Women’s Leadership for Collective Security: 1325 Localization in the East of Ukraine

Implementation period:

August 2026 – May 2027

Regions:

Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava and Sumy oblasts

Target audience:

Regional 1325 coalitions, government authorities and local self-government bodies, women activists and leaders, the security and defence sector, and youth organizations.

About the project:

Security challenges, population needs and community capacities vary from one region to another. That is why each oblast has developed its own Regional Action Plan for implementing the National Action Plan 1325, tailored to the local context. The National Action Plan for the period until 2030 covers strategic objectives related to strengthening women’s role in the security sector, preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence, and supporting women veterans and displaced persons.

The project will help identify priorities within the Regional Action Plans and translate them into practical, achievable solutions for communities and regions.

The project’s goal is to strengthen the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda by localizing and supporting the practical implementation of the National Action Plan 1325 at the regional and local levels.

Women, Peace and Security is a global policy and human rights framework established by a UN Security Council resolution in October 2000. It defines the role of women in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and addressing security crises.

Project objectives:

• Identify needs and priority areas for supporting the Regional Action Plans, as well as assess their implementation at the community level. In each of the five oblasts, priorities will be identified jointly with key stakeholders: regional 1325 coalitions, government authorities and local self-government bodies, women activists and leaders, representatives of the security and defence sector, and youth organizations.
• Strengthen coordination among government authorities, civil society and other stakeholders.
• Build the capacity of regional and local stakeholders to implement the 1325 agenda.
• Improve approaches to monitoring the implementation of the National Action Plan 1325.
• Raise awareness of the 1325 agenda.

Key Areas of Work

1. Strengthening the evidence base for implementing the Regional Action Plans 1325 and localizing them in communities

• Organize regional roundtables to identify priorities, gaps and starting points for implementing the Regional Action Plans 1325.
• Develop cost estimates for the approved Regional Action Plans 1325.
• Analyse the localization of the Regional t Action Plans 1325 at the community level.
• Monitor the implementation of the Regional Action Plans 1325 in 2026 and present the findings.
• Hold a national event to present the results of implementing and monitoring the Regional Action Plans 1325.

2. Strengthening stakeholder capacity to implement the Women, Peace and Security agenda

• Professional development courses on Holistic Security: five training courses, one in each target oblast.
• Training on gender-responsive security audits for communities in the target oblasts: five training sessions for 100 communities.
• Online training on monitoring the Regional Action Plans using the updated methodology.

3. Targeted support for implementing priorities under the Regional Action Plans 1325
Priority areas will be identified in partnership with stakeholders.

Expected Results

• Five Regional Action Plans with defined budgets.
• Five Holistic Security courses for at least 100 participants.
• Five gender-responsive security audit training sessions for representatives of at least 100 communities.
• Targeted support for priority actions under the Regional Action Plans 1325, including:
  10 training sessions;
  5 communication campaigns.

At least 600 people are expected to participate in the project’s activities overall.

Donor

The “Women’s Leadership for Collective Security: 1325 Localization in the East of Ukraine” project is implemented within the framework of UN Women Ukraine’s Strategic Note (2025-2029), with financial support from the Governments of Finland, Austria, Denmark, France, Norway, Poland and Sweden, and in partnership with Ukrainian Women’s Fund.

Contacts