The Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen took place in Kyiv, initiated by Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska. This year’s theme was "Protecting Childhood: Ensuring a Safe Future."

Opening the Summit, Olena Zelenska emphasized that this topic is crucial not just for parents worldwide but for all responsible adults.

“Children’s safety can only be provided by all conscious, responsible adults around the world. Moreover, we, adults, owe them safety. They came into our world, and if something threatens them, it is our collective duty to stop that threat,” said Olena Zelenska.

She noted that the choice of this year’s theme was inspired by the previous Summit.

“At the last event, we explored mental health worldwide through research conducted in 11 countries. One surprising finding was that teenagers, regardless of where they live, experience stress several degrees more intensely than adults,” Olena Zelenska pointed out.

She thanked those who came to Kyiv in person to participate in the Summit, including wife of the Prime Minister of Belize Rossana Briceño, husband of the Prime Minister of Denmark Bo Tengberg, First Lady of Estonia Sirje Karis, wife of the President of Finland Suzanne Innes-Stubb, First Lady of Guatemala Lucrecia Peinado, First Lady of Lithuania Diana Nausėdienė, wife of the President of Serbia Tamara Vučić, and First Gentleman of Slovenia Aleš Musar.

Olena Zelenska also expressed gratitude to those who sent video messages: wife of the Federal President of Germany Elke Büdenbender, First Lady of Malawi Monica Chakwera, First Lady of Türkiye Emine Erdoğan, First Lady of Israel Michal Herzog, wife of the Prime Minister of Japan Yuko Kishida, First Lady of France Brigitte Macron, wife of the Prime Minister of Israel Sara Netanyahu; wife of the Amir of Qatar Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, and wife of the Federal President of Austria Doris Schmidauer.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed the Summit, with philosopher Francis Fukuyama as the honorary speaker. The event was hosted by TV presenter and journalist Timur Miroshnychenko.

The Summit featured discussions on children’s safety across five key panels.

• The first panel, “Child Safety During the War,” was aimed to draw attention to the scale of the tragedy of wars around the world and possible ways to reduce risks for children. The discussion addressed not only physical safety during shelling and hostilities but also the issues of propaganda, deportation, and indoctrination. Moderated by Polish-American historian, writer, and journalist Anne Applebaum, the panel included journalist, writer, and war correspondent Janine di Giovanni, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, and ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan.

“When children are dying or disappearing anywhere, it’s a challenge to the entire world order, to all our conventions, agreements, and human rights,” emphasized Olena Zelenska.

• The second panel, “Child Safety in the Family,” was dedicated to the key challenges of parenting and issues children may face at home. Discussions covered mental health in the family environment and government programs supporting families. Moderated by UNICEF Representative to Ukraine Munir Mammadzade and TV host Polina Medvid, the panel included family therapist George Faller. The special guests of the panel were Michael Douglas, an award-winning actor, producer and UN Messenger of Peace, and actor Dylan Douglas.

“Physical or psychological violence in the family affects, by some estimates, 400 million children worldwide – a number comparable to those affected by armed conflicts,” noted the First Lady of Ukraine.

• The third panel, “Child Safety at School,” focused on creating a healthy educational environment, discussing safe and comfortable conditions in educational institutions. The panel was moderated by Olha Budnyk, Adviser – Commissioner of the President on the Fund of the President of Ukraine for the Support of Education, Science, and Sports. Participants included Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi and Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait Yasmine Sherif.

“In Ukraine, this dimension has been altered by war as well: we are forced to build bomb shelters and organize online education so that our children can continue to develop despite everything,” said Olena Zelenska.

• The fourth panel, “Child Safety in Cyberspace,” explored ways to protect children online and discussed the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence for children. Former Estonian Government Chief Information Officer Luukas Ilves moderated the panel, with special addresses from EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson andDeputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration Valeriya Ionan.

“The ability to distinguish truth from disinformation online is now a vitally important skill for our children. We need children not to allow themselves to be manipulated and to be able to protect themselves even in virtual reality,” the First Lady emphasized.

• The fifth panel, “Safe Environment for Children,” took place in the format of five pavilions with installations. Guests were invited on a journey through Ukrainian nature reserves affected by the war: from Crimea to Luhansk.

Additionally, the Summit presented the results of a comprehensive study, “Protection of Childhood: Security Dimensions for Children and Adolescents,” conducted specially for the event. Conducted by Catalyse Research in partnership with BRAND UKRAINE and supported by UNICEF, the study covered 15 countries to identify the challenges faced by parents and children. Notably, the study found that 75% of parents believe children today face more threats than modern adults did in their childhood. The top concerns highlighted by parents around the world included rising prices, poverty, and unemployment.

The full results of the study are available here.

The Summit resulted in a joint declaration. Its goal is to unite the efforts of the world's top leaders to protect the rights of children during armed conflicts and wars. Future projects and initiatives within the framework of this declaration will be aimed at searching for, identifying, and returning home deported children, helping internally displaced families, and evacuating children from war zones.

“Unfortunately, many international structures, created with good intentions, have proven powerless when tested by real tragedy. That’s why we are developing our own cooperation to save children,” Olena Zelenska stated.

The Summit was supported by UNICEF, USAID, and Universal Bank as general partners; FCDO and Ajax Systems as official partners; and UNESCO, IOM, KSE Foundation, BVG Charity Fund, La Famiglia Catering, the Yalta European Strategy, Catalyse Research, and BRAND UKRAINE as partners.

The Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen is an annual international event initiated by Olena Zelenska in 2021. It has since grown into a global platform that operates year-round.

The Global Platform of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen is a community uniting the spouses of world leaders who seek to use their influence to address global challenges.

The 2022 Summit raised over $6 million, funding 92 ambulances. Last year, the event also launched a unique medical partnership, resulting in 48 memoranda of cooperation between Ukrainian and international hospitals.

For more information about the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, visit: https://summitflg.org