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DC | Recovering from War: Women on the Frontlines of Ukraine’s Economic Reconstruction
Thursday, March 09, 2023, 5:30 PM EDT
Category: Events



Join the WFPG for an exclusive event at House of Sweden featuring globally-renowned women leaders on the importance of women’s economic empowerment in Ukraine, as well as a short film screening and reception showcasing an exhibition about women’s economic inclusion.

Recovering from War: Women on the Frontlines of Ukraine’s Economic Reconstruction will feature a screening of the short film “Oh, Sister!” — which follows the journeys of six women facing challenges in the ongoing Russian invasion and their fight for peace, justice, and freedom in Ukraine—and will lead into a high-level panel conversation on the importance of women's inclusion in economic recovery. The conversation will begin with opening remarks from Ingrid Ask, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C.; Michael Curtis, Deputy Ambassador of the European Union to the United States; Oleksandra Matviichuk, 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate (Ukraine); H.E. Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States; and Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Emerita.

The panel conversation will feature Olga Hamama, Co-Founder of United for Ukraine, Sevgil Musayeva, chief editor of Ukrainska Pravda, and Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize laureate (USA). Sabrina Siddiqui, a White House reporter at the Wall Street Journal, will moderate the event.

Following the panel, please join us for a reception featuring the Embassy of Sweden’s exhibition titled “Her Rights! Money, power, autonomy.” The exhibition, closing a few days after the event, focuses on the necessity of women's economic inclusion to achieve prosperity. Light food and refreshments will be provided.

This event is co-organized by the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, United for Ukraine (Switzerland), the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C., and the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.

Sweden holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2023. This event is part of the Embassy of Sweden's EU Presidency outreach program. 

This event is open to WFPG Members and invited guests only. If you are not a Member and would like to join this and other exclusive WFPG events, please sign up here.


Remarks by:
Ingrid Ask, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C.
Michael Curtis, Deputy Ambassador of the European Union to the United States.
H.E. Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, 2022 Nobel laureate (Ukraine).
Nancy Pelosi, Former 52nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Representative for California’s 11th Congressional District.

A conversation with:
Olga Hamama, Co-Founder of United for Ukraine (Switzerland).
Sevgil Musayeva, Editor-in-Chief of Ukrainska Pravda; 2019 Harvard University Nieman Fellow.
Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel laureate (USA); Co-founder of Nobel Women's Initiative; American peace and human rights activist.

Moderated by:
Sabrina Siddiqui, White House Reporter at the Wall Street Journal.


Thursday, March 9, 2023 | 5:30 PM ET

In-person event - To register, please complete the form below to
receive a registration link from the House of Sweden.


Registration is now closed. Please reach out to [email protected] to be placed on the waitlist.

Olga Hamama is an accomplished dispute resolution lawyer and arbitrator. She is widely recognized for her extensive experience in managing complex cross-border disputes and leading international teams in high-stake, global projects. In the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Olga took swift action, mobilizing a network of hundreds of lawyers and technology experts to provide critical information and free legal advice to those fleeing the war. This initiative evolved into United for Ukraine (UFU), an international NGO Olga co-founded, now serving as board president. UFU built a pan-European platform that serves displaced people of Ukraine with critical information, free legal advice and housing in over 40 countries, while supporting small businesses inside Ukraine to foster the country's recovery. As a fervent supporter of female empowerment, Olga co-conceived UFU's "Women Lead" campaign to support women in Ukraine on their path to entrepreneurship, impact and economic sustainability.


