Will the Market Set Them Free? Women, NGOs, and Social Enterprise in Ukraine

During 1999 Counterpart International Inc. a global partnership organization with its headquarters in the United States introduced to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Ukraine via a training and granting program that lasted until 2002. This article explores the potential benefits and risks that taking up strategies of social enterprise present for NGO leaders in Ukraine examining in particular the possible effects for women NGO activists as they struggle to navigate post-socialist political social and economic transformations. As it has unfolded in Ukraine social enterprise is an NGO development strategy implicitly directed towards women who dominate in certain types of caring-focused NGOs. It is thus important to assess the potential of social enterprise initiatives to empower women in Ukraines emerging civil society and market economy. (authors)