It is said that “truth is the first victim of a war”. Hope and trust may follow close. With this blog and its sister actions we may want to bring true stories (if not “truth”) and open windows for hope, for trust and understanding.
We spent several days talking to civil society organisations, to citizens, to volunteers, to institutions in Ukraine, having online conferences with Russian actors, and yes we discovered terrible heartbreaking situations and stories, but we also have seen seeds and opportunities for a peace, civil society on both sides with the potential to bring peace, to establish free and fair dialogues, to reestablish human-based politics, democracies, relationships.
One statement: peace cannot be built without engagement. We met a lot of deeply engaged people; but we aim at finding and connecting many more engaged groups, activists, and to attract the engagement of organisations and civil society, also outside the region, to contribute to build a democratic response for a fair peace in Ukraine. We think International Voluntary Service organisations can engage together to support the fair ending of the conflicts, to overcome its difficulties, to support those in Ukraine and Russia that want peace and try to build it, to free themselves as peoples of the oppression of war.
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