15 creative ways to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality in Europe and Central Asia
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This year, UN Women, the youngest UN organization, proudly celebrates its 15th anniversary. As the UN’s engine for gender equality and women’s rights, we are here to deliver for the women and girls across Europe and Central Asia region.
Theatre performances, films, advertising, football, music, and art galleries – these cultural and artistic expressions are part of our everyday lives, especially when we want to rest and seek inspiration. But beyond entertainment, they also shape our beliefs, thoughts, and ideas. That’s why, at UN Women Europe and Central Asia, we always look for new ways to engage and promote women’s empowerment, gender equality and feminism, break harmful stereotypes, and build a better future for everyone – women and men, girls and boys. On the eve of UN Women’s 15th anniversary, we explore how sports, arts, and culture take center stage in our work to advance women’s rights, promote positive masculinities, and drive changes to end violence against women - and invite you to get inspired to do the same.
Rewriting the script: Teaming up with film festivals
In Albania, from 2022 to 2024, we partnered with FemFest, a feminist festival that brings together theatre, murals, art installations, and powerful conversations to shine a spotlight on ending violence against women. Organized by the Union of Albanian Artists “BashArt,” FemFest is a creative platform for women’s rights activists and artists to make their voices heard and challenge gender inequalities and all forms of discrimination against women.
The collaboration started during International Women’s Day 2022, when UN Women supported the creation of a powerful anthem celebrating the strength and resilience of women and girls in Albania. Performed by some of the country’s most famous singers, the song became FemFest’s official soundtrack.
That same year, during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, our cooperation with “BashArt” continued with the “Violence OFF – Power ON” initiative. Young artists created 14 striking murals and artworks to cultivate awareness about the importance of ending violence against women and girls. UN Women Albania, with the support of the Government of Sweden and the European Union, funded two of these public artworks.
For International Women’s Day 2023, we supported various FemFest activities, including plays, public debates, and artistic performances. One of these was the “Red Shoes” installation, displayed in Mother Teresa Square, in honour of women killed by domestic and gender-related violence. Curated by the Union of Albanian Artists, with the support of the Embassy of Sweden in Tirana, UN Women, and UNDP Albania, the installation remained on display in the heart of Tirana for six months.
In 2024, during International Women’s Day, FemFest hosted a groundbreaking event “A Letter to Men,” which invited local men leaders to confront toxic masculinity and reflect on their role in shaping a more equal society. Inspired by Lis Bukuroca’s book 'Letter to Men,' the event brought together an author, a journalist, a doctor, and two diplomats for a candid dialogue about growing up and living in a patriarchal society.
Directing change: Promoting safety and respect in the film industry
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 2024, we partnered with intimacy coordinators, including the renowned Amanda Blumenthal, a leading expert in ensuring actors’ safety, comfort, and consent during intimate scenes in film and television. Alongside her, acting coach Ivan Shvedoff shared best practices for creating safe and respectful intimacy scenes in film. This initiative, attended by over 20 actors and actresses from the region, was made possible thanks to our collaboration with the Sarajevo Film Festival. Plans are underway to expand this partnership in 2025.
We also hosted a Human Rights Day panel during the festival, focusing on gender roles, femicide, and feminism. The panel emphasized the need for legal reforms and community activism to address gender-based violence and discrimination.
Creativity meets advocacy: Driving change through creative industries
In Georgia, since 2022, we’ve teamed up with the Ad Black Sea International Festival of Creativity – one of the region’s leading platforms for creatives and marketers. This collaboration brings together top speakers from around the world to challenge gender stereotypes and share interesting experiences on women’s issues within the advertising and creative industries, reaching more than 1,300 industry leaders each year.
Through this partnership, Ad Black Sea hosts marketing and creative professionals recognized internationally for their work on women’s rights and gender equality. This initiative is part of the Women’s Economic Empowerment component of the “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia” project, implemented by UN Women with the support of the Government of Norway.
Algorithms for safety: Using AI to improve stop violence against women
In Kazakhstan, in 2025, we joined forces with the private company “Citix” to launch “Light of Saltanat,” an innovative digital project addressing domestic violence. This initiative blends technology with cultural heritage: a vintage 1960s neon sign labeled “Saltanat” in Almaty shines scarlet normally but begins flashing when domestic violence alerts are triggered. These notifications also appear on more than 100 digital street screens nationwide.
Art as activism: Delving into the arts to give voice to marginalized communities
In Kosovo1, we have partnered for years with DokuFest, the annual International Documentary and Short Film Festival, held in Prizren city. Together with DokuFest, UN Women has consistently spotlighted critical issues such as violence against women, women’s representation in media, youth activism, and the power of art in advancing gender equality. This has been achieved through organizing panel discussions, screening documentaries, hosting women’s fairs, and launching art installations.
