As the full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth harrowing year, the international community’s attention often fixates on the shifting front lines and the mechanics of kinetic warfare. Yet, beneath the headlines of territorial gains and losses, a more insidious and gendered catastrophe is unfolding. The women and girls of Ukraine are currently trapped in the crosshairs of a “triple crisis”—a lethal convergence of escalating military violence, systematic attacks on energy infrastructure, and a devastating collapse in international funding for the very organizations that serve as their final line of defense.
Since the escalation of hostilities in early 2022, the human cost has been staggering. Official records confirm that more than 5,000 women and girls have been killed and at least 14,000 others have been injured. However, humanitarian observers warn that these figures are likely conservative, with the true death toll buried beneath the rubble of besieged cities. Notably, 2025 emerged as the deadliest year for civilians since the invasion began, signaling that rather than stabilizing, the conflict is entering a more volatile and lethal phase. For the women of Ukraine, this is not a frozen conflict; it is a deepening abyss.
The second pillar of this crisis is the weaponization of the environment. As winter temperatures plummet, the deliberate targeting of Ukraine’s energy grid has transformed daily survival into an agonizing struggle. This is not merely an inconvenience; it is a calculated assault on the domestic sphere, where women bear the disproportionate burden of caregiving and household management. In central Kyiv, the story of 76-year-old Valentina serves as a haunting microcosm of this reality. Living in an apartment stripped of heating for days on end, with electricity flickering on for only a single hour every twenty-four hours, Valentina is forced to huddle by a gas stove to ward off the biting cold. Her experience is shared by millions of women across the nation who are struggling to keep children warm, prepare food, and maintain hygiene in the absence of running water and reliable power.
However, it is the third pillar of this crisis—the sudden and sharp decline in humanitarian funding—that threatens to turn a difficult situation into an irreversible tragedy. Women-led and women’s rights organizations (WROs), which have been the backbone of the humanitarian response since day one, are now facing an existential threat. A new report titled “The Impact of Foreign Assistance Cuts on Women’s Rights and Women-Led Organizations in Ukraine” reveals a grim financial landscape. These grassroots organizations, which provide everything from psychological support for survivors of sexual violence to basic food and medicine, are projected to lose at least USD 52.9 million by the end of 2026.
The implications of this funding cliff are catastrophic. One in three surveyed organizations warns that they may not survive the next six months under current budget constraints. If these lifelines are severed, an estimated 63,000 women and girls will be cut off from essential, life-saving services in 2026 alone. This funding retreat comes at the worst possible moment. As the war intensifies, the need for specialized protection increases, yet the capacity to provide it is being systematically dismantled by shifting global donor priorities and “aid fatigue.”
The report, developed by the Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group—a collaborative effort between UN Women, NGO Girls, and CARE Ukraine—highlights that the impact of these cuts is not distributed evenly. The groups hit first and hardest are those already living on the margins of society. In front-line and rural areas, where the presence of large international NGOs is often sparse, local women-led organizations are frequently the only providers of aid. Without them, older women living alone, female-headed households, and women with disabilities will be left entirely to their own devices in zones of active combat. For a woman with a disability in a rural village, the closure of a local WRO doesn’t just mean a loss of “support”—it means the loss of her only connection to the outside world and her only source of mobility aids, medicine, and protection.
The energy crisis further compounds the operational challenges for these organizations. While these groups remain committed to their mandates, their staff—mostly women who are themselves displaced or living under fire—are exhausted. Conducting trauma counseling or distributing aid becomes nearly impossible when there is no internet to coordinate logistics, no fuel for transport, and no heat in the offices where survivors seek refuge. The psychological toll on front-line workers is immense; they are being asked to do more with less, while their own homes are under constant threat of bombardment and freezing temperatures.
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous has been vocal about the necessity of prioritizing these local actors. “Women’s organizations in Ukraine are the first to stand with women and girls in crisis—and the force behind sustaining protection, dignity, and hope,” Bahous stated. She emphasized that the current funding trajectory is not just a financial oversight but a strategic failure. “The current funding cuts are severing their life-saving operations. While UN Women continues to work with and invest in women’s organizations in Ukraine, more sustained funding is needed so that they can keep delivering essential services.”
The argument for funding women-led organizations goes beyond immediate humanitarian relief; it is a prerequisite for a just and lasting peace. History has shown that when women are excluded from the humanitarian and recovery phases of a conflict, the resulting peace is often fragile and fails to address the needs of half the population. In Ukraine, women are not just victims; they are the primary drivers of social cohesion and community resilience. They are the ones documenting human rights abuses, managing internal displacement camps, and maintaining the social fabric of shattered towns. To defund them now is to ensure that the eventual recovery of Ukraine will be lopsided, leaving women’s rights and safety as an afterthought.
The crisis in Ukraine is a test of the global commitment to the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. If the international community allows these organizations to collapse, it sends a clear message that the protection of women and girls is a luxury to be discarded when budgets get tight, rather than a fundamental human right. The $52.9 million shortfall represents a fraction of global military spending, yet its absence will be measured in lives lost, survivors silenced, and an entire generation of girls denied a secure future.
As the war enters its fifth year in 2026, the world must decide whether it will continue to look away or if it will provide the sustained, flexible, and direct funding required to keep Ukraine’s women-led organizations alive. The triple crisis of war, energy deprivation, and financial abandonment is a formidable foe, but it is one that can be mitigated through political will and financial solidarity. For Valentina in her freezing apartment, and for the thousands of women like her, the time for “monitoring the situation” has long since passed. What is required now is the resources to ensure that the women of Ukraine do not just survive the winter, but are empowered to lead their nation toward a future defined by dignity and peace.
UN Women remains the leading global entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. By working to shift laws, social behaviors, and institutional norms, the organization seeks to close the gender gap and ensure that the rights of women and girls remain at the center of global progress. In Ukraine, their mission is more critical than ever, serving as a bridge between international policy and the courageous grassroots activists who refuse to let their communities fall apart. The world must join them in ensuring that the light of hope in Ukraine—carried so often by its women—is not extinguished by the darkness of a funding crisis.
