From wartime resistance to political influence
GRÓ GEST alumna Daryna-Mariia Zavhorodnia presented her award-winning research on women's political participation during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine at a public event organised by the Ukrainian NGO Public Alliance "Political Action of Women" on 3 November 2026. The event, held at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center in Kyiv, brought together policymakers, researchers and civil society representatives to discuss women's political agency during the war and their role in Ukraine's democratic future. Giti Chandra, Research Specialist at GRÓ GEST, contributed to the discussion, bringing international and decolonial perspectives to the findings.
Daryna's research, conducted during her studies at GRÓ GEST at the University of Iceland under the supervision of Dr Aiko Holvikivi of the London School of Economics and Political Science, examines why women local councillors have left elected office since the full-scale invasion in 2022, and what happens to their political engagement afterwards. The study received the 2026 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Award for Outstanding Final Assignment.
Presenting her findings, Daryna challenged conventional approaches to measuring women's political participation, which tend to focus on the proportion of women holding elected office. Although women's representation in Ukrainian local councils has remained relatively stable at 37%, her interviews with nine former councillors reveal a more complex picture.
One interviewee, whose son was taken prisoner by Russian forces in Mariupol, resigned from her local council after restrictions on international travel prevented her from participating in advocacy efforts on behalf of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Her experience illustrates a central finding of the research: leaving formal politics does not necessarily mean abandoning political engagement. For some women, resignation has enabled them to pursue their original political objectives more effectively through civil society, humanitarian organisations and advocacy.
Giti Chandra: Recognising women's agency during conflict
Joining the discussion from Iceland, Giti Chandra reflected on how armed conflict intensifies existing gender inequalities while weakening the institutions designed to address them. As formal structures become less effective, women frequently assume greater responsibility for sustaining communities and responding to crises, often through informal networks and organisations.
Giti emphasised that the experiences documented in Daryna's research challenge international narratives that portray women in conflict primarily as victims. Ukrainian women are also organisers, political leaders and agents of resistance whose contributions deserve recognition within broader understandings of political participation.
She connected these findings to GRÓ GEST's international approach to research and capacity development, highlighting the programme's role as a transnational platform for exchanging knowledge and examining how gender inequalities operate across different contexts.
Giti also addressed the importance of understanding Russia's war against Ukraine through a decolonial perspective. She argued that conflicts cannot be fully understood in isolation from the wider historical and contemporary structures of colonialism and neocolonialism. Recognising these dimensions is essential to ensuring that Ukrainian women's experiences and perspectives inform international understandings of the war.
Preparing for women's political participation after the war
The discussion also featured Daryna's academic supervisor, Dr Aiko Holvikivi, alongside representatives of Ukraine's Central Election Commission, parliament, academia and civil society. Participants examined the obstacles women may encounter in future elections, including displacement, restrictions on electoral participation, inequalities within political parties and the risks of losing women's wartime leadership experience.
Representatives of the Central Election Commission discussed the practical and legislative challenges of organising post-war elections, particularly ensuring the electoral rights of Ukrainians displaced within the country or living abroad.
The event also provided an opportunity to discuss policy recommendations arising from Daryna's research, including the importance of protecting gender quotas, strengthening women's political networks and creating pathways between civil society leadership and elected office.
For GRÓ GEST, the event demonstrated how research developed through the programme can contribute directly to national policy discussions, connecting academic knowledge with the experiences of women working to shape Ukraine's democratic future.