Olena Rozvadovska

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Olena "Lena" Rozvadovska is a Ukrainian children's rights advocate.

Contents

Early life and career

Rozvadovska grew up in western Ukraine. [1]

Until 2015, Rozvadovska worked in Kyiv as a consultant for UNICEF and for the Ukraine President's Office as a public advocate for children's rights. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Activism

In 2015, after the Russian annexation of Crimea, Rozvadovska quit her jobs, moved to Slovyansk, [4] and became a volunteer working to support children and their families in the "gray zone" of Ukraine, including Donbas. [1] [5] [3] As a volunteer, she was unaffiliated with any religious or secular organizations, although she often collaborated with larger organizations. [1] Her work included landmine education for children. [1] [6]

In 2019, Rozvadovska founded Voices of Children with filmmaker Azad Safarov. [5] [3] Safarov was filming the documentary A House Made of Splinters at the time, and Rozvadovska was a local coordinator for the documentary while it was filming in Lysychansk. [5] The organization provides psychological support to children affected by Ukraine's conflicts with Russia, [7] [8] and supports creative programs allowing for children to express and process their emotions. [8]

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Rozvadovska and her colleagues moved to Lviv Oblast, and continued providing services remotely while trying to organize aid for families fleeing the region. [9] "Voices of Children" in 2023 had about 100 psychologists in 14 centres across Ukraine. [10]

In 2023, Rozvadovska published War through the Voices of Children. [5]

Recognition

In 2023, Rozvadovska was named to the BBC's 100 Women list. [11] She was one of the three Ukrainian women included in the list together with writer Oksana Zabuzhko and climate activist Iryna Stavchuk. [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Shambaugh, Ann Marie (2017-01-10). "In the 'gray zone': Ukrainian volunteer shares stories of life in conflict area, seeks support in Carmel". Current Publishing. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  2. ↑ "Telling Children's Stories of War, Illustrated". Internews in Ukraine. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ukrainian human rights activist Olena Rozvadovska is included in the list of BBC 100 Women of 2023". Голоси дітей. 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  4. 1 2 Ganzha, Lesya. "How Lena Rozvadovska fights for children. Story 2: Dima who survived bombardment". Українська правда _Життя. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "In their own words: Listening to the Voices of Children talk about their experiences from war". Milwaukee Independent. 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  6. ↑ "Children in Donbas taught to avoid mines". Euromaidan Press. 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  7. ↑ "Video Voices of Children provides psychological assistance to Ukrainian children". ABC News. April 15, 2022. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  8. 1 2 Martynov, Denys. "What We Lost: New Art Therapy Movie by Teenage Victims of War". KyivPost. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  9. ↑ "Humanitarians prepare for the worst amid Russia attack on Ukraine". Geneva Solutions. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  10. ↑ "Perspective - Helping Ukrainian children traumatised by war: The story of Olena Rozvadovska". France 24. 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  11. ↑ "BBC 100 Women 2023: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. November 21, 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  12. ↑ "Three Ukrainian women are included in the list of the most influential women in the world in 2023 according to BBC". visitukraine.today. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
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