Exhibition “War through the Eyes of Children” was opened on the sidelines of the 147th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
“I know you’re hiding something from me. They’re going to kill us in this basement. Right?” – Hordii, 7 years old.
“Mum, why do we only know now that peace is the most important thing?” – Diana, 4 years old.
“We haven’t lived long enough, we want to live a little longer.” – Nazar, 9 years old.
These are some of the many stories of Ukrainian children featured in the exhibition, which was officially opened on the sidelines of the 147th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The opening ceremony was attended by the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation headed by the First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko and the IPU President Duarte Pacheco.
The First Deputy Speaker said that to mark the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, a book entitled “War in the Voices of Children” was published, which contains up to a hundred quotes illustrated by designers, artists, photographers and other famous people from around the world.
The exhibition features nearly 20 images from the book, including those by illustrators Nikita Titov, Olexandr Hrekhov, Iryna Vale, singer Jamala and her son Rahman. Some images are accompanied by an audio quote from the child. Using a QR code, you can hear the children’s voices in Ukrainian and English.
“Children have learnt what war is not from stories, films or books, but with their own eyes. We want children to be heard by adults around the world. Adults who have real influence and the ability to stop the war with their decisions and concrete actions,” said Oleksandr Korniienko.
At the same time, he stressed that children are the future that needs to be cherished and preserved, but they are also the present: “The age that we will never get back and we will never compensate for the lost days in basements instead of playgrounds.”
“Ukrainian children have grown up too early. We have to win for their sake, so that a just peace and security can come, including beyond the borders of our country,” the First Vice Speaker said.
For reference. On 23-27 October, a Ukrainian delegation headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko is on a working visit to the Republic of Angola.
The programme of the visit includes participation of the delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the 147th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Luanda, the capital of Angola.
The parliamentary delegation also includes: the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Oleksandr Merezhko, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports Zhan Beleniuk, the Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management Lesia Vasylenko, the Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Olha Rudenko, the Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi, the Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Oleksandr Sanchenko, and Dmytro Shpenov, the Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy.