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Creating new spaces for women in Ukraine 

Leaders and teams in Ukraine are changing to respond to the needs they see around them. And so are we.
January 2025

Innovista is giving support to women in Ukraine who are pivoting from their roles and responsibilities before the war, and have become leaders in their communities.

These women have changed to respond to the needs they see in front of them. So like them, we have been pivoting and finding new ways to support them and the initiatives that they have been growing.

Amalia's story

Amalia is 25 years old. She, along with a team, is serving in a village in the centre of Ukraine.

Read Amalia’s story, in her own words:

“For me it all started with trips to eastern Ukraine. Two or three times a month, we visited de-occupied territories with humanitarian missions, going to a front line cities (Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Orikhiv, and the Kherson region). Later, we started evacuating the bodies of the dead soldiers. I was 22 at the time.

This turned my world upside down.

The most difficult part was bringing them to the morgue, where their families awaited. The nearly lifeless, pale mother who was held up so she wouldn’t fall, her screams calling to her son she would never see again, because he lay in a black bag, his body so mangled that she wasn’t allowed to look. 

Because of that I started communicating more with soldiers' families; they knew about my work and could send a treat to their husbands or sons through me."

Responding to the new needs

From this, the idea for a project began. It grew after many informal conversations with soldiers’ wives.

One woman had lost her husband; another couldn’t sleep due to worry. Nearly every woman experienced loneliness, the burden of responsibilities that had fallen on her, and anxiety for her husband.  After a survey amongst women in the village where they were working, Amalia's team asked women what they were missing the most and what new things they would like to try. Almost every woman chose, “To be among like-minded people.”  

Amalia's team are creating space for women to be together to talk and receive support.

Creating space

Amalia and her team set about creating places where they could do this. They arrange for psychologists to spend time with the women. The team support any initiatives that the women voice and they have created places of trust, relaxation, openness and support.

Innovista has provided support to this team that Amalia has grown and other teams similar to this across Ukraine. As the war continues, the needs of communities are also changing. As good leaders respond to those changing needs, Innovista will continue to walk alongside and equip these leaders.

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About Innovista

Supporting leaders where they're needed most.

Innovista identifies, equips and develops Christian leaders working in challenging locations. Every year, we train and mentor around 1,500 leaders in Britain, Ireland, Moldova, Ukraine, Central Asia and beyond. We help leaders transform people and communities through churches, ministries and enterprises. Inspired by Jesus, we equip leaders to build a better world.