Fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen to be held in Kyiv – Olena Zelenska

She stated this on Telegram following a video conference with participants of the Global Platform of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, where the results of the year’s work were summed up, Ukrinform reports.

“Next year, we will expand our activities: we are scheduling events on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in The Hague and the UN General Assembly. For the next, fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, as always, I am awaiting my colleagues in the same place, in Kyiv,” said Olena Zelenska.

She also recalled the main achievements of the Global Platform over the year.

“Today, traditionally for the end of the year, we gathered for the third time with colleagues, participants of the Global Platform of the First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit, for a video conference to summarize what has been done: our fourth Summit, held on September 12, 2024 in Kyiv, we dedicated to the topic ‘Protecting Children: Guarantees of a Safe Future’ and presented an international study conducted in 15 countries (75% of parents responded that their children are now in greater danger than they were in childhood),” said the President’s spouse.

She also noted that the practical result of the Summit was a roadmap for child protection, developed by Ukrainian experts. We presented it to the world at a special event of the Global Platform of the First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.

This year, the study was presented in four countries – at the joint Ukrainian-German Mental Health Conference, at the Ukrainian-British Roundtable, at the California Veterans Administration, and at the Mental Health Conference in Serbia.

In addition, participants in the First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit platform in London took part in the Global Soft Power Index, where the study “The Impact of First Ladies and Gentlemen on Soft Power” was showcased.

Summing up the year, Olena Zelenska also recalled that in November, together with the other first ladies, she visited the Vatican and a mass in the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere on the occasion of 1,000 days of war.

“I remember how at the beginning of our First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit, four years ago, we wondered: what is our soft power capable of? Now we know for sure that together, we can change many lives in our countries for the better. As noted in this year’s Global Soft Power Index study by Brand Finance, we influence a third of the soft power factors in our countries. Huge potential and responsibility,” the First Lady of Ukraine concluded.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen is an annual international event initiated by Olena Zelenska in 2021. It is a global platform that unites first ladies and gentlemen to address global challenges.

During the first Summit, a platform for solving humanitarian problems was launched. The second event allowed for raising more than $6 million for 92 ambulances. A medical partnership was established on the sidelines of the third summit, which was held last year. Then, Ukrainian and foreign clinics signed 25 memorandums of medical cooperation.