Japan and UN Women cooperate to strengthen resilience of Ukrainian refugee women and girls in Slovakia

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Bratislava, Slovakia - The Government of Japan and UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (EACRO) have launched a project aimed at empowering Ukrainian refugee women and girls and promote gender accountability of the refugee responses in Slovakia, Poland and Georgia.

The one-year multi-country project on "strengthen the resilience of the most-vulnerable Ukrainian refugee women and girls in hosting countries" aims to provide the most vulnerable and at-risk women and girls refugees from Ukraine with socio-economic, protection and educational support, and strengthen their longer-term resilience and self-sufficiency.

The project will also support the key local stakeholders, including host government bodies, women-led and women-right organizations (WLO/WROs) and refugee-led organizations to integrate gender into their refugee response programs and to promote the linkages with the Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.

Under the project led by UN Women ECARO, women refugees in the three countries will be provided with training to improve their opportunities to generate income, including by accessing child-care and education support for their dependents. Similarly, refugee women will receive psychosocial, digital literacy, ICT training and job placement support to address protection needs and secure livelihoods by becoming a part of digital workforce.

The project aims at responding to the needs of Ukrainian refugees in host countries through a people-centered, context-specific and prevention-oriented approach. The project will strengthen fundamental rights by addressing a wide range of gendered needs and vulnerabilities in a comprehensive manner, thus contributing to peace and development in line with the human security approach.

UN Women, as co-lead of the Regional Gender Task Force, has contributed to the Regional Refugee Response Plan under the Refugee Coordination Forum (RCF). UN Women is an active member of inter-agency Regional Refugee Response Plan led by UNHCR, in support of host governments.

Approximately 140,000 Ukrainian refugees have sought protection in Slovakia since March 2022, with a majority being women and children, therefore It's heartening to see this regional project supported by the Japanese government will also be implemented in Slovakia. Promoting the Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and its linkages with the refugee response through women’s participation is critical to build a diverse society. I would like to appreciate the tireless efforts of UN Women in this endeavor.

Mr. Yasuhiro Kawakami, Ambassador of Japan in Slovakia
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Mr. KAWAKAMI Yasuhiro, Ambassador of Japan in the Republic of Slovakia

We are proud to launch this project with the Government of Japan, which underscores our commitment to promoting gender accountability and supporting the most vulnerable women and girls affected by the conflict.  This project exemplifies our dedication to a people-centered, context-specific approach that addresses the fundamental rights and needs of Ukrainian refugees, contributing to peace and development in the region.

Belén Sanz Luque, UN Women Regional Director for ECA
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Belen Sanz Luque, Regional Director of UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Erman Fermancı, Communications Analyst, UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia at erman.fermanci@unwomen.org