The Centre of civil education “Almenda” was established in 2011 in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Yalta.
The idea of creating the organisation was
to increase education about the culture of democracy, the culture of peace, human rights and media literacy among educators and young people of Crimea and Ukraine.
For the period 2014-2022:
a simplified system of transferring students from the occupied territories to the higher education institutions of Ukraine was created thanks to the activities of the NGO “CCE “Almenda” (in 2014, 20,400 students transferred from the occupied territories to the higher education institutions of Ukraine);
the NGO “CCE “Almenda” in cooperation with other public organizations sought to create a simplified entry into the higher education institutions of Ukraine for residents of the occupied territories of Ukraine;
the recommendations provided by the organization were taken into account when forming strategic tasks to ensure access to education documents for TOT residents;
the organization worked in a working group to create a web portal (hub) for youth from the temporarily occupied territories;
the NGO “CCE “Almenda” also actively joined international advocacy for the de-occupation of Crimea and for protecting the human rights of residents of the occupied territories.
In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
With the beginning of full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the organisation records and documents data on six grave violations committed against children in the conditions of armed conflict. We joined “Ukraine 5 AM Coalition“, which includes public organizations and individual experts who have united to protect victims of armed aggression in Ukraine and to bring to justice the top leadership of the Russian Federation and the direct perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Today
Our mission
We are approaching the reintegration of the population of the de-occupied territories and laying the foundations for guarantees of non-repetition.
Strategic directions of our activity
Direction 1. Implementation of effective education for children and youth from occupied and de-occupied territories
Direction 2. Documenting war crimes and grave violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law against children in Ukraine in order to bring them to justice and ensure the right to the truth
Direction 3. Effective national and international advocacy on ensuring access to education, punishment of perpetrators and guarantees of non-repetition
Direction 4. Legal assistance and support for people who suffered from the armed conflict and the occupation regime.
The team of NGO “CCE “Almenda”
Maryna Budzar – Head of the Board, pedagogue, candidate of historical sciences, assistant professor of the Department of History of Ukraine at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University.
Maksym Yeligulashvili – a member of the “CCE “Almenda” Board, a facilitator of dialogues, an expert of the Institute of Peace and Understanding, co-coordinator of “Ukraine 5 AM Coalition“.
Daria Svyridova – a member of the “CCE “Almenda” Board, an expert of the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group, a member of the Advisory Council to the President of Ukraine on De-occupation and Reintegration of Crimea.
Mariia Sulialina – Head of the NGO CCE “Almenda”Valentina Potapova – head of the direction of national advocacyOleg Okhredko – coordinator of educational programs, expert, analystTetyana* – documentarianOlha Shapoval – documentarianValeriya Kuberska – legal analystLarisa Kolomeets – trainer, methodistAnna Klymenko – administratorVlad Babych – marketing specialist Anastasiia Konoshuk – communications managerAnastasiia* – SMM manager
*We cannot show part of the team for security reasons
