REGISTER NOW: 12.3.2025 New York: International Helvi Sipilä Seminar on Ukraine
Time: Wednesday 12th of March 2025 at 4.00-5.30 pm local time
Place: The Ukrainian Institute of America (2 E 79th Street, New York, NY 10075)
The registration to the seminar is now open. Please click here to fill the registration form.
Please note that the registration is needed only for participation on-site at the The Ukrainian Institute of America. The seminar recording will be made available approximately one week after the event.
CSW69 Side Event
19th International Helvi Sipilä Seminar:
Women in Civil Society Shaping a Just and Sustainable Peace in Post-War Ukraine
Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine has been going on for over three years. It has taken too many people’s lives, separated families and driven women and children from their homes. The goal is to end the war and build a just and sustainable peace where women and civil society have a key role respecting the Women Peace and Security agenda.
The war has been shrinking the space of civil society, and we need to find ways to empower and support the grass root level actors to be involved in peace building and promoting rights of girls and women. In this work, we need the UN, member states,private sector and civil society, to work closely together.
In the 19th edition of the International Helvi Sipilä Seminar, these themes will be explored especially through the lens of gender equality and the role women’s organizations play in pushing for sustainable peace and more equal societies. The event will also look at the alarming impact of the anti-gender move
PROGRAM
Moderator Ms. Silla Kakkola, the Secretary General of The Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations NYTKIS
4pm Welcome remarks Ms. Kathy L. Nalywajko, the President of the Ukrainian Institute of America
4.10pm Opening remarks Ms. Laura Rissanen, State secretary to the Minister of Social Security, Finland
4.15pm Keynote speech Ms. Kirsi Madi, Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships, UN Women
4.30pm Panel discussion “Women in Civil Society Shaping aJust and Sustainable Peace in Post-War Ukraine”
Moderator Ms. Silvia Modig, the President of the National Council of Women of Finland
Panelists
Ms. Casey Harden, Secretary General
Ms. Harden works as the General Secretary of YWCA World. She is also a board member of ACT Alliance as well as aboard member of Global Youth Mobilisation.
Ms. Katya Soldak, a Film maker and Journalist
Ms. Soldak is a New-York-based journalist and the editorial director of Forbes Media’s international editions. She is also the director of the documentary The Long Breakup and the author of the memoir-essay This Is How Propaganda Works
Ms. Halyna Skipalska, a Country Director
Ms. Skipalska is a human rights activist and gender expert with over 20 years of experience strengthening civil society and advancing women’s rights in Ukraine for example as Country Director of Health Right International Ukraine and Executive Director of the Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health.
Ms. Oksana Nesterenko, Associate Professor of Law
Dr. Nesterenko is an Ukrainian legal scholar, public policy analyst, and anti-corruption activist. Dr. Nesterenko is an Associate Professor of Law at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Faculty of Law), and the Executive Director of CSO “The Anti-corruption Research and Education Center”
5.25pm Closing remarks (TBC)
The seminar is organized jointly by the Ukrainian Institute of America, the Finnish Federation of Graduate Women, the National Council of Women of Finland, the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations – NYTKIS, Finland National Committee for UN Women and the Young Women’s Christian Association of Finland YWCA. The seminar is co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations.
INTERNATIONAL HELVI SIPILÄ SEMINAR AT THE CSW SINCE 2006
“The thing is, you talk about democracy and economics, but I have this funny idea that women have something to do with the increase in population.”
A quote from Helvi Sipilä, world’s first woman Assistant Secretary-General of the UN, when she protested the sidelining of women from the UN Population Conference in Bucharest in 1974.
Helvi Sipilä (1915 – 2009) was a Finnish lawyer, diplomat, and a pioneer at the UN. Thanks to her, 1975 was declared the International Year of Women, and the first UN World Conference on Women was held under Sipilä’s leadership in Mexico.
The International Women’s Decade Voluntary Fund started in 1977 on Sipilä’s initiative and later became the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
Helvi Sipilä thought that every woman should have a profession and a job. The driving force behind her ambition was that everyone should think about what they could do to support women.
Despite society’s outcry, she ran her own law firm for 30 years, starting in the 1940’s. She also led several associations, including the International Federation of Women Lawyers and the International Council of Women.
To honour her tireless work for women’s rights, the first international Helvi Sipilä Seminar was organized at the CSW50 in 2006 by the Finnish Federation of University Women (FFUW) and other Finnish Women’s organizations. The Helvi Sipilä seminars continue her legacy by addressing challenging issues that affect women and their lives locally and globally.
The International Helvi Sipilä Seminar Series at the CSW is organized jointly by the Finnish Federation of Graduate Women, the National Council of Women of Finland (NJKL), the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations (NYTKIS), Finland National Committee for UN Women and the Young Women’s Christian Association of Finland YWCA (NNKY).
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality, the rights and the empowerment of women. A functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), it was established in 1946.
The page has been last updated on 5.3.2025