UAE to foster women's businesses and support children in Ukraine

Reem Al Hashimy attends Ukraine recovery conference in Rome

UAE Minister of State for International Co-operation Reem Al Hashimy meets Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome. EPA

The UAE has signed a declaration supporting women-led small businesses and improving access to education for children affected by the war in Ukraine.

The commitment was made at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, where the UAE delegation was led by Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees representative Karolina Lindholm Billing told the conference the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 forced almost 10 million people to flee their homes, with about 3.8 million displaced within the country and 5.6 million abroad, but most of them want to stay close to their homes.

The conference is expected to finalise individual deals of guarantees and grants to unlock more than 10 billion euros ($12 billion) in investments.

Ms Al Hashimy met Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the UAE signed a new set of collaborative programmes with the Olena Zelenska Foundation.

These initiatives will enhance psychosocial services, expand access to education, and create safe spaces for children affected by the conflict.

The UAE also concluded a trilateral declaration with Italy and Ukraine aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s institutional capacities and fostering women-led small businesses.

Minister of State for International Co-operation Reem Al Hashimy at a meeting with Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Abu Dhabi in February. Getty

The declaration establishes joint technical co-operation in digital transformation, vocational training and governance, while ensuring that women’s economic empowerment remains a priority.

It was developed in co-ordination with Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Edmondo Cirielli.

Separately, the UAE and Italy signed a declaration to widen support for children, adolescents, and young adults in Ukraine.

The initiative focuses on educational and psychosocial assistance and the renovation of protective shelters, delivered in partnership with the Olena Zelenska Foundation and other humanitarian groups.

“To us, recovery is not simply about rebuilding but about supporting the conditions for long-term stability,” said Ms Al Hashimy. “That includes restoring trust, dignity, and local agency.”

As participants in the fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference gathered on Thursday and Friday, European leaders urged private business and equity to invest in rebuilding Ukraine now, even as Russia accelerates its war effort.

Ms Lindholm Billing said UNHCR is working with Ukraine's government on a “winter response plan,” which will include cash assistance for vulnerable families to pay for firewood, coal and briquettes to warm homes in front line areas where energy systems are damaged.

“At the moment, most who are newly displaced remain within the country and that’s what most people prefer to do as well – to stay as close as possible to their home regions,” she said.

The UNHCR representative said that every day the organisation and its local partners help people who are victims of aerial attacks, including recent strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv.

“People evacuating from front line areas need support. But at the same time, we have to continue helping Ukraine’s immediate recovery, so that people who want to stay in Ukraine can actually do that,” Ms Lindholm Billing said.

June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded.

Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said.

Fatigue over the war in Ukraine and US-led foreign aid cuts are jeopardising efforts to support people fleeing hardship, the head of the UN migration agency warned.

“It's three-and-a-half years into the conflict. I think it's fair to say that everybody is tired, and we hear that even from Ukrainians who've been experiencing the ongoing attacks in their cities and often have been displaced multiple times,” she told Reuters.

Amy Pope, director general of the UN's International Organisation for Migration, said: “The response to it, though, has to be peace, because ultimately, without peace, there won't be an end, not only to the funding request, but also to the support for the Ukrainian people.”