On November 10, the Lviv Regional Youth Center hosted a presentation ofthe book “Christian Democracy. Solutions for Ukraine and Europe” and other projects implemented by the NGO Foundation for Promotion of Democracy in the field of education and information hygiene.
Yuriy Honcharenko, Vice President of the Democracy Promotion Foundation, presented the main activities of the Foundation, including book publishing, educational projects, and the InfoLight.UA initiative, which, with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, provides online training on information hygiene, fact-checking, and teaches citizens information security and the ability to resist Russian propaganda.
“With the outbreak of war in 2014, we (the Democracy Promotion Foundation) focused more on promoting the country’s defense capability, promoting volunteerism, education, and various publishing activities. We created the InfoLight.UA project, which conducts online trainings and informs Ukrainians through the website and social networks.”
– said Yuriy Goncharenko.
He presented a line of books and brochures that have been published recently.
Valeriy Maydanyuk, PhD in Political Science and expert at the Democracy Assistance Foundation, who co-authored the book, spoke about “Christian Democracy. Solutions for Ukraine and Europe”, emphasized that this book reveals the true essence of the ideology of Christian democracy, which was the basis for the founding of the European Union. And that knowledge of these foundations is essential for modern Ukraine, which has become a candidate for EU membership.
“Today, not many people know that it was Christian democratic politicians, governments, and parties that became the political forces that built successful European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria… And if we take reforms and various social initiatives, it was Christian democrats who did a lot to make Europe today the place on the planet that many people perceive as a “paradise of social welfare.”
– Valeriy Maydanyuk emphasized.
Political scientist and public figure Valentyn Balagura, who represented the InfoLight.UA initiative, emphasized that the project invited the best specialists in their fields, from cybersecurity to OSINT and IPSO, as lecturers.
“We need to explain, first of all, to young people that the next generations of Ukrainians should have value orientations. As for the InfoLight.UA project, we are now engaged in education not in terms of ideology, but in showing how the Russian Federation is trying to influence our brains and how to counteract it.”
– Valentyn Balagura noted.
He also believes that the combination of knowledge and the value dimension of activity allows us to better resist Russian aggression.
The participants thanked the Lviv Regional Youth Center, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Ukraine and the Sallux Foundation for their cooperation and assistance in organizing the event.
Book synopsis:
Christian democracy became the ideology of reconciliation and integration for European countries after World War II. Christian democratic leaders Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schuman, and Alcide de Gasperi not only laid the foundations for the economic prosperity of Germany, France, and Italy, but also became the founding fathers of the European Union. The universal values of Christian democracy raised post-war Europe from the ruins and became the foundation of a welfare state based on freedom, solidarity, and responsibility.
About the InfoLight.UA:
The low level of information literacy of Ukrainian citizens, especially after the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression, is strikingly visible and has a negative impact. In particular, for this reason, fakes, disinformation, and propaganda are widely spread.
The state does not always have enough resources to counter this and needs partnerships with civil society organizations and volunteers.
The situation with information work in the temporarily occupied territories is very difficult, where Ukrainian citizens do not have access to objective sources of information and are in a state of constant stress and despondency.
Similarly, due to the lack of knowledge about secure means of communication, there is no information about the course of events in these territories, which means that Ukrainian society and the international community do not receive objective information and are often influenced by disinformation and manipulation. Martial law and the need to involve the entire society in the defense of the country create conditions for distrust and even certain conflicts in the interaction between society and the army.
Due to a lack of time and resources, government agencies do not always respond to these situations in a timely manner, which gives room for manipulation and influence by special information operations of the Russian special services.
In view of the above, the InfoLight.UA project implements training programs to improve media literacy and combat fake news and propaganda. A special emphasis is placed on creating an information product for Ukrainians in the occupied territories and on cooperation between civil society and the army. The implementation of these programs is aimed, among other things, at the interaction between society and the army.
The project is implemented by the Democracy Promotion Foundation (Ukraine) with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Ukraine (Germany).