A displaced person from the Kherson region, Yevhenii Hnatovskyi, who is currently studying at Zhytomyr Lyceum No. 4, joined the Ukrainian delegation at the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. There he spoke about how the war affects the education of Ukrainian children.
This was reported by Suspilne. Zhytomyr.
According to Yevhenii’s mother, Nadiya Hnatovska, the trip became possible thanks to the boy’s participation in the youth council of the international organization Lumos. Yevhenii has been its member since 2024 and was selected for the delegation thanks to a motivational letter in which he described his own experience of studying during the war.
The Hnatovskyi family moved to Zhytomyr from the temporarily occupied part of Kherson Oblast in 2022. Yevhenii himself currently studies at Lyceum No. 4, where he transferred after difficulties with remote learning.
The program of the visit to Geneva lasted three days. As part of the events, Ukrainian participants spoke during sessions, took part in panel discussions, and also met with representatives of international organizations, including UNICEF.
During one of the panel sessions, Yevhenii shared his own experience of studying in wartime conditions.
“Zhenya spoke about how education during the war can be different: today — remote, tomorrow — in a basement, and the day after tomorrow it may not exist at all”, — his mother noted.
He also drew attention to the difficulties faced by children with disabilities, for whom access to shelters and educational premises is often even more challenging.
In his speech the schoolboy emphasized:
“Education cannot wait. And childhood has no other time — it passes away”.
Yevhenii himself says that taking part in the UN Human Rights Council session was an important experience for him.
“For me, the opportunity to speak at the UN Human Rights Council is, above all, a feeling of personal growth. I talked about the situation with education in Ukraine and shared my own view of how the war affects children’s learning”, — he said.
During the trip, delegation members also had the opportunity to speak with diplomats from various countries and ask them questions.
According to Nadiya Hnatovska, the speeches of Ukrainian children made a strong impression on international representatives.
After returning, Yevhenii plans to continue participating in youth initiatives and share the experience he gained with his peers. At the same time, in the near future he will focus on his studies, as he is preparing to complete his basic secondary education.