The Diplomat
Last Thursday, the panel Women, Peace and Security Agenda: The Response of Activists, Organisations and Government to the Challenges of Russia’s War against Ukraine, organised by the embassies of Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, was held at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid.
Major issues discussed during the event included war crimes and systematic violations of women’s rights by the Russian occupation authorities in the temporarily occupied territories, in particular in Crimea; combating sexual violence in the context of armed conflict; the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children; the role of women in security and defence; conflict resolution; and mechanisms for bringing the Russian Federation to justice for crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine.
Speakers included Olha Skrypnyk, Head of the Crimean Human Rights Group, Coordinator of the Expert Network of the International Crimean Platform; Lutfie Zudiieva, Crimean human rights defender and journalist; Ambassador Belén Alfaro, Advisor to the Cabinet of the State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation; Kateryna Rashevska, legal expert of the Regional Centre for Human Rights; Colonel Juan Jose Lucero, Head of the International Area of the Permanent Secretariat for Equality of the Spanish Ministry of Defence; Kateryna Shunevych, Head of the Analytical Centre of the Ukrainian Association of Women Lawyers “JurFem”, partner of UN Women in Ukraine; and Rachel Kean, Gender Advisor of the British Embassy in Ukraine.
In his speech the Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of Ukraine, Dmytro Matiuschenko, drew attention to а massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by Russia in Crimea and other territories under the temporary control of the occupying authorities of the aggressor country, as described in the reports of the UN Secretary General, the criminal policy of abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children, as well as the need to bring to justice the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation for the crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine.
At the end of the panel, attendees shared the action Peace begins with her, a photographic action of 50 portraits of women who contribute as local peace advocates, community members, politicians, mediators and UN peacekeepers.
