Representative of UNESCO in Ukraine Chiara Bardeschi visited the Lviv Journalist Solidarity Center on Thursday and talked to journalists who were forced to leave their homes because of the war and now live in Lviv. She also met with local media persons.
According to Chiara Bardeschi, she and her colleague Tural Mustafayev who is responsible for cultural issues in emergency situations at the UNESCO Secretariat, were prompted to visit Lviv by the desire to learn the stories of journalists who, despite wartime and dramatic changes in their lives, continue to maintain loyalty to the profession.
“UNESCO works a lot with the media. We are very grateful to journalists who are currently bringing information to people and documenting it. We are very glad that the media have united and continue to work. And we will continue to provide our support,” Chiara Bardeschi said.
According to her, UNESCO supports not only cultural heritage, but also what creates culture today. This international organization helps teachers, psychologists, scientists, and journalists in Ukraine.
In turn, the coordinator of the Center Bohdana Stelmakh and Head of the Lviv regional organization of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) Yaroslav Klymovych thanked UNESCO for the huge support of Ukrainian journalists, which allowed media workers to remain in the profession and convey information to their audience.
“The largest press room of the Lviv regional organization of the NUJU was handed over to the Journalist Solidarity Center. This is not by accident, because in March-April dozens of journalists from the occupied and war-torn territories arrived in Lviv to have the opportunity to work and provide truthful information about what is happening in Ukraine. UNESCO very promptly and productively got involved in the work of supporting Ukrainian media workers,” Yaroslav Klymovych emphasized.
Journalists who attended the meeting thanked UNESCO for its support and assistance in matters of protection of displaced journalists, ensuring normal working conditions for media workers, their mental health, etc. They also expressed their gratitude for the support of the Lviv Journalist Solidarity Center of the NUJU and the city of Lviv.
Bohdana Stelmakh presented Chiara Bardeschi with copies of publications that were restored in the de-occupied and front-line territories with the support of international benefactors and the NUJU, as well as safety guides for journalists published with the support of UNESCO.
“The war really united the media. Before the war, we were all in a competitive environment, everyone fought to get information as quickly as possible, fought for a listener, viewer, reader. But at one point we realized that discord definitely has nothing to do with us, and that we all work on our front, our voices, our brains are weapons in the fight against Russian aggression. The help from the outside that is given to us (in particular, our radio station received a generator from UNESCO and the NUJU, which gives us the opportunity to work without interruptions with no blackouts), is the help of friends. I think this vivid example of friendship should be properly appreciated by every mass media,” said Yula Bielska, the program director of the Halychyna FM Radio.
As earlier reported, the Journalist Solidarity Centers are an initiative of the NUJU implemented with the support of the International and European Federations of Journalists, as well as UNESCO. They are established to help media representatives working in Ukraine during the war. The centers operate in Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and provide journalists with organizational, technical, legal, psychological and other types of assistance.
To get in touch with the Lviv Journalist Solidarity Center located at 5, Solomiyi Krushelnytskoyi Street, please, call: 066 203 5031 (Bohdana Stelmakh, the Center’s coordinator).
About UNESCO. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication and information. UNESCO promotes knowledge sharing and the free flow of ideas to accelerate mutual understanding. It is the coordinator of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity , which aims to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers, thus strengthening peace, democracy and sustainable development worldwide. UNESCO is working closely with its partner organizations in Ukraine to provide support to journalists on the ground.
