Iryna Yarmolenko has been active for several years in local politics in Ukraine, heading up the Group for Equal Opportunities of Zhytomyr City. She is also the founder of the NGO Center for Social Communication which creates and organises public events on environment, gender and social issues: Gender Month, Climate Ambition Forum, She Week. Her activism and advocacy in favour of the ‘European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life’ in Ukraine since 2018 has contributed to the rapid increase in the number of Ukrainian signatory cities. She is also an active member of the CEMR Standing Committee for Equality since April 2020. Following her recent move to Bucha, where she will stand for regional city council elections in October, she is starting to develop community activities to raise awareness about ecology and sports for adults and children. As city councillor of Zhytomyr, Iryna involved youth in drafting an appeal that the national government should spend money efficiently on Covid-19 prevention, and that Ukrainian city councils should work closely with local youths to raise awareness on this topic. Currently, Iryna is working on the project Irpin Reconstruction Summit (IRS), which aims to create a model for rebuilding Ukrainian cities.