Gen.Ukrainian founder Oksana Lebedieva participated in the Parliamentary Conference in Copenhagen — "Deported Children of Ukraine: Stolen Generation"

"Children do not start wars, but they are always the first to suffer," — Oksana Lebedeva, founder of Gen.Ukrainian.

On January 31, Oksana Lebedeva, together with the head of the Center for Civil Liberties and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviychuk, participated in the conference “Deported Children of Ukraine: Stolen Generation” in Copenhagen, which was dedicated to the topic of forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. The event gathered by representatives of the Danish Parliament, the European Commission in Denmark, leading human rights defenders and scientists:

Louise Schack Elholm – Member of Parliament
Oleksandra Matviichuk – Head of the Center for Civil Liberties
Stefan Welin – Deputy Head of the European Commission Representation in Denmark
Nathaniel Raymond – Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School
Louise Holck – Director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights
Hanne Severinsen – Danish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
Charlotte Flindt Pedersen – Director of The Danish Foreign Policy Society
Adam Holm – Moderator.

The international conference became a platform for discussing the challenges of Ukrainian childhood: the forced deportation, illegal naturalization, and adoption of Ukrainian children by russia. Leading experts during the conference focused on the importance of international protection and support war-affected children of Ukraine.

Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health, presented Yale University’s findings on russia’s systematic deportation of Ukrainian children. He also underscored the urgency strengthening international legal mechanisms to prevent similar crimes in future conflicts.

20,000+ Ukrainian children were illegally taken to the russian federation. There they are separated from their families, their personal data changed, re-educated in the spirit of Russian propaganda, and trained for military service.

Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Center for Civil Liberties, emphasized: "The russians teach our children complete obedience. A child must do what they are told without question. This is not just ideological processing, it is a kind of reprogramming of a person into an authoritarian firmware. I don’t know if we will have enough time to stop this. In the occupied territories alone, about 1 million 600 thousand Ukrainian children were left alone with the occupiers. And childhood has its expiration date".

A key moment of the conference was the screening of Gen.Ukrainian's documentary "Stolen Childhood", which shares the experiences of children who survived occupation and forced deportation.

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"Ukraine is capable of developing global solutions with adequate support. Sustainable solutions based on the principle of continuity, scalable and replicable when needed in other hotspots around the world"

Sharing the horrific stories of Ukrainian children, Oksana Lebedieva emphasized in her speech the importance of international support:

Thanks, Hjælp Ukrainske Børn, WomenforUkraine, Lesia Ignatyk-Eriksen for supporting and excellent organization of this crucial event.

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Psychological support to children is provided free of charge thanks to patronage

The purpose of the Gen.Camp:
stabilization of the psychological and emotional state of a child after a traumatic experience.

The duration of the program: 21 days.
Location: Ukraine.

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