BackWe thank President Zelensky for his inspirational and courageous leadership of Ukraine. He has not ceded, and will never cede, his great nation’s sovereignty to the Russian Federation. History will remember him as an indefatigable and fearless champion of democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
We honour every soldier and civilian who has fought and those who have fallen. On a number of occasions we were told we were brave to travel to Ukraine. We were not. We visited brave people.
We offer our sincerest thanks to Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets. He is a deeply impressive leader building an exceptionally strong Ombudsman’s office and doing so while his country is at war.
We thank the many members of civil society that we met and the invaluable work that they are doing on a daily basis in Ukraine.
“I am deeply grateful to my good friend and colleague Rob Behrens CBE, IOI Vice President Europe, who joined me on this visit. He is a person of utter integrity, searching intellect and profoundly good values. He came to Ukraine. He lives his values” said Chris Field.
“The leadership, tenacity, bravery and humility of our hosts - Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and his superb Ombudsman team, Parliament's Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, Irpin Deputy Mayor Dmytro Negresha, the amazing security services team who protected us throughout - made the journey (in the words of Speaker Stefanchuk) 'historic' and unforgettable. We return home humbled, and determined to promote the Ukrainian cause faced with a brutal, illegal, invasion in as concrete way as the world Ombudsman community can” said Rob Behrens.
Source: The Office of the Western Australian Ombudsman and IOI President
