This year, 59% of new businesses in Ukraine were opened by women, First Lady Olena Zelenska emphasized in her speech at the eighth Ukrainian Women’s Congress in Kyiv. The theme of this year’s event was “Women’s Potential: New Roles, New Quality.”
Participants discussed how the potential of women contributes to overcoming the challenges of war and how this potential could be a vital element in rebuilding and modernizing the country in the future.
Olena Zelenska noted that, according to the Ministry of Economy, the participation of women in the “Own Business” grant program has risen to 48% this year. Additionally, women now lead 22% of Ukrainian diplomatic missions, and nearly 20% of all volunteers are women, according to the Ministry of Defense.
“We have to admit right away that this potential often comes at a high price. Just this year, I’ve had the honor of meeting incredible women, especially educators. Like Larysa Fesenko, who endured 45 days in a Russian prison cell and returned to her school in the Kharkiv region after liberation. Or Olena Vlezko, who continued teaching children remotely from her parents’ basement in Myropillia, near the border with the aggressor state, under constant shelling,” emphasized the First Lady.
She stressed that all Ukrainians, despite the trials of war, have the potential for post-traumatic growth.
“Not everything happening now holds us back. Alongside our trauma and pain, sometimes even as their consequences, there are opportunities. And all of us – women and men – must believe in this if we want to build a strong society,” concluded Olena Zelenska.