Two National Consultants - Mid-term Review of She Demines Programme, Home-based, SSA

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

In Ukraine, UN Women supports government and civil society partners in implementing national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s human rights, with programming focused on peace and security, humanitarian action, women’s economic empowerment, and governance and participation in public life.

Ukraine’s third National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security covers , while the National Mine-Action Strategy covers . The WPS agenda is closely linked to humanitarian mine action and emergency response in the context of Russia’s full‑scale aggression against Ukraine and the extensive contamination of Ukrainian territory by mines and exploded ordnance. Against this backdrop, UN Women has implemented the “She Demines” programme since 2025 to strengthen gender equality and women’s meaningful participation in humanitarian mine action and emergency response.

An estimated 23 per cent of Ukraine’s territory (approximately 139,000 km2) is contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance, placing significant demands on national mine‑action capacities.

“She Demines” seeks to increase women’s participation and leadership in humanitarian mine action and emergency response by addressing institutional and social barriers to their recruitment, employment and retention. The programme combines technical and capacity‑development support, women’s empowerment and resilience interventions, institutional engagement, data and evidence generation, and efforts to challenge gender stereotypes in traditionally male‑dominated sectors. In doing so, it contributes to implementation of Ukraine’s WPS commitments to gender equality and women's empowerment and the National Mine Action Strategy.

“She Demines” brings together two complementary donor‑funded projects delivered under a unified implementation framework and results matrix, with an overall programme period of March 2025 – June 2028:

• “Ukrainian Women at the Frontlines of Demining and Recovery”, funded by Global Affairs Canada through the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (28 February 2025 – 31 March 2027);
• “Promoting Women’s Participation in Mine Action”, funded by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia (27 June 2025 – 26 June 2028).

The programme aims to provide approximately 3,000 women with gender‑responsive resilience and community support and to support at least 300 women from war‑affected areas to obtain certification in humanitarian mine action. It also seeks to influence wider public perceptions of women’s roles in mine action and emergency response.

The programme is implemented in Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Sumy oblasts. NGO Girls leads the women’s empowerment, leadership and mental resilience component, while the Ukrainian Deminers Association (UDA) supports technical training and certification. BBC Media Action serves as the technical partner for the social norms and gender stereotypes component.

• Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine (responsible for the implementation of the National Mine Action Strategy of Ukraine)
• Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine (responsible for the National Action Plan 1325)
• Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
• National Police of Ukraine
• State Emergency Service of Ukraine
• State Border Guard Service of…