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Building Resilience of Civil Society in Ukraine: Wellbeing as a Cornerstone of Sustainability
As Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, the resilience of those affected is tested daily. The psychological toll on the Ukrainian population is profound, with widespread reports of trauma, anxiety, and stress-related disorders. Ukrainian civil society organisations have mobilised to provide critical support to those in need while often needing support themselves. HRHF asked the partners from the Network of Human Rights Houses about the connection between mental health and human rights and what kind of role mental health support plays in the resilience of Ukrainian civil society.
HRHF Annual Report 2023
The human rights situation across the regions where Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) works was further influenced by military conflict and crackdown against independent civil society. Despite this, we continued to work closely with the Network of Human Rights Houses to protect and advance human rights. Read our 2023 Annual Report.
A Human Rights Tour of the OSCE Region
On 18 March 2024, in Vienna, Human Rights House Foundation and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee co-hosted a civil society Human Dimension event where OSCE State delegations could hear directly from human rights defenders from seven countries, including representatives from several Human Rights Houses in the region.
Education Under Fire in Ukraine
In this exhibition, Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv (EHRHC) turns its lens on schools in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has destroyed. See the exhibition live in Oslo from 4-10 March 2024 at VegaScene as part of the 2024 HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival.
“Russian military aggression followed by the full-scale invasion is all due to impunity, which began with Crimea… we still don’t know where it might lead in the end.”
On 26 February Ukraine marks the Day of Resistance to Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol. Ten years ago on that day thousands of Crimean activists gathered outside the Crimean Parliament to show resistance against Russian occupation and in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. This resistance still continues today in different forms. In this interview, HRHF asked four prominent Crimean human rights defenders and representatives of Human Rights House Crimea member organisations, to reflect on the situation in Crimea over the past decade and share their perspectives about the future.
“The perpetrators of human rights violations and war crimes must be held accountable… we won’t stop [until then].”
Ahead of the second anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, HRHF spoke with Ukrainian human rights defender Liudmyla Yankina about the main challenges facing civil society, and the situation for human rights in Ukraine. We also discussed what has changed over the last two years through the prism of her work protecting representatives of civil society.
Oleksandr Larin: A house by the sea, 17 checkpoints and volunteering to rebuild Ukrainian homes
Oleksandr Larin is a pensioner from Mariupol, Ukraine. In this interview, originally published in Ukrainian by Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv, Larin discusses fleeing his home following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as volunteering to help provide humanitarian aid to people whose homes were damaged/destroyed.
Shelling and disguises: a human rights defender’s life under Russian occupation
Oksana Tropina is a human rights defender from Kherson. She remained in the city during the Russian occupation from February to November 2022. In this interview, she discusses life and human rights under occupation as well as evacuation.
When I communicate with [political prisoners] and their relatives, I tell them that [legal action] will not significantly affect their immediate situation, but it must be done.
On 24 February 2022, human rights lawyer Serghiy Zayets and his family became internally displaced persons (IDPs) for the second time as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion. They fled Irpin for Western Ukraine, where they still live today. Originally from Crimea, Zayets and his family fled the peninsula in 2014 following the Russian occupation. In this interview with HRHF, Zayets gives insight into his fight for the human rights of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russian custody and the volatile nature of living and working in a war zone.