“Thoughts on Peace” is an initiative designed to tell the world about Ukrainian women: their vision of peace, their desire to protect themselves and their loved ones from destruction and pain.

“Thoughts on Peace” is an initiative designed to tell the world about Ukrainian women: their vision of peace, their desire to protect themselves and their loved ones from destruction and pain.

“Thoughts on Peace” is written by Ukrainian female intellectuals: writers, actors, singers, journalists, doctors, volunteers… Behind these texts, there are thousands of voices of Ukrainian women who want peace but have to fight, worry about the lives of their children, send their husbands to the front and bury their loved ones…

Our NGO YMCA Lviv was able to bring you the voices of Ukrainian women through “Thoughts on Peace” thanks to the support of UN Women in Ukraine and with funding from WPHF.

International organizations have enough power to change people’s lives.

Thanks to the grant support, YMCA Lviv helped dozens of Ukrainian women. 105 volunteers received legal and financial advice. Some of them are only 20 years old and did not continue their studies at the university because their priority is to help the defenders of Ukraine. 240 Ukrainian women were relieved after art therapy and sessions with psychologists. Some of them have not seen their husbands, who have been fighting on the frontline for 500 days. We were able to organize first aid and dangerous situations trainings, tell the stories of strong women in comics, photo exhibitions and short films, organize media literacy training for young female volunteers. This is only a small part of the needs of Ukrainian women living in a country that has to defend itself.

Therefore, we encourage the leadership and all employees of international organizations to act!

Inspire the creation of support programs in your organization for Ukrainian women.

By doing so, you will demonstrate that you are responding to current global challenges and helping change makers.

We urge each person to do something for Ukraine every week: post, donate, take small steps!

If you look at the map, you will see that Ukraine cannot cope on its own. Russia has much more resources: the number of troops, weapons, finances…

This is especially evident in propaganda, on which they spend a fortune.

That is why we appeal to everyone: take an interest in the events in Ukraine, check the sources of information for authenticity, do not believe when a larger country says it wants peace and attacks a smaller country.

Our planet is not that big. If we allow one dictatorship to seize an independent country now, another will soon do the same.

If Ukraine is occupied, thousands of Ukrainian women will become refugees, raped, wounded and killed by russian occupation forces, as it happened in Bucha, Borodyanka, Izium and dozens of other cities.

We are just like you. But we were attacked to be destroyed and conquered.

Russia talks about peace, but at the same time destroys us.

That is why peace for our women is possible only after justice is restored. And justice will come only after the victory, when all our Ukrainian lands return to us and we sow them with wheat.

When we plant new grapes in Crimea to replace the ones that were burned.

When our fathers and mothers return to their families from the frontline.

When we rebuild the cities destroyed by russian missiles.

When we return our captured soldiers and abducted children.

When we rebury the tortured civilians bulldozed by the occupiers in common graves.

When we mourn for our loved ones and make sure that our children will live without the constant threat of another attack…

You can read the texts from “Thoughts on Peace” here:

• Sofiia Chelyak, journalist, cultural manager

• Svitlana Fedeshova, actress

• Halyna Kruk, poet, literary critic

• Yevheniia Nesterovych, cultural manager, critic

• Anastasiia Shevchenko (Stasik), singer, paramedic

• Olexandra Sorokopud, political scientist, head of YMCA Lviv

• Anastasiia Vinslavska, medic with the 67th Brigade

• Iryna Vovk, war correspondent

Read more about how YMCA Lviv continues its activities after the full-scale aggression here: https://ymca-lviv.org/en/news/ymca-lviv-2022/

The initiative is implemented within the framework of the project “Strengthening the capacity of the women’s network of volunteers in Lviv region” (#FemaleVolunteersLviv) with the technical support of UN Women Ukraine and funded by the UN Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF).

The WPHF is a flexible and rapid funding instrument that supports quality interventions that increase the capacity of local women to prevent conflict, respond to crises and emergencies, and seize key peacebuilding opportunities.

* This publication has been prepared with the financial support of the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), but the views and contents expressed herein are not necessarily those of the United Nations and are not officially endorsed or recognized by the United Nations.