In 2022, under the festival theme of “How to Survive?”, the stories of women survivors of domestic violence were showcased through a video installation and a handicrafts exhibition. In another edition, UN Women highlighted conflict-related sexual violence and the urgent need to end stigma through powerful storytelling performances and a high-level panel discussion.
Every year, DokuFest attracts tens of thousands of visitors, with over 16,700 attending the festival in 2023 alone.
The poetry of equality: Storytelling for more women in leadership
In Kyrgyzstan, in 2021, we set out to challenge ancient traditions such as manaschy storytelling, once reserved strictly for men, and teamed up with a Guinness World Record-holding manaschy and a new generation of young female storytellers. Ahead of the 2021 local elections, poets wrote original pieces to inspire and motivate women to participate in elections. The impact was historic: the women’s representation in local keneshes (government councils) quadrupled, rising from 9 to 38 seats.
Most recently, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture’s Centralized Library System, we convened a literary dialogue on women’s leadership with over 70 voices from academia, civil society, and government. The discussion, inspired from the resilient female characters in the works of celebrated author Chingiz Aitmatov, honored the strength of women and their role in shaping the Kyrgyz society.
Curating courage: Art against violence against women
In Moldova, in 2024, we launched the creative communications campaign “Do You See Me?” to raise awareness about violence against women. We placed 16 life-sized silhouettes - representing women trapped in cycles of violence - in 16 public locations across Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, including coffee shops, supermarkets, banks, hospitals, cinemas, and universities. Each silhouette featured a QR code linking to an interactive landing page, where visitors could explore the untold stories of survivors of violence.
The campaign culminated in a gallery exhibition where all the silhouettes were brought together, sparking public debate and encouraging reflection on violence against women. The campaign reached 1,905,431 people across digital platforms, while 110 participants joined in-person events.
The initiative was implemented by UN Women Moldova in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the National Agency for the Prevention and Combatting of Violence (ANPCV), with financial support from the European Union, Sweden, and Denmark.
Honoring the legacy: Marking a milestone for gender equality
In North Macedonia, in partnership with the Post Office in North Macedonia, we created a commemorative postmark for International Women’s Day 2025. The postmark was used exclusively on 8 March, International Women’s Day, as a symbolic tribute to the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
The design honours all women and girls in North Macedonia and around the globe, recognizing their resilience, contributions, and ongoing struggle for full equality. It serves as a symbol of empowerment and progress, inspiring future generations to continue advocating for gender justice. The postmark features a raised fist – a universal symbol of strength, resilience, and the demand for women’s rights; the number 30 – marking the three decades of advocacy, policy change, and action since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; and bold, empowering typography and clear visual elements – reinforcing the message that gender equality is non-negotiable and requires continued, collective action.
UN Women plans to use the postmark throughout the year, when appropriate, to support and promote the Beijing+30 anniversary.
From silence to spotlight: Theatre against sexual violence and abuse
In Serbia, during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign from 2021, we premiered “The Pussycat Is Fried,” the first theatre play fully dedicated to the theme of partner violence. Supported by UN Women Serbia, the European Union, the Government of Serbia, and the Embassy of Norway, the play debuted to a full house with over 350 guests, including high-level officials, media representatives, artists, and activists. As a result, what began as a cultural intervention quickly proved its lasting relevance: the play has remained in the regular repertoire of "Teatar na brdu" ever since.
Created by a majority-female team and featuring a well-known cast, the play unpacks the psychological and emotional dimensions of intimate partner violence: manipulation, control, guilt, fear, and the cultural mechanisms that silence survivors. Rather than offering simplified narratives, it invites deep reflection on how power operates in relationships and what it takes to confront abuse.
Written by Milena Depolo and directed by Đurđa Tešić, The Pussycat Is Fried follows what seems to be a perfect love story until it begins to unravel, exposing psychological violence masked as care. Emerging at a time when Serbia was experiencing a wider societal reckoning with sexual violence and by combining live performance with digital storytelling, “The Pussycat Is Fried” reached over 3 million people through national media coverage and an additional 1,5 million through social media engagement.
Equal game: Celebrating World Football Day for gender equality
In Tajikistan, we partnered with the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) to celebrate World Football Day and honor young female footballers from Tajikistan, Iran, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan who took to the field for their final match day of the CAFA U15 Women’s Championship 2024.
At the award ceremony, 10 young female footballers, head coaches, and team managers were honored for their outstanding contributions to the game and their role in breaking down the stereotypes in a sport long dominated by men.
From the field to equality: Scoring for women’s rights
In Türkiye, since 2018, UN Women has been partnering with Fenerbahçe Sports Club (SC) under the HeForShe movement, with the support of Tüpraş, one of Türkiye’s largest industrial companies. This collaboration marks a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, aiming to transform a major sports club into a more inclusive and egalitarian institution through a holistic approach that includes gender analysis, institutional capacity building, and measurable actions.
