The training was conducted for employees who visit institutions for children and cover work with them.
Ivanka Rudakevich, head of projects and programs of the Center for Child Dignity of UCU, conducted the training on the topic “Ethics of communication in social networks of visits to institutions for children” in Zoom format. She recalled the current and internationally approved rules for covering visits to children’s institutions in photos, videos and texts, and also analyzed the pages of the structural subdivisions of the Lviv OVA.
“When we make a publication that concerns children who are in residential institutions for various reasons, we should take care of their decent presentation in the media, as well as the preservation of their personal data. We never know who will have access to this data on social networks, and it will remain there forever. Not to distribute images of the child’s face, features, location, name/surname is to worry about his safety. This is very important for children who do not have a trusted adult who can protect and support them. I thank the management and employees of Lviv OVA for initiating the conversation on this topic. The dignity of the child is the most important thing, and it is the responsibility of adults to take care of it,” said Ivanka Rudakevich.
The training was attended by Ivan Sobko, the profile deputy head of the Lviv OVA, the management and communicators of the Department of Social Protection of the Population, the Department of Communications and Internal Policy, the Department of Culture, Nationalities and Religions, the Department of Education and Science, the Department of Health, Youth and Sports Management, and also Children’s Services.
“In the work of state structures, it is necessary to adhere not only to the regulatory framework, but also to always remember that we are people and work for people. When we visit and talk about institutions for children, we first of all set ourselves the goal of creating better living and learning conditions for pupils, attracting state and regional support, as well as support from donors, so that in the future these children become worthy, socialized and fulfilled adults. Thank you to the organizers of the training for the opportunity to look at the coverage of our visits to these institutions in a new way. Mrs. Ivanka prompted us to rethink some things, in some cases we received important confirmation that we are doing everything right. We continue – with balanced communication and concern for dignity,” Ivan Sobko emphasized.
During the event, it was discussed how to correctly highlight information about children who are in boarding-type institutions or family-type children’s homes, how to submit this information on official resources, and how to communicate with the children themselves during such events.
“When I organized the “Human Language” course, I dared to take a rather bold step – I asked on social networks to volunteer specialists who are ready to objectively assess the quality of communication of the employees of the Lviv OVA, and we gained a lot thanks to this. We invited some of the journalists and editors who volunteered as lecturers to the “Human Language” course, and with specialists from other fields we agree on trainings related to the communication of specific units in specific situations. We are very grateful to Ivanka Rudakevich, head of projects and programs of the Center for the Dignity of the Child at UCU, for important reminders and concrete examples. Thanks to the heads of our structural divisions and their communicators, who were open to this experience,” said the deputy head of the information policy department, head of the press service of the Lviv OVA Maria Kurylo.
We will remind you that in April, about 50 heads of departments, departments and divisions of the Lviv OVA, as well as those employees who communicate with journalists on behalf of these structural units, listened to the course “People’s language”. The speakers of the course were: the founder of the Universal Journalist School and the All-Ukrainian competition “I am a journalist!”, the secretary of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, Vitaliy Golubev, the founder and editor of the socio-political magazine “Our Ukrainian Affairs” Lesya Gorgota, the editor-in-chief of the LVIV.MEDIA website, the former head of the TSN.ua website Dmytro Andriichenko, director of the Pershii Zahidny TV channel Olga Tsap, program director of Radio PERSHE Yaryna Kapitan, head of the information program department of the Pershii Zahidnii TV channel Svitlana Rovenchak, chief editor of the information department, deputy head of the NTA TV channel Maria Shimanska. Learn more about the course here.