Open Space Works Ukraine | The Participation and Role of Women’s Rights and Women-Led Organisations in Ukraine’s Recovery and EU Accession. A Political Economy Analysis

The study is conducted under the ActionAid Eastern Europe project “From Crisis to Transformation: Women’s Organisations for a Just and Inclusive Ukraine.”

September – December 2026

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, women’s rights and women-led organisations have been the first to respond to community needs: providing assistance, supporting internally displaced people and countering gender-based violence. Yet their experience rarely translates into influence over decisions on recovery and reform: they are more often engaged as service providers than as participants in policymaking.
The gap also has a financial dimension: in 2022, less than 1% of humanitarian funding went directly to local organisations (NGO Resource Center), and only one in six women’s rights organisations receives institutional funding (Kvinna till Kvinna, Ukrainian Women’s Fund, 2025). At the same time, recovery and EU accession open a window of opportunity for more inclusive decision-making.

Purpose:

To understand how power, interests and relationships among different stakeholders shape the participation of women’s rights and women-led organisations in Ukraine’s recovery and EU accession, and to identify realistic opportunities to strengthen their influence on decision-making.

Geography:

Mykolaiv and Chernihiv oblasts and the national level.
A second wave of the study is planned in other regions of Ukraine in 2027.

Key objectives:

● Analyse what enables and what constrains the participation of women’s rights and women-led organisations in recovery and EU integration at the national and local levels.
● Identify the key actors in these processes and realistic entry points for women’s rights and women-led organisations to influence them.
● Develop practical recommendations for international partners, in particular on effective support for local organisations.

HOW DO WE DO IT?

Desk review
recovery and EU integration frameworks, gender policy, existing research.

In-depth interviews
(45–60 min, online or in person): at least 24 civil society representatives (including organisations representing internally displaced people, persons with disabilities, Roma communities, LGBTIQ+ people, older women and rural communities), as well as representatives of public authorities and international partners.

Focus group discussions
in each of the two locations and online for other regions.

Validation workshop
discussion of preliminary findings and joint development of recommendations at the ActionAid Eastern Europe event on 20–21 November 2026 in Kyiv.