and their goals
Currently, Oleksandra Matviichuk is 1 of the key figures fighting for Ukraine’s interests on the global stage. Mrs. Matviichuk is simply a Ukrainian human rights defender and head of the Center for civilian Liberties who was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. After the full-scale invasion, she became active in documenting the war crimes of the Russians in Ukraine. She has received a number of awards and honours, including from The Anthem Awards (2023), TOP-100, the BBC (2022), the Democracy Award (2022) and many others.
Oleksandra Matviichuk and the Center for civilian Liberties are focused on the implementation of 2 global initiatives. These are the aforementioned initiatives “Tribunal for Putin” (T4P) and #MakeRussiaPay. “Tribunal for Putin” is simply a global initiative that was created in February 2022 (CCL is 1 of the co-founders of the initiative). Participants in the initiative paper the crimes of the Russian military, which has engaged in acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The initiative aims to usage the existing mechanisms of the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the EU and the global Criminal Court to prevent these brutal crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice. #MakeRussiaPay is an initiative aimed at obtaining Russian assets that were frozen by the G7 countries and the European Union at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The CCL notes that the confiscated Russian funds will aid Ukraine rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by the Russians, treat the wounded and support those affected by the war. Most importantly, these funds will aid strengthen Ukraine’s defence capabilities so that it can further deter Russian aggression and yet win the war.
The #MakeRussiaPay initiative besides involves a petition to the leaders of the G7 and EU countries. In addition to the Center for civilian Liberties, the Anticorruption Action Centre and the global Center for Ukrainian triumph (ICUV) besides helped with this campaign. Both initiatives are primarily about bringing Russia to justice and establishing responsibility, in peculiar in the economical sphere. The global Center of Ukrainian triumph is the partner advocacy structure for the CCL. It was created immediately after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The intent of creating the organization is to mobilize the planet around a Ukrainian victory. ICUV was created by another women leaders within Ukrainian civilian society, in peculiar Daria Kaleniuk, Hanna Hopko, Olena Halushka and Olga Aivazovska. All these figures, in addition to being the founders of ICUV, have been working for many years in the public, anti-corruption, security, legal and communication sectors both in Ukraine and abroad.
Daria Kaleniuk is simply a well-known Ukrainian public activist who works in the anti-corruption sector. She is presently the executive manager of the Anti-Corruption Action Center. Mrs. Kaleniuk is the founder of various resources designed for tracking money laundering and corruption at the global level, as well as a associate of the Young Global Leaders (WEF) and Munich Young Leaders (MSC) global networks. Mrs. Kaleniuk is included in the list of the 100 most successful women of Ukraine according to the magazine Novoye Vremya.
Olena Halushka besides works at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, where she is the head of the global relations department. Mrs. Halushka besides previously worked as the head of global advocacy in the post-Maidan coalition of 80 civilian society organizations called “Reanimation Package of Reforms” (2015-17) and was a deputy of the Kyiv City Council. She is simply a contributor to the Atlantic Council and KyivPost and has besides written articles for the Washington Post, Foreign Policy and the EU Observer.
Hanna Hopko is the head of the National Interest Advocacy Network “ANTS”. Hopko was 1 of the public leaders of the Revolution of Dignity after Euromaidan and later she became a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for the pro-European same Reliance party. After the full-scale invasion, Hopko has carried out advocacy missions for global support for Ukraine. In particular, she has campaigned for western countries to supply Leopard and Abrams tanks, as well as F-16s and ATACAMS to Ukraine.
Olga Aivazovska, in addition to being a associate of the board of ICUV, is besides the head of the NGO “Civic Network OPORA” (a non-governmental organization campaigning for public control and advocacy in the field of elections, etc.). From 2010 to 2020, Mrs. Aivazovska was the manager of various non-partisan reflection missions in Ukraine, which active more than 25,000 activists. She besides participated in election reflection missions in more than 10 European countries. Furthermore, Aivazovska represented Ukraine in the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine-Russia-OSCE) on conflict settlement in east Ukraine (2016-18). She was 1 of the top 100 most influential and successful women of Ukraine in the years between 2014 and 2021 according to political editions of the magazines Focus and Novoye Vremya.
Why are these women key to Ukrainian triumph and what unites them?
For western democracies and their governments, it is highly crucial to control the financial and military aid provided to Ukraine. For the G7 countries and various another European countries, the fact is key to their actions. Practically all of the aforementioned Ukrainian women leaders have built up this crucial trust. This trust was primarily formed through a western education or internship at leading universities in the US and Europe (Olekandra Matviichuk – Stanford University, Daria Kaleniuk – Chicago-Kent College of Law, Hanna Hopko – Oxford University, Olga Aivazovska – Stanford University). This shows that the worldview and value orientations of these women coincide with the values of western societies and governments. They are heard where the voices of Ukrainian politicians do not always reach.
Even before the Russian invasion, this group was part of the “voice of the West” in the promotion and implementation of reforms in Ukraine, in peculiar in the fields of fighting corruption and human rights. All of them have occupied various positions that before the full-scale invasion allowed them to cooperate with the governments of the United States and EU countries, as well as the United States Agency for global improvement (USAID), the Swedish Agency for global Cooperation and improvement (SIDA), etc. Therefore, western politicians of the highest level are ready to perceive and hear them but Ukrainian women leaders besides request the support of each of us all day.
Recently, the authoritative Ukrainian online publication Ukrainska Pravda presented the task “UP 100. Power of Women”. As noted, “In conditions of full-scale war, women leaders side by side with men defend Ukraine at the front, turn hard circumstances into opportunities for their businesses or communities in the rear and decision the country forward.”
Please support Ukrainian women leaders, as well as everyone who fights against modern terrorism, sign the #MakeRussiaPay petition.
After all, as Oleksandra Matviichuk said in her speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony: “We don’t have time. Time for us is converted into death. You don’t should be Ukrainians to support Ukraine. It is adequate just to be humans.
Andrii Kutsyk holds a PhD in doctrine of Media (Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University) and an MA in east European Studies (University of Warsaw). He is simply a investigation scholarship holder at the Artes Liberalis Faculty at the University of Warsaw, a associate of the investigation Institute for European Policy and a secretary at the European diary of Transformation Studies. In 2024, he besides received the Ivan Vyhovsky Prize.
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