On 11 March, the Slobozhanska hromada in Dnipropetrovsk region hosted a forum-dialogue ‘Steel Gentleness: How to Stay Strong and Remain True to Yourself’, which brought together around 40 women leaders from local government in frontline and war-affected regions – Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Kharkiv.
The event focused on the practical challenges of hromadas' management in wartime – in particular, working with internally displaced persons, maintaining the institutional capacity of hromadas, and supporting residents in crisis situations.
Ivan Kaminsky, the Head of Slobozhanska hromada, welcomed the participants and noted the role of local self-government in ensuring hromadas' resilience and supporting people during wartime.
“Hromadas today are a source of strength for people. And our task is to provide them with support and stability even in the most difficult conditions,” Ivan Kaminsky said.
Discussions centred on the experiences of hromadas in temporarily occupied territories and areas of active hostilities, as well as practices for responding to the challenges of war at the local level. Participants discussed organising assistance for people following evacuation, support for internally displaced persons, and the role of hromadas as hubs for basic services and aid coordination.
The participants also discussed the development of women’s leadership in local government, the need to strengthen management skills, legal knowledge and access to training.
Yuliia Savelieva, a gender expert with the Polaris Programme, spoke during the panel discussion: “Today, women hromadas leaders play an extremely important role in ensuring the sustainability of local government. They not only make management decisions but also foster an environment of trust, support and cooperation in hromadas, which is particularly important in wartime.”
The event concluded with an interactive session during which the participants developed a shared vision for future cooperation and drew up a symbolic ‘recipe for hromadas resilience’.
The forum served as a platform for the exchange of practical experience among women hromadas leaders working in the challenging conditions of war, and for strengthening cooperation between hromadas and professional networks.
The event was organised by the Slobozhanska hromada in cooperation with the All-Ukrainian Association of Amalgamated Territorial Communities (AAATC), BOOSTERS Consulting Group and the non-governmental organisation ‘WOMEN Plus’, with the support of the Polaris Programme ‘Supporting MultiLevel Governance in Ukraine’.