Oleksandra Matviichuk is a human rights defender who works on issues in Ukraine and the OSCE region. Currently, she heads the human rights organization, Center for Civil Liberties and coordinates the initiative group, Euromaidan SOS. The activities of the Center for Civil Liberties are aimed at protecting human rights and establishing democracy in Ukraine and the OSCE region. The organization is developing legislative changes, exercising public oversight over law enforcement agencies and judiciaries, conducting educational activities for young people and implementing international solidarity programs. The Euromaidan SOS initiative group was created in response to the brutal dispersal of a peaceful student rally in Kyiv on November 30, 2013. During three months of mass protests called the Revolution of Dignity, several thousand volunteers provided round-the-clock legal and other aid to persecuted people throughout the country. Since the end of the protests and beginning of Russian aggression in Ukraine, the initiative has been monitoring political persecution in occupied Crimea, documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity during the hybrid war in the Donbas and conducting the #LetMyPeopleGo and #SaveOlegSentsov international campaigns to release political prisoners detained by the Russian authorities. Matviichuk has experience in creating horizontal structures for massive involvement of people in human rights activities against attacks on rights and freedoms, as well as a multi-year practice of documenting violations during armed conflict. She is the author of a number of alternative reports to various UN bodies, the Council of Europe, the European Union, the OSCE and the International Criminal Court. After the beginning of new armed aggression in February 2022, Matviichuk and other partners created the “Tribunal for Putin” initiative in order to document international crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in all regions of Ukraine, which became the target of attacks by the Russian Federation. In 2016, she received the Democracy Defender Award for “Exclusive Contribution to Promoting Democracy and Human Rights” from missions to the OSCE. In 2017, Matviichuk became the first woman to participate in the Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program of Stanford University. In 2022, she was awarded with the Right Livelihood Award and recognized as one of the 25 influential women in the world by the Financial Times. That same year, the Center for Civil Liberties received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Sevgil Musayeva is the editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Pravda, Ukraine’s leading independent online newspaper covering politics, economics, and culture – and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before joining Ukrainska Pravda, Musayeva served as a business reporter for the newspaper Delo (Happenings), the weekly Vlast Deneg (Power Money), and Forbes Ukraine where she covered corruption in the oil and gas industries among other topics. Under her leadership, Ukrainska Pravda’s journalists have continued their reporting efforts despite Russia’s declared ban on the publication and the dangers of frontline reporting in an active war. Musayeva was a 2019 Harvard University Nieman Fellow and is a six-time winner of the Presszvanie prize for economic journalism in Ukraine. She also received the Anthony Moskalenko Memorial Award for her contribution to the development of Ukrainian journalism, and Time magazine featured her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. Musayeva also co-authored a book on Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev as she is a member of the Crimean Tatars, an ethnic group facing persecution within Russian-occupied Crimea.


Nancy Pelosi served as the 52nd Speaker of the House of Representatives, having made history in 2007 when she was elected the first woman to serve as Speaker. She made history again in January 2019 when she regained the Speakership – the first person to do so in more than six decades. She led House Democrats for two decades and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2013. Pelosi has represented San Francisco in Congress for 35 years. Currently serving as the Representative for California’s 11th Congressional District, she is fighting For The People to lower costs, grow paychecks and create jobs. She is the architect of generation-defining legislation, including the Affordable Care Act and the American Rescue Plan. As Speaker, she led Congress in passing historic laws to lower health care costs, rebuild infrastructure, support small businesses, and deliver assistance for students and veterans. A champion on climate, Pelosi delivered landmark investments to accelerate America’s transition to a clean energy future while preserving the environment and advancing environmental justice. A defender of democracy, she led the House efforts to protect voting rights and create the bipartisan Select Committee to investigate January 6th. For decades, she has been a powerful voice for human rights around the world. Pelosi comes from a strong family tradition of public service. Married to Paul Pelosi, she is a proud mother of five and grandmother of nine.

Jody Williams is an American peace and human rights activist. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work to ban landmines. She is one of only 18 women to have received the Prize (compared to 90+ men). Jody is a life-long, outspoken peace activist who believes that the concept of peace goes far beyond the absence of armed conflict. It is defined by human — not national — security, social and environmental justice, respect for human rights, and meeting the basic needs of the people on our planet. Jody Williams is a co-founder of the Nobel Women’s Initiative and leads it with four other women Peace Prize laureates. The organization uses the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize and the influence and access of the women laureates to support and amplify the work of women peacebuilders around the world.


Sabrina Siddiqui is a White House reporter at the Wall Street Journal, where she covers the Biden presidency. Ms. Siddiqui previously covered national politics at the Guardian, HuffPost and Bloomberg News. She has covered both the Trump and Obama administrations as well as the 2012, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. She graduated from Medill in 2008 and lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and their daughter.




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