On Thursday, September 12, Kyiv will host a large-scale First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit organized by Olena Zelenska. This year's event will focus on the global challenges faced by children in the modern world. The first lady of Ukraine said this in an interview with We-Ukraine, UNN reports.
Zelenska outlined the key topics of the summit: the problems of deportation and forced displacement of children, indoctrination and militarization of children by the occupiers. Challenges in the family environment will also be discussed, including violence, divorce, and parental childcare.
The educational space will be another important dimension of the discussions, addressing not only the physical but also the mental and psychological safety of children. Particular attention will be paid to cyberspace and related threats to children, such as grooming, disinformation, and personal data leakage.
Zelenskaya announced the expansion of the geography of participants, in particular, for the first time, representatives of Latin America will join the summit. Among the well-known guests are journalist Anne Applebaum, actor and UN Goodwill Ambassador Michael Douglas, and education expert Andreas Schlecher.
"More people will come to us this year than last year physically. And this is great, because we understand that not everyone is ready to go to a war country during the war," the First Lady said.
Zelenska emphasized that all the guests are active public figures who understand the importance of the topics discussed and are ready to support Ukraine.
"I think this summit will be much more interesting. All the guests are active public figures. And they understand that these are important things. And they understand that their contribution, especially when there is such synergy, is important to the common cause. What mood do they come with? - I think they come with a mood to support, first of all. Because yes, we do touch on topics that are close to everyone, but we are in the epicenter," she said.