We are transforming a war-shelled hotel in Chernihiv into a place of encounter, rehabilitation and trauma recovery.

After months of Russian occupation, a former hotel complex in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine near the Russian border, is now to be turned into a place where local civil society structures can meet and people affected by the war may overcome their traumas: “The Sunrise”. We are implementing the reconstruction of the “Sunrise” together with our Ukrainian partner organisation Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv (EHRHC).

We are pursuing a holistic approach with the “Sunrise” project, which includes the reconstruction of buildings as well as civil society structures and personal and mental health, in order to be able to lay the foundation for peacemaking processes in the decades to come.

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What is this project all about?

Russia’s war has caused damage and destruction of unimaginable dimensions in Ukraine. Not only have countless private homes and infrastructure been destroyed, but also facilities and meeting places for local civil society. Because of the war, there is a lack of places where activists can meet and interact. Quite a few of them suffer from permanent stress, overload and trauma, too.

Especially in places like Chernihiv that were formerly occupied, reconstruction is not only a material issue: communities need to rebuild themselves, individual and collective health needs to be restored, stress and resilience need to be strengthened.

The key to a stable and strong Ukrainian civil society lies in restoring the health of the people who care about the problems of the community and the country. Only then can they resume their civil society engagement.

It is elementary that people engaged in civil society in Ukraine can recover from stress and trauma. And that they know how to promote resilience in their communities. This is exactly what happens in the “Sunrise”.

Who benefits from the project?

    • Local, regional and international civil society activists
    • Activists, especially from Ukraine, in need of trauma-informed rehabilitation
    • Key civil society actors interested in resilience and capacity building
    • Marginalised groups, including minorities and LGBTQ+