Pursuant to Clause 8.5 of the “Declaration of Ethical Principles of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union”, we present the Working Report of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” for 2017.
In January 2017, the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI”, together with twelve other non-governmental organisations, signed a Memorandum on the establishment of the Coalition “Against Torture”.
On 1 February, a press conference of the public reception office of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU) in Ternopil took place in the reading hall of the Ternopil Regional Universal Scientific Library. The NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” has acted as a partner in the activity of the reception office for 9 years.
From January to May, an information campaign continued to popularise the works of the classic German-language author, publicist, enlightener, and humanist Karl Emil Franzos, who was born in Chortkiv. The “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” held more than ten informational and educational events dedicated to Franzos in educational institutions and libraries of the region. Thanks to the initiative of our organisation, a bronze bust of the writer was created by sculptor Roman Vilhushynskyi using funds provided by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. Consequently, on 30 April, the first monument to Franzos in Ukraine was unveiled in Chortkiv. On the same day, a play based on Karl Emil Franzos’s novella “Market Day in Barnow” was performed at the Chortkiv House of Culture by the amateur student theatre “Agape” of the Oleksandr Barvinskyi Humanitarian-Pedagogical College. The director was Liudmyla Chyzhyshyn, a teacher of foreign literature at the college and a member of the “Helsinki Initiative – XXI”.
Commemorating another anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the tragedy of the Holocaust, an information tour presenting the novella “The Journey” by Ida Fink was conducted jointly with the “Old Lion Publishing House”. The presentation of the book by the world-renowned writer took place with the assistance of the “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” in Chortkiv, Zbarazh, and Ternopil. An interested audience gathered at the Chortkiv library on Zelena Street, the Zbarazh District Library, the Oleksandr Barvinskyi Humanitarian-Pedagogical College, and the Ternopil Regional Scientific Library.
Throughout the year, the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” facilitated the activities of three Docudays UA human rights documentary film clubs: at the district library in Chortkiv (“Cinema Club on Zelena Street”), at the Chortkiv Penal Institution No. 26, and at the Kopychyntsi Correctional Colony No. 112 (“Free Zone” Cinema Club).
In October, educational events dedicated to the creator of the “Ukrainian Athens” phenomenon in Kryvorivnia, our fellow countryman Olexa Volianskyi, were held in the Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions in partnership with the ENGO “Green World”. A biographical sketch titled “Olexa Volianskyi: 'Give the People a Quality Education, and the People Will Fend for Themselves!'” was prepared for the regional media.
Thanks to the years of effort by one of the organisation's members, Yukhym Makoterskyi, the mass grave of 52 Ukrainian patriots shot in 1942 near Chortkiv was finally found. Commemorating the 75th anniversary of this tragic event, a publication titled “Who Were They, the Victims of the Nazi 'Yahilnytsia Crime'?” was prepared.
In October and November, the “Helsinki Initiative – XXI”, jointly with the ENGO “Green World”, facilitated the events of the Docudays UA Travelling International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in seven districts of the Ternopil Region (Borshchiv, Buchach, Zalishchyky, Husiatyn, Zbarazh, Chortkiv, Terebovlia) and in the city of Chortkiv.
Informational events commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Holocaust tragedy and the 69th anniversary of the signing of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights were held at the O. Barvinskyi Chortkiv Humanitarian-Pedagogical College and the Ternopil Regional Scientific Universal Library. In particular, the Ukrainian edition of the book “The Daughter We Had Always Wanted: The Story of Marta”, translated upon the initiative of our organisation, was presented for the first time. The translator was Anton Stepanenko. A presentation titled “Fundamentals of International Humanitarian Law” was given to a gathering of law students at the Ternopil Regional Scientific Universal Library.
Throughout the year, the organisation's website and its Facebook page were maintained on a voluntary basis.
No financial activity of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” was carried out during the year.
All activities of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” were organised and conducted on a voluntary basis.