“Tribe”: Ukraine launches educational program for veterans on human rights, media, and civic activism

Amnesty International Ukraine and Amnesty International Denmark are launching the “Tribe” project in partnership with the Women’s Veterans Movement, the NGO Pryncyp, the NaUKMA Leadership Center, and the Vesta Charitable Foundation, with support from the Danish fund CISU. The initiative aims to strengthen the human rights and civic potential of veterans of the russian-Ukrainian war. 

Participants, who are veterans from across Ukraine, will gain access to a comprehensive educational program covering human rights, advocacy, media literacy, psychological resilience, and the implementation of their own initiatives. 

The project was announced during a presentation at Media Center Ukraine.

“We observed a significant demand among veterans who often lack awareness of their rights, feel uncertain about post-discharge steps, or face gaps between policy and practice. By partnering with organizations focused on veterans and those supporting military personnel, prisoners of war, and veterans, we created this project,” stated Veronika Puhach, coordinator of the “Tribe” educational human rights project at Amnesty International Ukraine.

The training will take place from July to November 2025 and will include online classes, offline retreats, training sessions and workshops, community work, mentorship from Amnesty International, media collaboration, and opportunities to launch human rights projects.

“This program is very multidisciplinary and covers a wide range of topics. We have included various state-building processes — we will explain to our participants how the state works, how each of them can influence certain actions at the local level and influence laws and decisions at the state level that are of interest to them and their communities. We will also talk about psychoeducation, support while working in the NGO sector, and the impact of various risks. We will teach them how to communicate with the media and various structures, as well as the technical aspects of communicating with various state representatives,“ explained Kateryna Khrapovych, training manager at the NGO Pryncyp.

According to her, the program includes not only theory but also a great deal of practice. 

“Almost every class provides practical tools that participants can use immediately after completing the program. We have enlisted professional lecturers who are experts in their fields and represent the public, private, and government sectors. Therefore, we hope that this program will be very useful for our participants.”

Kateryna Khrapovych noted that the program is very extensive, including more than 80 hours of training material and about five hours of practical classes.

Most of the training will take place online to enable as many participants as possible from communities across Ukraine to join.

Anyone who wishes to participate can do so by registering with the provided form and passing the selection process.

Currently, there are 25 spots available, and the program is planned to continue with this number of participants.

“This is the group we want to continue training with. We realized that this number would allow us to work more effectively with each participant and address their specific issues and questions while providing higher-quality information. However, if the program is successful, we will consider continuing it, so to speak, as a second season of this training program,” concluded Kateryna Khrapovych.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news