Formed in September 2023, the National Council of displaced persons proclaimed itself the platform that should unite Ukrainian refugees all over the world.
The event was attended by 46 public and charitable organizations from all over Ukraine and nine from foreign countries, including Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Lithuania, Ireland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
“The idea is to unite all Ukrainian displaced persons all around the world”
The idea of creating such a body, which would unite Ukrainian immigrants both inside the country and abroad, was put forward by Oleksandr Yavtushenko, the Chairman of the Council for Internally Displaced Persons at the Kyiv Regional State Administration. This idea was supported by Yuriy Zykov, Chairman of the Board of the NGO “Union of displaced persons”, “Common Cause” and Svitlana Lukyanchenko, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the NGO “Power of the Future” from the city of Dnipro, who is currently working with Ukrainian immigrants in Italy.
“The russian invasion of Ukraine led to the fact that more than 12 million Ukrainians became displaced persons (within Ukraine or left its borders). While work with internally displaced persons in Ukraine is quite active, Ukrainian refugees abroad are united in small communities and do not have a strong voice in the international arena. All these people are Ukrainians, they all suffered from the war and were forced to leave their homes, that is why we aim to create a public union with an unprecedented level of public involvement – to unite representatives of the most powerful public associations and hubs from all corners of Ukraine and all foreign countries, where our people ended up today”, — Oleksandr Yavtushenko comments on the creation of the National Council of Immigrants.
“Why is this relevant at this stage? Because Ukraine is currently going through a difficult path, the war with Russia continues, and Ukrainians, wherever they are, are suffering from this. The entire population of Ukraine, to one degree or another, is suffering now and needs protection. We decided to combine our efforts and invite to the common circle those activists who started their activities abroad, in European countries, and not only, those activists who continue their activities in Ukraine. We want to keep in touch with all Ukrainians, we want to feel each other’s support, we want not to forget our identity and help each other,” — says Svitlana Lukyanchenko.
“During the discussion, we also divided the participants into several groups for the workshop during the workshop, during which we managed to develop a common vision and a preliminary list of issues that the future “National Council of Immigrants” will work on. We are preparing for further active work and planning the next important steps. The main goal of the meeting was not only to discuss the concept but also to restore and strengthen ties with our “Ambassadors” abroad so that the voice of Ukraine could be heard in the whole world!” — Yuriy Zykov commented.
Examples of the work of Ukrainian organisations in the diaspora
During the event, such important and interesting forms of cooperation of Ukrainian diaspora organisations as help from Spanish schools to Ukrainian schools were also presented. Tatyana Gladkova shared an interesting case. She talked about how their Association “Ukraine-Euskadi” works in the north of Spain, in the Basque Country, about their important contribution to helping Ukraine, in particular, about how, thanks to the work of Ukrainian public activists, funds were collected in one Spanish school and for these, the shelter in Poltava Gymnasium No. 25 was repaired with the funds. Thanks to this support from the north of Spain, little Ukrainians in Poltava are now able to attend school, they have a safe and well-equipped shelter.
How to help each other: from aid hub to amateur theatre
Humanitarian headquarters of “My Luhansk Region” are located almost throughout Ukraine. These humanitarian hubs support internally displaced people from the Luhansk region by providing humanitarian aid: food, clothing, hygiene kits, and counselling. For example, one of the humanitarian hubs is located in the Darnitsky district of Kyiv. This hub has been operational since September 2022. Today, about 3,000 displaced people live there, and they constantly receive legal, social, and psychological assistance, food packages, clothing, etc. Displaced people can come to the humanitarian hub and talk about their problems and receive the necessary support.
Ukrainian women face many challenges and obstacles while escaping full-scale war. Abroad, refugees live in closed communities with little opportunity to integrate into society in their new country.
An interesting project was prepared by Ukrainian activist Svitlana Lukyanchenko and her team.
This project, working in Italy for Ukrainian women, consists of supportive meetings, art therapy, playback theatre performances and other activities. So far, about 100 women have gone through this project. Each participant had the opportunity to improve their psycho-emotional state and build bridges of understanding between Ukrainian women and the Italian population.
Svitlana Lukyanchenko is from the Lugansk region. She left her hometown after the start of the war in 2014. She knew what it was like to be in a new city without any support or familiar people. And all her activities were aimed at people facing similar problems.
In 2015, in Dnipro, she founded the public organisation “Power of the Future,” which works with refugees and other segments of the population in need of support.
The organisation “Power of the Future” has two projects for teachers and displaced people. The Contact2U project was founded in Dnipro in 2022, and later this idea of holding supportive and unifying meetings for Ukrainians was implemented in Rome.
Ukrainian activist Svitlana Lukyanchenko believes that every person who is forced to say goodbye to their hometown or home country needs attention and support from other people.
Stanislav Kinka
