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 seminar is fully booked. 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.

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 movement and the setback it may have in the work we do.

PROGRAM (per 10.3.205)
Concept note (pdf)

Chair
Ms. Silla Kakkola, Secretary General of the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations NYTKIS

Opening words
Ms. Kathy L. Nalywajko, President of the Ukrainian Institute of America
Ms. Laura Rissanen, State Secretary to the Minister of Social Security, Finland

Keynote speech
Ms. Kirsi Madi, Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships, UN Women

Panel discussion: Women in Civil Society Shaping a Just and Sustainable Peace in Post-War Ukraine

Moderator Ms. Silvia Modig, President of the National Council of Women of Finland

Panelists

Ms. Casey Harden, Secretary General of World YWCA
Dr. Oksana Nestrenko, Ukrainian legal scholar, public policy analyst, and anti-corruption activist
Ms. Halyna Skipalska, Healthright International
Ms. Katya Soldak, Ukrainian-American journalist and filmmaker

Closing remarks
H.E. Ms. Khrystyna Hayovyshyn, Chargée d’Affaires a.i. Deputy Permanent Representative of
the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations.

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 10.3.2025