We Ukrainians will always remember the exact place where we were last February 24, when we learned that the war had started.
In my case, I was in kyiv, working on a new awareness campaign about how women can protect themselves from gender-based violence and what services and supports are available to them.
We Ukrainians will forever remember that day as one of the darkest.
Several months have already passed since the invasion, and although the seasons have changed, people in Ukraine say: “It is summer outside, but as long as the war lasts, we will continue in February”.
Sometimes it is difficult to remember what everyday life was like before the conflict.
The boundaries between my personal and professional life at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN's sexual and reproductive health agency, in Ukraine, have blurred in recent months.
My job as a communication specialist consists of making visible the impact that war has on women and girls, as well as serving as a voice for their needs and the challenges they must face, with the aim of continuing to protect their rights, such as giving light with safety and dignity, and to live without violence.
My sense of duty is now stronger than ever.
More than 12 million people, mostly women and girls, have been forced to leave their homes;
they have seen their lives cut short in the face of an uncertain future.
I too had to leave my home in kyiv, which has miraculously remained intact, my parents and my dog the day the war broke out.
I didn't get another chance to see my family until summer came.
All the staff of the UNFPA office in Ukraine were in the same situation: they had fled their hometowns, along with their families, pets and some basic items, to move to safer places in the western regions.
Women do not stop getting pregnant, giving birth or menstruating when a crisis strikes, but the risks to their health, safety and well-being often increase
The urgency to flee to a safe place caused many of them to take only basic belongings and documents.
For example, a classmate took only two socks, which turned out to be odd.
However, everyone brought their computers and everything they needed to work.
As United Nations humanitarian staff, we have to be prepared to continue working for the people we support in any circumstance.
Women do not stop getting pregnant, giving birth or menstruating when a crisis strikes, but the risks to their health, safety and well-being often increase.
Before the war, our team supported efforts to promote gender equality and women's rights in Ukraine, building their resilience and fostering their ability to make decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health.
However, our priorities changed dramatically when the war began: our main focus now is to ensure they continue to have access to essential health services, including maternal health care, and products such as contraceptives and menstrual hygiene items.
However, we work in a difficult environment marked by ruin and destruction.
Every day I am inspired by the people who continue to work, volunteer and give their all, as well as those who were forced to flee the war, lost everything and still continue to believe and yearn for peace.
At the start of the war, UNFPA estimated that there were around 265,000 pregnant women in Ukraine, so our priority is to ensure that they can give birth safely.
In areas under heavy shelling, many maternity and perinatal centers have been damaged or have been forced to move their maternity and delivery rooms to basements.
In many cities, women have no access to medical care and are forced to give birth in makeshift shelters in basements and subway stations.
Equipment, facilities and qualified health personnel are also in short supply.
Since the war broke out, I have visited several maternity hospitals to which we have already delivered large quantities of reproductive health equipment and medicines.
Women told me that they no longer watch the news and that, while waiting to give birth – and to be able to hold their newborns in their arms – they preferred to think about their aspirations and dreams for the future.
The doctors told me that the positive environment of the hospital, which contrasts with the fear and destruction that reigns at the doors of the facility, is important and helps reduce stress, which can cause complications to expectant mothers.
I recently had a conversation with the wife of a soldier who was captured on the Azovstal front and has not been heard from for about 15 days.
She gave birth to her firstborn, alone, in one of the maternity wards where we have distributed reproductive health products, such as vital maternal health medications.
She shared with me her pain and her fear, but what inspired me the most was the inordinate hope that her husband would return soon to meet her newborn daughter.
Every day I am inspired by those people who continue to work, volunteer and give their all, as well as those who were forced to flee the war, lost everything and still continue to believe and yearn for peace.
Ukrainians show extraordinary strength and resilience.
Sasha volunteers at a UNFPA-supported center in Zaporizhzhia.
She makes sure essential supplies reach people in need. UNFPA / Vitalii Krasnoperov
Just last week I participated in another mission in the cities that have received the largest number of people evacuated from the war-torn areas.
In Zaporizhia, for example, I met a number of inspiring people, including a 32-year-old woman named Sasha who, despite having a severe disability, worked as a volunteer at a center for displaced people that we supported with funding.
Getting around the city has become a real challenge for her, and for many other people, since it is now very difficult to get fuel in the country.
Her example moved two taxi drivers so much that now they take her daily from her house to the center, and vice versa.
They even escort her inside.
Once there, she gets around in her wheelchair, doing everything she can to help.
Another exceptional woman I have recently met is a lady named Lyubov, who will soon be 85 years old.
On the first day of the war, she came to the center and offered to help.
Every day she opens and lines up thousands of bags for other volunteers to fill with food and hygiene items ready for distribution to her.
This simple job, but which facilitates and speeds up the process that gets supplies to people in need, is essential in the current situation.
These are the people who motivate me to continue working.
Currently, UNFPA staff work with local partners in all regions that can be safely accessed.
Our mission is to expand the provision of reproductive health services, including maternal health care, and meet the medical and psychosocial needs of women and girls at risk of or already experiencing violence.
We have recently launched various support services, such as mobile psychosocial teams working in 12 cities across the country and an online system called Aurora, made up of psychotherapists and social, medical and legal specialists, to which women survivors of violence can be accessed from anywhere inside and outside Ukraine.
Women and girls face enormous challenges in Ukraine, and we are committed to supporting initiatives that protect their health, rights and dignity both during and after the war.
For this reason, I will stay in my country and continue to serve and tell the stories of the most vulnerable and underrepresented members of our population.
Alona Zubchenko
is part of the UNFPA communication team in Ukraine.
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