The SFLG Global Platform Launches Public Diplomacy Education Initiative at Ukrainian Universities

The Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform has launched a lecture series titled “Public Diplomacy as a Power: How Ukraine Is Changing the Rules of the Game on the Global Stage.” The initiative is being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Activitis Education.

The first lectures took place on 7–8 May at five universities: V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, University of Customs and Finance, Dnipro University of Technology, Uzhhorod National University, and Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

The opening lectures were delivered by Olexandra Batiy, Head of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform, and Viktoria Lialina-Boiko, Director of the Department of Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communications of the MFA.

“Where politics cannot reach, soft power and public diplomacy step in,” Olexandra Batiy noted.

The programme focuses on real-life public diplomacy case studies implemented by Ukraine during the full-scale invasion and explores how concrete actions help strengthen the country’s position on the international stage.

The initiative later expanded to include three additional universities: Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, and Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University.

Overall, the initiative brings together higher education institutions from across Ukraine and is engaging a growing number of students in discussions about how the country is shaping its international image today.