WASHINGTON, D.C.—February 21, 2023—Marking one-year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Vital Voices today released an issue brief on the role of women during the war and announced it will hold a high-level panel March 1, the first day of Women’s History Month, at the Vital Voices Global Headquarters for Women’s Leadership focusing on the essential role of women leaders in responding to the Russian invasion.
The featured panelists are Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the USA, Katrina Fotovat, the Senior Official for the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State and Ukrainian Human Rights Activist Oksana Horbunova. The discussion will be moderated by Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security at Georgetown University.
Women have been at the frontlines of the conflict, leading humanitarian efforts as well as serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They have also been subject to high-rates of sexual violence by Russian forces, as well as gender-based violence and predatory practices.
Since the Russian invasion, Vital Voices has provided more than $250,000 to a network of eight women-led non-governmental Ukrainian organizations and has mobilized its global network of women leaders in support of the women and girls in Ukraine. Through its Voices Against Violence Initiative, Vital Voices has earmarked $50,000 USD to aid Ukrainian women who have been subject to conflict-related gender-based violence.
WHEN:
March 1, 2023
10:30AM – 12:00PM EST
WHERE:
Vital Voices Global Headquarters for Women’s Leadership
1509 16 Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036
SPEAKERS:
Ambassador Oksana Markarova
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the USA
Katrina Fotovat
Senior Official for the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State
Ambassador Melanne Verveer
Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security at Georgetown University, served as first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues in 2009
Oksana Horbunova
Pioneering human rights activist who founded Ukraine’s first counter-trafficking NGO after discovering an alarming number of women were missing due to human trafficking while working for the Ukrainian government in the 1990s; a senior leader at the International Organization for Migration in Ukraine
For media inquiries and to RSVP to attend, contact: media@vitalvoices.org
About Vital Voices
Now celebrating 25 years, Vital Voices Global Partnership has directly invested in more than 20,000 women leaders across 184 countries and territories since its inception in 1997. Driven by the universal truth that women are the key to progress in their communities and nations cannot move forward without women in leadership positions, Vital Voices has provided early support for leaders who went on to become Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, U.S. Youth Poet Laureates, prime ministers, award-winning innovators, pioneering human rights defenders, and breakthrough social entrepreneurs, including Amanda Gorman and Malala Yousafzai. In an effort to advance and expand this work, in 2022 Vital Voices opened the doors to the world’s first global embassy for women, the Vital Voices Global Headquarters for Women’s Leadership. It is a first-of-its-kind space that allows for convening, innovation, planning, and action—all in the pursuit of serving women leaders who are taking on the world’s greatest challenges.
Past Panel Highlight with Featured Speakers:
