Women, peace, security

The participation of women in Ukraine’s security and defence sector has increased significantly over the past decade as the Armed Forces modernised and expanded. Today, more than 70,000 women serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including approximately 47,000 active service members, while thousands of others work as civilian personnel within the military system. Women currently constitute around 8% of Ukraine’s military personnel, and their presence is steadily increasing across a wide range of roles – including combat positions, command roles, military medicine, logistics, intelligence, and defence administration. Thousands of women serve in combat and operational roles, including on the front line. While Ukraine does not have the highest overall percentage of women in the military globally, it is among the leaders in Europe in integrating women into operational and combat roles, particularly under wartime conditions.

Despite this progress, important challenges remain. Women are still underrepresented in senior leadership and decision-making positions within the security and defence sector. Institutional barriers, limited career advancement opportunities, and insufficient integration of gender perspectives into defence policies continue to affect the full participation of women.

Ukraine is implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which recognises the critical role women play in conflict prevention, crisis response, and peacebuilding. The resolution is implemented through Ukraine’s National Action Plan (NAP), which aims to strengthen women’s participation in security decision-making and ensure that defence policies take gender perspectives into account.

Civil society plays an important role in advancing the goals of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. NAKO contributes to this work by analysing institutional barriers that women face in the security and defence sector and by developing policy recommendations to support equal opportunities and career advancement. In addition, NAKO has worked on developing gender-sensitive auditing methodologies for the security and defence sector. These tools help assess whether public funds and budget programmes adequately address the needs of both women and men serving in the defence sector. Through cooperation with oversight institutions and defence authorities, NAKO promotes policies that strengthen equality, improve institutional effectiveness, and contribute to a more inclusive and resilient security and defence sector.