The event was attended by Maria Ionova, co-chairman of IFA “Equal Opportunities”, Anastasia Dyvynskaya, UN Women gender advisor, Olesya Bondar, executive director of the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, volunteers and co-organizers of the project “If Not for War” Marina Sokolova and Tatyana Osipova.
The exhibition combines six photographs of women serving in the armed forces of Ukraine, prepared specifically for the event (photographer Alexander Alferov) and 12 photographs of the section “Heroic mothers and sons Heroes» of the photo project ” If Not for War” (photographer Alex Solonenko) that were previously published on the Facebook by volunteers.
Photos of women soldiers draw attention to the role of women in the armed forces of Ukraine. More women tend to join the military service. Today, 17,000 women are serving in the military, including about 2,000 officers, and 1500 were awarded the official veteran’s status, mainly for the participation in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO). Unfortunately, women soldiers are still facing problems with free choice of the military profession, recognition of veteran’s status and other barriers
Under the section “Heroic mothers and sons Heroes”, volunteers share with us 12 stories of mothers whose sons were seriously injured in the war. These mothers are also heroes like their children as they were together with their children during the treatment all this time. These are the stories of women who prayed to redeem their children out of the hands of death and every day they cure them with their love that is as good as medicines.
Marina Sokolova said that the section “Heroic mothers and sons Heroes” is one of 8 sections of the photo series set to display the 122 extraordinary people. At the end of the year, all sections are to be combined in a large-scale photo exhibition and will be published in a book-album.
IFA “Equal Opportunities” sincerely thanks partners for their assistance in organizing the exhibition – the UN on gender equality and women’s empowerment (UN Women) and the Ukrainian Women’s Fund.
For further information:
Secretariat of the IFA “Equal Opportunities”
Milena Horyachkovska 050 310 13 64
Sofia Oliynyk 097 668 80 07