Ukrainian women are now fully involved in peacemaking processes.
During the Economic Forum in the Polish city of Karpacz, Iuliia Vusenko, a member of the National Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS”, a member of the permanent delegation of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, emphasized this.
“Ukrainian women know how to perceive the challenges that have historically faced them, and today we can already share our experience,” she said. “Ukraine replaced, in some aspects, a huge number of international organizations, which, unfortunately, did not work when we most expected it. They said they would take on a number of issues, but in fact we are doing it on our own, and a huge number of women are involved in this process.”
Vusenko emphasized: women in Ukraine have admitted that they cannot afford to talk about achieving peace exclusively through negotiations.
“I don’t know how to explain to the parents of a raped 12-year-old girl who can give birth and we don’t know how she will survive the birth that the problem can be solved through dialogue.” As a result, people now understand that our dialogue is solely about obtaining weapons from our allies and partners. We understand that peace in our country, and peace throughout Europe, is dependent on how prepared we are to win our victory today. That is why women became involved in this process and took up arms. Today, there are 50,000 women at the front, 37,000 of who are directly in the combat zone. Of course, not everyone is armed; some are paramedics. But we see a large number of women carrying out this mission, understanding that peace in Ukraine is solely dependent on our victory.”
Ukrainians are unique in their experience.
“Unfortunately, we had to respond to the challenges that the world and the aggressor country presented to us,” Iuliia Vusenko said. – We have over 1,000 civilian hostages, 500 of whom are female. Doctors, educators, and representatives of local self-government bodies are among the civilian hostages held by the woman. There are also pregnant women among these detainees. We are not permitted to visit these women, and we have no idea how they feel or what is going on there. As a result, we always bring it up at public meetings. We need the assistance of international organizations to prevent this unknown.”
Vusenko emphasized that Ukrainian victory depends on everyone.
“Today, it depends on all of you, on the representatives of the European Union, how quickly we will win this victory.”
It is worth noting that this year’s Economic Forum drew over 5,000 participants from more than 20 countries around the world. In addition, approximately 200 Ukrainian government officials, politicians, experts, and journalists arrived in Karpach. This year’s forum will be held under the banner “Europe in the Light of New Challenges,” with Ukraine as the main topic.
