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Kyiv Hosts Sixth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen With 14 Countries Represented
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Kyiv hosted the Sixth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen on Ukraine’s Independence Day, bringing together representatives from 14 countries to discuss resilience and stability amid global uncertainty, UNITED24 Media correspondent reported.
Held at the initiative of Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, this year’s Summit focused on the theme “World-2026: Finding Stability in Times of Uncertainty” and provided a platform for countries to share their experiences and approaches to resilience.
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“I remember our first attempts to approach this complex, deeply important topic: three years ago, at our third Summit in Kyiv, we studied mental health in 11 countries. Ukraine was already facing an extraordinarily high level of stress caused by the war russia had unleashed. At the time, everyone was asking us for ‘the recipe for Ukrainian resilience’— n truth, we were searching for it ourselves. Now we know: resilience doesn’t mean the absence of pain or fear. It means the ability to act despite them,” said Olena Zelenska.
The First Lady also highlighted the economic dimension of societal resilience, pointing to the financial impact of mental health challenges worldwide.
“The global economy loses close to a trillion dollars every year to depression and anxiety, and mental health problems cost OECD countries up to 4% of GDP. That's one more reason why it matters so much to talk about resilience, define it, and share it,” added the First Lady of Ukraine.
First Ladies and Gentlemen from six countries attended the Summit in person to present their countries’ approaches to resilience: Spouse of the President of Estonia Sirje Karis, First Lady of Lithuania Diana Nausėdienė, First Lady of Serbia Tamara Vučić, Spouse of the President of Finland Suzanne Elizabeth Innes-Stubb, Spouse of the President of Slovenia Aleš Musar, and First Lady of Romania Mirabela Grădinaru.
First Ladies and Gentlemen from Germany, Belize, Israel, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Guatemala, and Georgia participated online. In total, representatives from 14 countries took part in the Sixth Summit.
The Summit’s program was organized into four thematic sections—“Discover,” “Make Meaning,” “Survive. Act,” and “Stay Together”—with separate international and Ukrainian components.
This year, the Summit expanded beyond First Ladies and Gentlemen to include heads of state, who participated in the “Stay Together” segment.. Speakers included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Estonian President Alar Karis, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
The “Make Meaning” segment brought together American writer, journalist, and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger, author of Tribe, and Ukrainian military chaplain, public figure, writer, lecturer, and philosopher Andriy Zelinskyy.
Another part of the program, “Survive. Act,” opened with a panel discussion titled “From the Resilience of People to the Resilience of Systems,” which paired government representatives with people whose personal experiences reflected the issues under discussion.
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Participants included First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal alongside Liudmyla Kozak, an engineer at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s physical protection department. Kozak began her shift on February 23, 2022, and subsequently spent 26 days under occupation.
As part of the initiative, Zelenska presented Ukraine’s philosophy of resilience, developed by Ukrainian scholars and titled “Sophiynist.” Included within the “Make Meaning” dimension, the concept is centered on perceiving reality as a whole through both reason and emotion. Ukrainian experts defined it as a philosophy combining the will to live, the strength to fight, and the wisdom to learn.
A dedicated “Garden of Sophiynist” was also created specifically for the Sixth Summit. Throughout the day, participants and guests were able to explore Ukrainian resilience practices through applied art techniques and original installations, as well as engage with the cultural context behind the concept of Sophiynist.
The Summit took place as Ukraine continues broader efforts to strengthen societal resilience, including support for the country’s growing veteran community. Ukraine is preparing an overhaul of its veteran support system as the number of veterans is expected to exceed 3 million after the war, with planned measures covering legislation, digital services, employment, rehabilitation, and assistance for veterans’ families.
Those initiatives were presented by Ukrainian officials, military representatives, and international partners at the 9th International Veterans Forum, “Honoring Resilience,” held in Kyiv ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day.
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