In 2021, Fenerbahçe SC became the first sports club in Türkiye to join UN Women’s global “Sports for Generation Equality” initiative. Through this landmark commitment, the club pledged to leverage the transformative power of sports to advance gender equality and empower women and girls on and off the field.
As part of the “Equal Together” project with UN Women Türkiye, the Guidelines for Gender-Responsive Sports Organizations were developed, a comprehensive institutional transformation tool rooted in the Sports for Generation Equality principles. Drawing on Fenerbahçe SC’s real-world experience and shaped in cooperation with national and international experts, the guidelines provide a measurable and actionable roadmap to create inclusive, equitable and safe spaces in sports.
Fenerbahçe SC’s commitment to gender equality has also translated into real change. The club, which has nine sports branches including football, launched a Girls’ Football School in the scope of the UN Women Türkiye cooperation in 2019 and later established its Women’s Football Team in 2021. These efforts have opened new pathways for girls and young women in a traditionally male-dominated sport.
Based on this experience, UN Women Türkiye also developed a comprehensive Safeguarding Policy against Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Sports. It is designed to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all, regardless of gender, age, or role, from players and coaches to staff and administrators. It offers a ready-to-use model grounded in the club’s zero-tolerance principle against violence.
The Resistance: Awarding women in arts
In Ukraine, in 2019, we joined forces with the Ukrainian Institute, and we launched the “Women in Arts Award (WAA)” initiative as a part of the global HeforShe movement. It celebrates the achievements of women in culture and the arts – and, since 2023, also their contribution to the path toward victory. Held under the slogan “The Resistance,” in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the 2025 edition of WAA is dedicated to the motto “We never, never, ever lose our faith,” a line by Yaryna Chornohuz, the 2024 laureate in Literature. This year, the initiative is also joined by UNESCO.
Awards will be presented in seven categories: visual arts, music, literature, film, performing arts, cultural management, cultural journalism, criticism, and research. A special award will also be presented to a woman whose contribution to culture is significant but does not fall within the listed nominations or meet the formal criteria of the Award. Additionally, the WAA honors the memory of women artists who have lost their lives during the war.
The Women in Arts Award 2025 ceremony will be held as part of the events marking the International Women in Diplomacy Day, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. This occasion emphasizes the key role of women in Ukraine's international engagement, both politically and culturally.
Marching for change: Men taking a stand against violence
In Uzbekistan, we partnered with 12 influencers, representatives from the private sector, UN agencies, bloggers, and ambassadors, for the “Male March against Gender-Based Violence” to demonstrate solidarity with women and girls survivors of violence. This initiative was part of the regional #HearHerStory social media campaign, launched during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence in 2024.
The regional #HearHerStory campaign brought together influencers, bloggers, journalists, activists, and social media users to stand against gender-based violence and amplify the voices of women and girls who have experienced violence, discrimination, or harassment. By sharing their stories using the hashtag #HearHerStory, the campaign aimed to ensure that survivors are heard, dismantle stereotypes and victim-blaming, and break the silence surrounding gender-based violence. The campaign, including its launch event, reached more than 2 million people.
Awake Not Sleeping: Reimagining Fairy Tales for a New Generation
Storytelling has the transformative power to disrupt norms, challenge stereotypes and inspire positive change. This is why, in 2022, we joined forces with over 100 feminist writers who came together to lend their perspectives on gender equality and inspire a new generation of readers to expand their potential. Our powerful collection of 28 stories from across Europe and Central Asia, “Awake Not Sleeping: Reimagining Fairy Tales for a New Generation,” re-examines classic narratives from the dynamic lens of today’s activists, leaders, innovators, and changemakers.
Many fairy tales were originally created by women for women, about characters who challenged restrictive gender roles, expectations, and laws of their time. But these narratives were rewritten by the powers of their times to break harmful social norms. The Awake Not Sleeping fairy tale collection aims to change how societies think about women and girls’ roles, rights and human potential by bringing back these forgotten narratives and supporting fresh, creative dialogue.
Leading the charge for gender equality through data-driven art
The “Art-Kazan: Where art meets data to promote women’s rights” initiative, launched by UN Women's "Making Every Woman and Girl Count" regional programme in partnership with the School of Data, offers an innovative solution by uniting art and data to advance gender equality in Central Asia. Drawing inspiration from the kazan - a traditional cooking pot symbolizing unity and shared cultural heritage - the initiative empowers artists with data literacy skills, enabling them to collaborate, network, and create compelling artworks that expose inequality, stir emotions, and spark change.
Through this initiative, 18 artists from across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan - selected from an open call that drew over 200 applications - participated in an immersive art residency in Almaty in September 2025. There, they transformed raw data into powerful visual narratives to shed light on issues such as gender-based violence, harmful stereotypes, reproductive rights, gender pay gap, and the feminization of poverty. The final art products will be unveiled at a subregional exhibition at the National Historical Museum in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 11–23 July 2025—a celebration of creativity, courage, and the power of data to move hearts and minds.