Author:
The Foundation's team
Imagine a situation where a teenager wants to speak with a psychologist but cannot do so without parental consent. Sometimes parents are not available. Sometimes they do not support the decision, even when the child is actively asking for help. One such case is a personal story. But when similar situations happen again and again, they become a reason to change legislation.
The advocacy team at Voices of Children looks for patterns, analyzes gaps in policies and regulations, and works to improve the system. Alongside traditional advocacy, the Foundation has also been developing artisticadvocacy — formats that allow children’s experiences to be shared through poetry, film, and theater.
The advocacy team at Voices of Children looks for patterns, analyzes gaps in policies and regulations, and works to improve the system. Alongside traditional advocacy, the Foundation has also been developing artisticadvocacy — formats that allow children’s experiences to be shared through poetry, film, and theater.
Although advocacy has always been part of the Foundation’s work, in 2025 we established a dedicated Advocacy Department. Its team focuses on issues that can only be addressed through legislation and public policy. Advocacy Coordinator Alla Perfetska and Artistic Advocacy Curator Olia Rusina spoke about how this work is done and what was achieved in 2025.
The interview was conducted by Hanna Shevchenko, 17 years old, from Zaporizhzhia.
The interview was conducted by Hanna Shevchenko, 17 years old, from Zaporizhzhia.
Що таке адвокація і як вона працює у фонді?
- What is advocacy?
Alla and Olia: Advocacy is a way of responding to social issues by addressing them at a systemic level, creating solutions that work for everyone rather than helping only individual people or organizations. Advocacyprofessionals are often lawyers, but their work is quite different from that of attorneys.
Advocacy involves long-term processes and multi-layered work on the problem. For example, in 2024 our team developed a dedicated framework for supporting children who had experienced deportation and forced transfer to Russia.
- Why does Voices of Children need advocacy?
Alla: Through our work with children and families, we see that some issues can be addressed immediately, while others occur repeatedly and require change at a higher level — within communities or through legislation.Advocacy helps address those systemic challenges while also drawing public attention to why they matter.
As an advocacy specialist, I see myself as a link between a child whose rights I want to protect and the decision-making processes that directly affect all children in Ukraine.
Як Творчість Допомагає Дітям Розповісти Про Свій Досвід
- What is artistic advocacy?
Olia: Artistic formats can make one person's difficult experience more understandable to others, even if those listeners, viewers, or readers have never gone through something similar themselves.
- How does it work?
Olia: Art works on an emotional level and helps develop empathy. In advocacy, it is important to remember that behind every large-scale problem, every issue affecting a community, and every legislative initiative, thereare real people and real stories. Each of those stories is unique. Artistic advocacy helps us reflect on those experiences, share them with wider audiences, and demonstrate why certain decisions matter and why they affectall of us.
- What did Voices of Children achieve in 2025?
Alla: Although the Foundation had been engaged in advocacy work for many years, we established a dedicated Advocacy Department in 2025. Because the Foundation has many centers across Ukraine, we can stay in close contact with people from different parts of the country. This helps us see the most common requests directly.
One example is the age at which a child can independently seek psychological support. In practice, specialists often encounter situations where a teenager wants to receive psychological support, but doing so can be difficult or impossible without parental consent or involvement. This challenge becomes particularly acute when a child recognizes their own need for help but lacks support from the adults around them.
At its core, this issue is about children's agency and their right to be heard through their own requests for support and their emotional state. In cases like these, legislative changes are needed.
Olia: Artistic advocacy developed significantly this year. For example, in art labs, teenagers often create projects in collaboration with mentors, including collections, short films, and performances. In essence, these are forms of advocacy, because they are artistic works where young people speak directly about their own experiences, without adult interpretation.
This year, for example, teenagers worked with writer Kateryna Mikhalitsyna to create the poetry collection titled Oxygen, and with sound engineer Volodymyr Olshanskyi to produce an audio version of the collection, recorded by the participants themselves. We also translated the collection into English so it could reach audiences abroad.
Together with the DAKH Contemporary Arts Center, we created a theater performance, and together with film director Marysia Nikitiuk, a short film, the third one created within the labs.
Meanwhile, a previous short film made by teenagers in 2024 was screened in the autumn of 2025 in Santiago, the capital of Chile. There, under the mentorship of film director Vladyslav Troitskyi, an exhibition was also presented on the deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia. Chile is a country far from us, with a long history of strong Russian influence. Yet these artistic formats make it possible to gradually counter that influence by speaking directly to local society.
Together with the DAKH Contemporary Arts Center, we created a theater performance, and together with film director Marysia Nikitiuk, a short film, the third one created within the labs.
Meanwhile, a previous short film made by teenagers in 2024 was screened in the autumn of 2025 in Santiago, the capital of Chile. There, under the mentorship of film director Vladyslav Troitskyi, an exhibition was also presented on the deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia. Chile is a country far from us, with a long history of strong Russian influence. Yet these artistic formats make it possible to gradually counter that influence by speaking directly to local society.
Advocacy is an important tool for action at both local and global levels. For it to have an impact, a problem must first be carefully analyzed, and then different ways of addressing it must be explored. Ultimately, we carry great responsibility toward children who need support, because their well-being and future depend on how effective our work is.
So, every story must be approached carefully and thoroughly. Only in this way can we bring real changes that protect children’s rights not only on paper.
So, every story must be approached carefully and thoroughly. Only in this way can we bring real changes that protect children’s rights not only on paper.
Voices of Children is open to partnerships with communities, organizations, and businesses committed to supporting children. If you are interested in developing joint initiatives, please contact
[email protected].
If you or your child needs support, you can reach out to one of our centers across Ukraine or contact our free psychological support helpline at 0 800 210 106.
You can support the Foundation’s work by making a donation or sharing our updates with others.
[email protected].
If you or your child needs support, you can reach out to one of our centers across Ukraine or contact our free psychological support helpline at 0 800 210 106.
You can support the Foundation’s work by making a donation or sharing our updates with others.
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