Community activists and human rights defenders of Chernihiv region received training in leadership and communications

On February 23, a training was organized for local community activists and human rights defenders of Chernihiv region to develop communication and leadership skills to solve urgent community problems and establish interaction with authorities.

The trainer of the event was an experienced national expert in supporting public initiatives, development and leadership, director of the AXALAR Center –

Yuriy Trofymenko

.

As part of the program, the training participants worked in the following areas: mechanisms for engaging and interacting with volunteer and public initiatives, strengthening the capacity of activists and human rights defenders to solve urgent problems of war-affected communities, protecting the rights of vulnerable groups of the population and victims of war through the development of leadership skills. They discussed the specific characteristics by which a leader can be identified:

• knows how to properly influence group members;

• has authority and respect among others;

• has exemplary personal qualities.

Yuriy Trofymenko

noted how to develop leadership skills: “Communicate more, listen more carefully and actively build a network of contacts. Learn to understand the interests of other people, think about them and try to find mutually beneficial solutions in controversial situations. Set goals and prioritize.”

Activists and human rights defenders also performed leadership self-diagnostic exercises, passed a leadership skills test, participated in discussions, debates, and completed tasks in mini-groups.

During the training, participants had the opportunity to discover leadership qualities, learn to defend their position, master the art of working independently and in a team, discover organizational skills, learn to evaluate and use their own potential and the potential of the team.

At the end of the event, the training participants concluded that being a leader means learning to be one, because leaders are not born, but become in the process of their activities.

The event was organized by the NGO “Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights” as part of the project “Supporting the Restoration of Communities and the Protection of Vulnerable Population Groups Affected by the War in Chernihiv Region” with the support of the US Embassy in Ukraine.