Refugee women from Ukraine get new opportunities
Date:
Tatyana Kolomiets, 28, is from Ukraine. She came to Georgia because of the war, settled in Batumi and started a new life. Soon after, she saw an announcement on social media: An initiative was being launched for Ukrainian refugee women that would help them learn technology.
Tatyana’s sole experience was working in sales, so technology was a completely different field for her. In spite of that, though, she decided to give it a try. “I already knew that I needed a change,” she recalled, “and this opportunity would be a good chance to acquire new career skills.”
After submitting her application, Tatyana became a participant in the initiative “Empowering Ukrainian Refugee Women in Tech”. The training course she took as part of this project was implemented by Business and Technology University (BTU), with the support of UN Women and funding from the Government of Japan. The project provided Ukrainian refugee women with the opportunity to acquire technological education and strengthen practical skills in digital literacy, the English language, software testing and graphic design.
“Despite my different business experience, the course helped me get important and valuable knowledge - and become more confident and motivated. Now I am sending out résumés for vacancies and want to use what I learned for professional growth,” said Tatyana, who specialized in software testing and shared her impressions with those present at the closing event of the training course on 26 February.
“Empowering Ukrainian Refugee Women in Tech” began in the summer of 2024. A total of 55 candidates were selected to participate in the project through an application process, and the training lasted for eight months. The main goal of the initiative was to help Ukrainian refugee women, who are particularly struggling to find sustainable livelihoods and decent work, overcome challenges. In addition, the project intended to contribute to the development of a diverse technological environment and reduce gender inequality in the industry.
It is noteworthy that in addition to technological education, UN Women, in cooperation with the Georgian-Ukrainian Platform, also provided support to 87 Ukrainian women in terms of mental health, professional and personal development, education and employment. This work included providing the women with group or individual therapy sessions and psychological support, teaching them the Georgian language, and strengthening the skills they need for social integration and employment. It is noteworthy that 12 business ideas also received project funding.
The initiatives, implemented in collaboration with BTU and the Georgian-Ukrainian Platform, were part of the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia project “Strengthening the Resilience of Ukrainian Refugee Women and Girls in Host Countries”, which was funded by the Government of Japan.