The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria in collaboration with Public Interest Practice cordially invites you to the delegation briefing on the current situation in Ukraine, discussing the impact of the war on South Africa and exploring opportunities for partnerships between Ukrainian and South African organisations.
Event Information
Venue: University of Pretoria, Faculty of Law (Centre House)
Online: (Zoom)
Date: Thursday, 20th April 2023
Time: 10:00 AM - 12h00 PM (SAST)
The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, and Public Interest Practice will co-host the visiting Ukrainian Delegation at the University of Pretoria on 20 April from 10:00 to 12:00 at the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria. The meeting will be attended by members of academia at the University of Pretoria, interested students, and a few invited guests.
Over a year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, thousands of Ukrainians have been killed and cities have been reduced to rubble. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General has recorded over 70,000 potential war crimes.
At the same time, the war has plunged the world into an economic crisis and choked off global supplies of food and fertiliser, putting millions of people at risk of starvation.
Since the invasion, Ukrainian civil society has played an important role in raising awareness of the war and advocating for international support to bring the war to an end. Previous civil society delegations have visited Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Brazil, and Argentina, successfully engaging with a wide range of stakeholders.
The Ukrainian delegates are specialists in their respective fields, bringing expertise in comparative politics; trade and business; human rights; and religion, which will allow the delegation to engage on a wide range of issues of mutual interest to Ukraine and South Africa.
Delegation members:
Professor Olexiy Haran. Professor of Comparative Politics, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (UKMA). He was the founder of the UKMA Faculty of Social Sciences as well as the School for Policy Analysis. Prof. Haran is also Research Director at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, a leading Ukrainian sociological and analytical think tank. Prof. Haran is a prolific author and a frequent commentator in the international media. For more than a decade he was a member of the Public Consultative Board at Ukrainian MFA and was also a member of the Public Expert Board of the Ukrainian Presidency from 2000 - 2004 and a member of the Public Council on National Unity of the Ukrainian Presidency in 2015-2019.
Oleksandra Romantsova. Executive Director, Center for Civil Liberties. The Center for Civil Liberties has been documenting crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine since 2014 and advocating for establishing accountability mechanisms, including international ones for these crimes. CCL was recently awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
Anna Liubyma. Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI). Head of the Humanitarian group of The International Assistance Headquarters for Ukrainians (IAHU). The Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a non-governmental, non-profit, self-governing organization that unites legal entities and citizens of Ukraine, registered as entrepreneurs, and also their associations, on a voluntary basis.
For further information, please contact
Jacob van Garderen
+27 82 820 3960
jacob@publicinterestpractice.co.za