Regional Gender Task Force for the Ukraine Refugee Response, 2023 Year in Review

The Regional Gender Taskforce (RGTF) is a network of actors working to mainstream and integrate gender* equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the Ukraine Refugee Response. This includes international organizations, UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations and civil society actors operating at the regional, national, and local levels. The ultimate aim is to ensure that all refugees from Ukraine and those affected by the crisis in neighboring countries can equitably and effectively access and use relief, services, and information.

Humanitarian actors have an obligation to promote gender equality following the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) ‘Gender Equality Policy Statement’ (2008), the IASC Policy and Accountability Framework on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls in Humanitarian Action (2017), and its accompanying Gender Accountability Framework, IASC Gender in Humanitarian Action Handbook (2018), the Gender with Age Marker (GAM), the Agenda for Humanity from the World Humanitarian Summit (2016), and the Grand Bargain. Moreover, humanitarian actors have an additional obligation to support women’s and girls’ protection,
participation and empowerment through targeted actions, as articulated in the Women, Peace and Security thematic agenda outlined in United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

This annual review identifies the results attained by the RGTF, showcases the initiatives of individual members, and considers how to best continue the work of the RGTF moving forward.