Meet Natalia Savitska

Natalia Savitska has been working in the public sector since 2019 to help women affected by Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine. Natalia is the head of the NGO ‘Equality in Action’, which aims to empower women and protect their rights, through engaging women in active citizenship and cand supporting youth leadership through awareness raising and advocacy campaigns in territorial communities.

Under Natalia’s leadership, Equality in action has provided humanitarian, psychological and legal assistance to vulnerable groups of women including internally displaced persons (IDPs). In 2019, Natalia helped to create the first Information and Consultation Centre for Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) and Joint Forces Operations (JFO) participants, their families, and IDPs in the Khmelnytskyi region. She is a member of the Coalition “Khmelnytskyi region 1325” to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and the country’s National Action Plan on WPS.

Natalia was the driving force behind the formation of the IDP initiative group and the initiator of the IDP Council in the Khmelnytski community located in Western Ukraine which is currently home to more than 30,000 IDPs. Natalia is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Khmelnytskyi City Council. 

Tetiana Bayeva from NGO Podilskyi Centre “Genderna rada” together with Natalia Savitska from NGO Equality in Action will develop a peer learning project focuseing on supporting women’s economic self-sufficiency and political participation in Khmelnytskyi region, which hosts numerous internally displaced people due to the war. Both CSOs’ staff will exchange approaches and tools for strategic planning and participate in a retreat focused on self-help and self-support. The CSO teams will also meet 10 women representatives of the Equal opportunities’ deputy groups and 10 successful women in the economic sphere. Additionally, a seminar on the implementation of gender policies will be conducted, and a TV programme on partnerships between women’s NGOs will be developed.