Policy document developed by gender agency UN Women and Secretary General of Global Crisis Response Teamdescribes how war has widened gender gaps in hunger, education and poverty, while also increasing gender-based violence.
Dire situation
For example, school-age girls are now at greater risk of being forced out of school and into marriage, as a way for families desperate to simply make ends meet.
Women have also reduced their food intake so that other family members can have more, amid rising food prices and shortages.
Meanwhile, energy prices leave families with no choice but to continue using low-tech fossil fuels, exposing women and girls to household air pollution, kills 3.2 million people every year.
UN Women also estimates that around 265,000 Ukrainian women were pregnant when the war broke out and have endured physical and health challenges over the past months.
UNFPA Ukraine
Nataliia was four months pregnant when the war in Ukraine began.
Rural food insecurity
The document notes that women-headed households in Ukraine were more food insecure than before the war, with 37.5% of them being moderately or severely food insecure. severe, compared with 20.5% of male-headed households.
Currently, rural women in the Russian-occupied territories are unable to do agricultural work due to high insecurity and lack of resources. However, they are having to meet the needs of internal migrants, adding to their unpaid care and domestic work responsibilities.
© WHO / Anastasia Vlasova
An injured girl lies in a medical ward in Kyiv, Ukraine, after her car exploded.
Sexual violence is on the rise
The report warns of an “alarming” rise in gender-based violence, sex trafficking for food and survival, sexual exploitation and human trafficking, not only in Ukraine but around the world. , in the context of worsening living conditions.
“Systemic, gender-based crises require systemic, gender-based solutions. That means ensuring that women and girls, including disadvantaged groups, are part of all decision-making processes.
“It’s simply the only way to make sure their rights and needs are fully taken into account as we respond to the clear facts ahead,” said Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director. .
© Daniele Aguzzoli
Ukrainian women, fleeing escalating conflict, wait for an elevator to reach a refugee center in Poland.
Recommendations
The analysis highlights that Women continue to bear the various and additional burdens of warthey must be represented in all decision-making platforms on de-escalation, conflict prevention, mitigation and other processes in pursuit of peace and security for the Ukrainian people and beyond.
The report calls on the international community to promote the right to food by targeting the specific nutritional needs of women and girls and accelerate the transition to a sustainable and gender-responsive food system. more equal.
UN Women and the UN Global Crisis Response Team also recommend that world leaders ensure equal access to affordable and sustainable energy, as well as strengthen reporting on gender statistics and data. sex disaggregated data.
