Anne Klein Women’s Award 2024 to Yuliya Sporysh

Berlin, 8 December 2023

The Anne Klein Women’s Award will go to the Ukrainian feminist and women’s rights activist Yuliya Sporysh in 2024. A sociologist by training, Yuliya Sporysh founded the non-governmental organisation “Girls” in Kyiv in 2019, initially with the aims of promoting sexual education and the prevention of gender-based violence. She continues to head this organisation today. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “Girls” found itself confronted with a multiplicity of new tasks – a challenge that Yuliya Sporysh has met with courage and determination.

Explaining the reasons for the jury’s decision in favour of Yuliya Sporysh, Dr. Imme Scholz, the chairwoman of the jury and President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, noted: “We are particularly impressed by the perseverance with which Yuliya Sporysh, even in wartime, continues to strive to increase the visibility of women in society and for their leadership roles. To strengthen other women, smaller NGOs and grassroots initiatives, Yuliya is very active within the Ukrainian women’s movement, networking and promoting an atmosphere of respect and appreciation.”

In the view of the jury, Yuliya Sporysh has also distinguished herself through her advocacy of a feminist post-war order in Ukraine and of a gender-sensitive approach to the country’s reconstruction, an advocacy which is underpinned by a firm belief in a better future. She regularly speaks at national and international conferences, where she emphasises the importance of involving women in reconstruction (e.g. at the UN Women conference in New York in March of this year or at the Women Deliver 2023 Conference in Rwanda). Within Ukraine itself, she is a member of the steering committee of the Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine. This platform’s primary aims are to amplify the voices of representatives of Ukrainian civil society and to prevent corruption, so that international financial aid allocated to Ukraine can be distributed and used as efficiently and fairly as possible.

Press contact
Vera Lorenz
030 285 34 217
lorenz@boell.de

With the Anne Klein Women’s Award, the Heinrich Böll Foundation honours women who champion human rights, equal rights and sexual self-determination with courage and perseverance. It carries a € 10,000 prize. The award will be presented at a ceremony in Berlin on the evening of 01 March 2024. The jury’s statement, a brief biography and photos of the award winner can be downloaded free of charge.

Contact Anne Klein Women's Award:
Ulrike Cichon,
T 030-285 34-112  
E-mail cichon@boell.de