Anna Saienko visiting our Ukraine Halfway House
Last week, Halyna Skipalska, our Ukraine Country Director and Executive Director of the Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health, and Anna Saienko, our Ukraine Associate Programs Director, joined the 68th UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York City. Skipalska, who represented Ukraine alongside the government delegation, spoke, ”My objective is to amplify the voices of Ukrainian government officials at this UN session and ensure that the voices of Ukrainian women and girls resonate on this global stage.”
Among their meetings, Skipalska and Saienko met with other country’s representatives, including countries mid-conflict undergoing similar difficulties in providing women and children access to health services, and attended events focused on post-war recovery and conflict-related gender-based violence.
During the week, we also held the following two events:
Empowering Resilience: Social Protection Systems for Women and Girls (WAG) in Humanitarian Settings – Insights from Ukraine and Uganda
This CSW68 virtual parallel side event aims to share experiences, lessons learned, and best practices, fostering collaboration and advocacy for a comprehensive, gender-responsive approach to humanitarian support. We will delve into the crucial role of integrated social protection systems encompassing mental health, legal services, food and housing security, and economic assistance. We discussed tailored interventions, policy frameworks, and community-based strategies implemented in Ukraine and Uganda.
We welcomed the following speakers:
- Samuel Mukirane, Associate Programs Director, HealthRight Uganda
- Scott Bartell, Program Manager, Trust Fund For Victims (TFV), International Criminal Court (ICC)
- Halyna Skipalska, Country Director, HealthRight Ukraine, and Executive Director, Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health (UFPH)
- Kateryna Cherepakha, President, La Strada Ukraine
Unyielding Determination in Ukraine: Brave Hearts, United Souls
Co-hosted by HealthRight International and the New York University School of Global Public Health. At HealthRight, we’re acutely aware of the challenges faced by Ukrainian women and girls amidst the ongoing conflict. Over the past two years, we’ve assisted over 800,000 clients, including many mothers with children. This wouldn’t have been possible without our large team of dedicated Ukrainians prioritizing the safety and health of their people. “I want to highlight the work in Ukraine. It’s hard work, especially for our field workers. They are heroes who continue to work in the middle of a war,” said Saienko.
Speakers will share their programming experiences in responding to the current crisis. In particular, they will highlight HealthRight’s Caring for Carers (C4C) initiative, which supports staff well-being and mental health through counseling, adaptive policies, and safe-space programming.
Anna Saienko, Associate Program Director, HealthRight Ukraine
Anna is a lawyer and expert in human rights protection, specializing in the prevention and response to gender-based violence, including domestic violence. She is also skilled in addressing sexual exploitation and abuse within humanitarian contexts and trains professionals in the humanitarian sector.
Halyna Skipalska, Country Director, HealthRight Ukraine & Executive Director, Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health (UFPH)
Halyna is a gender expert and civil society activist with 20 years of experience. She is actively engaged in the national reform initiatives providing specialized services for survivors of domestic violence/gender-based violence (DV/GBV), piloting and scaling up innovative nationwide models of service provision, and building capacity of local authorities, service providers, and CSOs.
