Ukrainian Youth Speak Out Against Corruption
Amy Hill
Ukraine has since its departure from the former Soviet Union been known for its corruption. Experts suggest that the roots of the problem stem from the Soviet nature of many of the country’s political leaders, who used to be part of the ruling elite during the communist era. Ukraine’s weak justice system and its overly-controlling and non-transparent government, together with a relatively inactive civil society, perpetuate the problem. Sadly, the tragic impact on young people’s hope and ambitions, of growing up in an environment riddled by corruption across judicial, education, law enforcement, healthcare, and civil service systems is rarely addressed.
Recognizing the need to build leadership among younger generations for taking a stand against corruption and wanting to elevate their personal stories, America House Kyiv invited Silence Speaks in the fall of 2018 to guide 12 youth alumni of the U.S. Department of State’s Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) through an anti-corruption digital storytelling process. We began the project with a webinar that introduced story prompts about how corruption affects young people and how they are standing up against it. We then traveled to Kyiv for a four-day workshop, where participants shared their stories in a group Story Circle process, developed creative approaches to illustrating their stories using film, computer animation, and tactile art-making techniques, and edited completed videos.
Following the workshop, the collection of digital stories was shown publicly in Kyiv, as part of events put on to honor International Anti-Corruption Day (December 9). Since that time, the storytellers and civil society groups addressing corruption have been sharing the stories at colleges and universities and in community settings around the country, and leading facilitated discussions about how individuals are affected by corrupt practices, and how they can speak out against corruption in all sectors of Ukrainian society. This project was funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. View the entire playlist of anti-corruption stories here.
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