Communiqué on Women
and Girls in Ukraine
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In its
landmark Resolution
1325 on Women, Peace and Security (2000), the United Nations Security Council calls on “all parties to
armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from
gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and
all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict.”
Twenty-two years later,
on International Women’s Day, UNESCO is deeply concerned at the devastating
escalation of violence in Ukraine, which threatens the safety and protection of
women and girls across its fields of competence.
Twenty-two years later,
on International Women’s Day, UNESCO is deeply concerned at the devastating
escalation of violence in Ukraine, which threatens the safety and protection of
women and girls across its fields of competence.
In education, first of all, the current situation in Ukraine is
endangering the lives and futures of the country’s 7.5 million children, both
girls and boys, who are now without access to learning. As we have seen with
the COVID-19 pandemic, educational disruptions put a high number of girls at
risk of never returning to school. UNESCO stands with education institutions to
ensure that girls and women do not pay the price of this conflict with their
future.
In this conflict, women
journalists are also under threat. UNESCO recalls UN Security Council
Resolution 2222, which not only
acknowledges the specific risks faced by women journalists, media professionals
and associated personnel in carrying out their work, but also underlines the
importance of considering the gender dimension of measures to address their
safety in situations of armed conflict. UNESCO is monitoring worrying reports
of women journalists being beaten, detained and threatened.
In addition, UNESCO is
responding to the cultural community's appeal for solidarity to protect artists
and cultural workers in Ukraine, including their freedom of artistic
expression. Women artists and cultural workers need urgent access to
emergency resources such as safe havens for themselves and their
artistic works. UNESCO deeply regrets reports of damage to the works of the
celebrated Ukrainian artist, Maria Primachenko, with whose anniversary UNESCO
was associated in 2009. UNESCO is mobilized to ensure that this does not happen
again.
Ukrainian women
scientists who are dedicating their life to finding
solutions to some of the most pressing issues, such as the climate change
expert Svitlana Krakovska, have had to withdraw from negotiations on the impact
of global warming. UNESCO has celebrated the achievements of some of these
scientists throughout the years - such as the mathematician Olena Vaneeva who
was nominated UNESCO/L’Oréal International Rising Talent in 2020 - and will
continue to stand by their side.
The critical voices of women
journalists, educators, artists and scientists are the bedrock of society and
democratic discourse. They are essential to preserve peace, to uphold human
rights and fundamental freedoms. Yet, their unique role is also what makes them
a priority target of narratives of hate, dominance, and destruction.
As we celebrate International
Women’s Day this year, UNESCO is committed to the protection of women and girls
across the globe. Equality is a universal cause and an everyday imperative, in
times of peace and in times of conflict. Today more than ever, we must show
that we are equal to these challenges.
