The stories of Ukrainian children were heard at the event organized on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, "Fighting for the Future: Ukrainian Children in War". Among the speakers are the founder of the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation Olena Rozvadovska, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan, the Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, the first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska and a number of foreign politicians and diplomats.
"Regardless of what children are going through because of Russian aggression, their voices sound not only with fear but also with strength," emphasized Olena Rozvadovska.
She shared five stories of Ukrainian children, which, according to the human rights activist, taught her to achieve her goals, believe in herself and go forward with determination.
"If children in such conditions demonstrate such resilience, courage, and strength, then we, adults, have no right to say that we do not have the tools to protect them. The entire UN system cannot refuse to protect Ukrainian children from Russian aggression," the founder of the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation is convinced.
One of the stories Olena Rozvadovska mentioned was about the journey of Olha (name changed), an employee of the Voices of Children Foundation. In 2015, with Olena's help, she deliberately escaped from the occupation because "it was the first time she felt the bitterness of unfreedom." The girl said: "I was torn! That began my rebellion, which lasted about a year and ended with my victory."
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, also noted the strength of the Ukrainian children's spirit: "We have to show no less courage in our decisions than Ukrainian children." He described the complexity of the process of returning Ukrainian children home from Russia and shared proposals for the UN to facilitate this process.
In addition, the event presented various aspects of Russia's violations of international humanitarian law, human rights and criminal law, as well as the practice of forced displacement, deportation, adoption of Ukrainian children and imposition of Russian citizenship on them.
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