THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
The president of the Italian volunteer association, Anteas Alessandria, Luciano Cartolano, and his colleagues once again visited the coworking space of the Ivano-Frankivsk Journalists’ Solidarity Center (JSC). Since the beginning of the full-scale war, this is the tenth trip of the Anteas Alessandria philanthropists to Ukraine, in particular, to the Ivano-Frankivsk Region. A warm and sincere conversation took place.
The working meeting was attended by Viktoriya Plakhta, the coordinator of the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC; Father Ivan Stefurak, the director of the Information Department of the Ivano-Frankivsk Archdiocese of the UGCC and the head of the Misericordia Charitable Foundation; Luciano Cartolano, the president of the Anteas Alessandria association (Alessandria, Italy), and volunteers of the Italian charitable organization.
Viktoriya Plakhta drew the attention of those present to the current challenges for the media community. Also, she shared her experience of supporting journalists who continue to work in the profession during the war. She spoke about several events organized by the Center for media professionals, primarily for internally displaced persons, focusing on psychological support and mental health.
The Center coordinator also focused on the safety of journalists. In this context, she demonstrated protective equipment that colleagues can borrow from the Center for temporary use for work in the combat zone and on front-line territories. Viktoriya Plakhta noted that during the Center’s operational period, journalists have repeatedly rented bulletproof vests and helmets.
The meeting also discussed the joint project Partnership for Victory, which has been implemented for the second year in a row by the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC, the Charity Foundation Misericordia and the Department of Information of the Ivano-Frankivsk Archdiocese of the UGCC, the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital and the Italian association Anteas Alessandria. They discussed the further development of the project and the nearest joint initiatives aimed at supporting and assisting Ukrainian journalists.
Italian volunteers delivered humanitarian aid to the Center: tea, coffee, sports equipment, stationery for school-age children, and power banks. First of all, it will be directed to the needs of IDP media workers who have temporarily lived in the Ivano-Frankivsk Region since the beginning of the full-scale war, and journalists from the regions sponsored by the Center – Chernihiv, Kherson, Volyn, Rivne – and their children. Also, targeted assistance – power banks – will be transferred by the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC to the Chernihiv Region for the needs of the editorial teams of the Novhorod-Siversk District newspaper Siverskyi Krai and the Siversk correspondent of the Suspilne Chernihiv, who work in front-line areas.
Luciano Cartolano expressed sincere support for Ukrainian journalists, emphasizing the importance of international solidarity in the fight for freedom of speech. And Viktoriya Plakhta expressed gratitude to the project partners for their constant help, support, and trust. She also personally thanked Luciano Cartolano and the volunteers of the Anteas Alessandria association for their care, understanding, and solidarity with the Ukrainian media community and presented him with a commemorative souvenir.
The network of Journalists’ Solidarity Centers is an initiative of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, implemented in collaboration with the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO, and with the support of the People of Japan. Our primary goal is to assist media professionals working in Ukraine during the war. The Centers are active in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk. The project is part of UNESCO’s broader efforts to support the Safety of Journalists and Freedom of Expression in Ukraine.
Contact the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC at 066 677 07 26 (Viktoriya Plakhta, the coordinator of the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC). The Center’s address is 25 Sichovykh Striltsiv Street.
Bohdana Zasidko
Ivano-Frankivsk JSC
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