Dear friends

My name is Antonina Shatsylo and it is an honour and a privilege for me to be here today in Paris for Solidaires to present our young independent medical union, the medical Movement #БудьЯкМи: Be like as we are.

Be like as we are was born before the war in Ukraine. In 2019, together with other healthcare professionals, we created a movement that was unprecedented in our country at the time. Since then, we have been defending the rights of healthcare professionals and fighting for decent wages and working conditions. When we were unable to resolve issues peacefully, we organised protests (currently prohibited by law due to the state of emergency). Our main goal is to improve the working conditions and training of healthcare professionals. To this end, we use all means at our disposal, within the law, of course.

Be Like we are is a legally registered non-profit non-governmental organisation. Our work is guided by approved statutes. The majority of our organisation’s members are women.

Our main strategies are to create a network of non-governmental organisations and professional unions, develop a structure in each region of Ukraine, and raise awareness of the rights of healthcare workers. We also organise media work and protests to promote laws that would improve healthcare provision and working conditions. For example, we have demanded the adoption of a law on responsibility for moral and physical harassment at work. We also defend gender equality in the workplace, in education and in everyday life. At the same time, we are establishing a network of cooperation with other organisations that have similar activities and principles, particularly those that defend gender equality. We organise educational seminars on the protection of labour rights for nursing teams in different cities across Ukraine, during which they develop their leadership skills and acquire organisational skills. Based on specific labour disputes in each team, we draw up an action plan to resolve them. The priority of this plan is to protect the rights of nurses. We also organise meetings between the teams and a psychologist to help women manage their emotional state in the context of war.

Our organisation campaigns for a world without violence, for equal rights and gender equality, and for the creation of women’s unions, particularly in the medical field, where women’s work must be respected and well paid. Given that women have, in addition to their work, the responsibility of caring for children, the sick, the elderly and household chores, we want these responsibilities to be shared equally among all members of society and the family.

Our organisation operates according to democratic principles. Before making a decision, we submit it to public debate within the group. We also study in detail the issues that our members bring to our attention, discuss them, draw conclusions and seek solutions. The position of president of our organisation is renewable. The conference can change the board of directors by a vote. We regularly conduct public surveys among our members, in which we ask them to evaluate our activities.

Over time, we have grown into a community of 85,000 people. Our organisation was created without any support from the state or political parties. And we support the creation of trade unions throughout Ukraine. We organised the first protests in several cities in the winter of 2019. We demanded higher wages for healthcare workers, increased healthcare spending in general, and that our voices, the voices of healthcare workers, be heard in any reform of the healthcare system in Ukraine.

We repeated these protests in 2020 and 2021 and achieved some progress: the reinstatement of illegally dismissed nurses and the payment of wages owed in several institutions.

Even before the war in Ukraine, a reform of the healthcare system had been implemented. Since then, medical facilities have been closing and hospitals have been ’optimised’, i.e. merged. This has had serious repercussions for healthcare professionals, who are losing their jobs. This process has continued during the war. The situation has deteriorated considerably: many medical facilities have closed, particularly as a result of bombing and artillery fire.

Job losses, occupation, mass migration and staff cuts are not the only problems we are currently facing. The savings made by local authorities on funding and salaries for nurses and other medical staff are leading to the impoverishment of a section of the population whose rights we defend.

The war that broke out on 24 February 2022 has caused even more problems, not only for healthcare professionals but also for the entire Ukrainian population. Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives. Millions have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries and more than 6 million Ukrainians have become internally displaced persons. Towns and villages have been destroyed. Our hospitals and energy facilities have become targets of the enemy.

We realised that in 7this situation, we would not be able to cope without the help of international partners. That is why we agreed with our German partners from the organisation “Medico International” on a joint project to help Ukrainians affected by the war. Thanks to this cooperation, we have been able to provide temporary accommodation for more than 40 families with young children and retired parents. Nearly 400 families in very difficult situations have received assistance in the form of food and hygiene products. We are also able to offer psychological and legal support. And, very importantly, we are helping doctors to receive medical treatment. Some people had completely lost all hope of recovery. Thanks to this project, they have regained their health and can once again work and lead normal lives.

Unfortunately, our project ended on 31 December 2023. We are therefore actively seeking international organisations with which we can cooperate and continue to help doctors and Ukrainians in particular.

We remember each and every one of our brothers and sisters, including the many healthcare workers who lost their lives defending our country or who were killed by the bombs and missiles that Russia continues to drop on our communities.

Throughout this horror, our response has been based on a principle that is understandable to all participants in this meeting: the principle of solidarity.

Ukrainian trade unions have also mobilised to provide humanitarian aid, supplying food, shelter, medicine and other essential items to displaced persons, repairing buildings and providing psychological and other support to families. We have felt the support of the international trade union movement, which has shown solidarity by welcoming Ukrainians into their countries and providing support and advice to those who have been forced to flee.

We look forward to the end of the war and want with all our strength and by all means to bring victory closer. We believe that we will succeed in rebuilding Ukraine, where trade union rights will be respected in all sectors and where workers will receive decent wages and enjoy fair working conditions.

It will not be easy. But you have seen our strength and dedication during the war.

Paris, 30 April 2025

Antonina Shatsylo

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