Global Leaders Inspire Ukrainian Students

In a significant gathering aimed at transforming education, the Fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen saw Nobel laureates and educators from over 10 countries deliver lectures to students across Ukraine. The summit, initiated by Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, focused on reshaping education to include empathy and dialogue alongside new technologies.

The event took place across five Ukrainian cities—Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Ostroh, and Dnipro—and featured lectures at 18 educational and cultural institutions. Over 2,000 attendees, including students, educators, and researchers, participated in the program, which spanned universities, museums, and schools. Notable speakers included Denmark’s First Gentleman Bo Tengberg and Estonia’s First Lady Sirje Karis, who emphasized the role of education in promoting peace and cultural understanding.

In addition to these lectures, the summit highlighted international cooperation in rebuilding educational institutions in Ukraine. Austria’s First Lady Doris Schmidauer, Germany’s First Lady Elke Büdenbender, and Finland’s First Lady Suzanne Innes-Stubb visited schools and kindergartens reconstructed with their countries’ support. Finland’s President Alexander Stubb also contributed with an open lecture on foreign policy at Kyiv’s Taras Shevchenko National University.

Renowned Nobel laureates such as Sir Paul Nurse, Shirin Ebadi, and Ouided Bouchamaoui participated, addressing topics in science, human rights, and innovation. The summit underscored the importance of combining academic knowledge with cultural dialogue to foster peace and recovery, a sentiment echoed by Olena Zelenska in her closing remarks.