THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
The Zaporizhzhia Journalists’ Solidarity Center has organized a briefing for displaced journalists to learn about the VONAkhab [SHEhub] charitable organization.
The speakers were Hanna Bardachenko, the head of the Ukrainian Business Women in Zaporizhzhia Region non-governmental organization/ VONAkhab career adviser, and Iryna Poliiektova, the MTM TV channel director/a member of the public association.
In particular, the participants were told that VONAkhab is a joint project of the United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine, UNFPA, NGO Ukrainian Business Women in Zaporizhzhia Region, and Posmishka UA charity fund financed by USAID. The hub works in five regions of Ukraine and takes care of displaced women who have suffered from domestic violence or who have fallen into difficult life circumstances. The project is aimed at developing their professional potential and financial capacity.
The Zaporizhzhia branch of the VONAkhab project has been operating since September last year. Here, women can receive psychological assistance, free vocational training, retraining, career counseling, and help at all stages of job search or starting their own businesses.
The speakers also said that the three-month VONA Startup School for women with entrepreneurial skills and willing to turn their hobby into a business had been opened in the career hub with the partner Zaporizhzhia City Development Institute municipal enterprise. Specialists help develop individual projects to receive a grant. The top three have already received up to UAH 30,000, and ten women have opened their own businesses, mainly online and crafting services.
“Undoubtedly, VONAkhab helps women believe in themselves, overcome feelings of helplessness, discover or develop their hidden talents, as well as become socially protected and successful specialists,” says Antonina Bukrieieva from Yakymivka.
“We know for ourselves what it’s like to be in a difficult psychological state, without work, without money… We are glad women have a place to turn to in a difficult hour,” adds Valentyna Avierina from Lysychansk.
Call the Zaporizhzhia JSC by dialing 096 277 5352 (Nataliya Kuzmenko, the Zaporizhzhia JSC coordinator). Its address is 152 Sobornyi Avenue.
As earlier reported, the Journalists’ Solidarity Centers is an initiative of the NUJU implemented with the support of the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO. The initiative is designated to help media representatives working in Ukraine during the war. The Centers operate in Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro and provide journalists with organizational, technical, legal, psychological, and other types of assistance.
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 Action Plan 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.
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Olena Morozova
Photo: Dariya Zyrianova
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