A Lifeline Under Siege: The Compounding Crises Threatening the Future of Ukraine’s Women and Girls
Four years since the escalation of the full-scale invasion, the humanitarian landscape in Ukraine has reached a perilous inflection point. While the world’s attention often fixates on shifting frontlines and military maneuvers, a quieter, more insidious catastrophe is unfolding within the country’s social fabric. Ukraine’s women and girls are currently trapped in the crosshairs of a “triple crisis”: a relentless military offensive that has made 2025 the deadliest year on record for civilians, a systematic campaign against energy infrastructure that has weaponized the winter cold, and a sudden, drastic evaporation of international funding that threatens to dismantle the very organizations keeping the population afloat.
The statistical reality is staggering. Since the invasion began, more than 5,000 women and girls have been confirmed killed, with another 14,000 injured. However, humanitarian observers warn that these figures are likely conservative estimates, with the true toll buried under the rubble of occupied territories and inaccessible combat zones. As the conflict grinds into 2026, the nature of the violence has evolved, yet the vulnerability of the female population remains a constant, exacerbated by a domestic environment that is becoming increasingly uninhabitable.
For women like Valentina, a 76-year-old resident of central Kyiv, the war is not just fought with missiles, but with the absence of light and warmth. In the biting cold of February 2026, Valentina’s apartment—once a sanctuary—has become a frigid enclosure. With heating systems decimated by targeted strikes on the power grid, and electricity available for only a single hour each day, her survival strategy has regressed to the primitive: warming her hands over a solitary gas stove. Valentina’s story is not an outlier; it is the daily reality for millions of Ukrainian women who bear the brunt of domestic management in a nation where essential services like water, heat, and light have become luxuries.
This physical hardship is now being compounded by a financial “cliff” that threatens to end the work of women-led and women’s rights organizations (WROs). These grassroots groups have been the backbone of the humanitarian response since the earliest days of the war, providing everything from psychological trauma support to emergency evacuations. However, a new report titled “The Impact of Foreign Assistance Cuts on Women’s Rights and Women-Led Organizations in Ukraine” paints a grim picture of the future.
The report, developed by the Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group—a collaborative effort between UN Women, NGO Girls, and CARE Ukraine—reveals that the financial lifeblood of these organizations is being severed. Projections indicate that women-led organizations in Ukraine stand to lose at least USD 52.9 million by the end of 2026. This is not merely a budgetary line item; it is a direct threat to the lives of the 63,000 women and girls who rely on these organizations for survival.
The survey data is chilling: one in three women-led organizations warns that they may not survive the next six months under current funding levels. As international “donor fatigue” sets in and global attention is pulled toward other emerging conflicts, the local infrastructure that was painstakingly built to protect Ukrainian women is beginning to crumble. When these organizations close, the safety net disappears for the most marginalized members of society: the elderly, women living with disabilities, those in rural frontline villages, and female-headed households who have already lost everything to the war.
The irony of this funding crisis is that it occurs at a moment when the need for gender-specific services has never been higher. The systematic destruction of energy infrastructure has a disproportionate impact on women, who often shoulder the primary responsibility for caregiving and household labor. Without electricity, the tasks of cooking, cleaning, and caring for children or the elderly become Herculean efforts. Furthermore, the darkness caused by frequent blackouts increases the risks of gender-based violence, making the presence of well-funded protection services and women’s shelters more critical than ever.
The operational capacity of these NGOs is also being choked by the energy crisis. Staff members, many of whom are women displaced by the war themselves, are working in unheated offices, struggling to maintain communication with vulnerable populations during power outages, and facing their own secondary trauma. Despite these hurdles, they continue to deliver on their mandates, but the strain is reaching a breaking point.
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous has been vocal about the necessity of maintaining these local pipelines of support. “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 trend of funding cuts is effectively severing lifesaving operations at the very moment they are most needed. According to Bahous, investing in these organizations is not just an act of charity; it is a strategic necessity for the country’s future. “This is the only way women and girls can have a full and meaningful role in shaping gender-responsive recovery and building a just and lasting peace.”
The broader implications of this funding withdrawal are profound. In the immediate term, it means fewer rape crisis centers, fewer mobile health clinics for rural women, and fewer safe spaces for girls who have been out of school for years. In the long term, it threatens to exclude women from the reconstruction of Ukraine. History has shown that when women’s organizations are sidelined during a conflict, the resulting peace and recovery efforts often fail to address the specific needs of half the population, leading to deepened inequalities and social instability.
The international community’s shift in priorities suggests a short-sighted approach to the Ukrainian crisis. While military aid remains a central point of debate in global capitals, the “soft” infrastructure of humanitarian protection is being allowed to wither. For the women in rural frontline areas, the disappearance of a local NGO often means the total loss of access to hygiene products, legal aid, and psychological support. For a woman with a disability in a bombed-out suburb, it may mean the difference between receiving home-delivered food or facing starvation in isolation.
As we look toward the remainder of 2026, the trajectory for Ukraine’s women and girls depends heavily on whether the international community can reverse this trend of financial abandonment. The resilience of Ukrainian women has been a hallmark of the country’s resistance, but resilience is not an inexhaustible resource. It must be fueled by resources, political will, and sustained solidarity.
UN Women, as the lead entity for gender equality within the United Nations system, continues to advocate for a pivot in how aid is distributed. The organization argues that closing the gender gap and supporting women-led institutions is fundamental to global progress. In Ukraine, this mission has moved beyond advocacy—it is a race against time to prevent a total collapse of the systems that protect the rights and lives of women.
The report by the GiHA Working Group serves as both a warning and a call to action. It underscores that the war in Ukraine is being fought on multiple levels: on the battlefield, in the power stations, and in the bank accounts of the organizations that provide hope. If the $52.9 million funding gap is not bridged, the cost will not be measured in dollars, but in the lost potential and extinguished lives of thousands of women and girls who have already endured four years of unimaginable hardship. For Valentina and thousands like her, the warmth of a gas stove is a temporary reprieve, but the survival of the organizations dedicated to her protection is the only real path toward a future defined by dignity rather than despair.
