“There can be no real peace without justice and punishment for war crimes,” Lina Kushch at UN Commission on the Status of Women meeting

“Our main message was that there can be no real peace without justice and punishment for war crimes,” the First Secretary of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Lina Kushch, summed up her participation in the 69^th annual meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

For two weeks, Lina Kushch, together with human rights activist Liudmyla Huseinova, represented the public organization Numo, Sestry! at the same time with more than 12,000 participants from around the world.

During this time, they took part in more than 30 discussions, meetings, and events at the UN headquarters, diplomatic missions, and other venues in New York. The topics of discussion were extremely diverse and relevant: gender equality in wages, women’s access to education, expanding the role of women in technical and IT sectors, online safety, the impact of artificial intelligence, the consequences of global warming for women, reproductive rights, combating violence, as well as the impact of war and armed conflict.

Discussions on conflict-related sexual violence referred to various aspects: justice for victims, the need to pay reparations, and support for children born as a result of sexual violence during the conflict, as well as areas of assistance to victims. An important emphasis was placed on the active role of victims themselves in the processes of restoring justice and rehabilitation, and Liudmyla Huseinova‘s speeches at these important events are proof of this approach.

“The Ukrainian delegation and representatives of our civil society were able to make a worthy statement by speaking at more than 15 events. We raised the issue of gender-inclusive reconstruction of Ukraine, talked about sexual violence during the war, about maintaining support for women’s organizations after the reduction of funding from the United States,” Lina Kushch noted.

The Government Commissioner for Gender Policy Kateryna Levchenko, Nataliya Mudrenko, Nataliya Karbovska, and Halyna Skipalska voiced very important theses. They were very persistent in promoting Ukraine’s position. There was extraordinary unanimity, and many delegates and representatives of diplomatic missions expressed full support.

Lina Kushch‘s participation in the event was made possible thanks to the support of the Ukrainian Women’s Fund.