International human rights defenders and diplomats met with the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets in Vienna. The event was held at the Ukrainian Embassy on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Human Rights in Ukraine. The ombudsmen of Great Britain, the Netherlands, Greece, New Zealand and 12 other countries took part.
"The support and clear position of each country is important for Ukraine now. We stand up for our future and the future of our children, which Russia wants to deprive us of. Ukrainian children are certainly frightened by what is happening now, and the consequences of mental trauma from what they saw can have terrible results years later," said Dmytro Lubinets, the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights.
The co-founders of the Voices of Children Foundation, human rights activist Olena Rozvadovska and documentarian Azad Safarov, told the diplomats the real stories of children who suffered because of the war, and read a letter from a boy living under the occupation:
“I felt great fear because of the explosions outside. My house was shelled three times. However, due to the political views of my parents (or maybe simply due to their natural fear of even the slightest changes), we did not leave... But I felt strong pain, I cried every day, begged for evacuation, but they didn't hear me. Then we were occupied... I appeal to all parents, grandparents, guardians and other people who shape children's destinies - listen to the children! There is no greater happiness than when you are heard."
"The psychologists of our Foundation have been helping Ukrainian children live through the war as an experience, not as a trauma, for 7 years already. We support families who lost their family members, saw missiles attacking their cities, were forced to leave occupied homes, or had their homes destroyed by shelling. We make the voices of Ukrainian children heard throughout the world, because the war goes on and Russia is still committing crimes against us every day," shared Olena Rozvadovska, the Head of the Board of the Foundation .
The international ombudsmen were also presented a book of children's quotes, which the Foundation released to the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, and told the stories of the children whose quotes were included in the collection.
"In the book "War through the Voices of Children", Kostya from Kyiv, Eva from Ternopil, and Nazar from the Luhansk region reflect on the war. These are children who should be living their happy lives in a free and peaceful country, without experiencing missile attacks and hearing the sounds of air raid alarms almost every day. However, they still have hope, they believe in our victory and are waiting for their parents to return from the front. This book contains quotes about resilience and sadness, confidence and fear, strength and, most importantly, hope. We, adults, must jointly find a solution to reduce the suffering of children, which Russia causes every day", - emphasized Azad Safarov, the co-founder of the Foundation.
Recently, the Voices of Children team spoke in the European Parliament and called on politicians to help return Ukrainian children home.
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