DCN Global launches hub for Ukrainian refugees

October 1, 2024

By Eric House

The Digital Communication Network (DCN) recently launched its newest hub to help Ukrainian refugees leverage digital technologies for social good. DCN Global, the network’s umbrella organization, held a three-day event in Romania to kick off the hub’s opening. The hub will provide opportunities for participants to collaborate both in person and virtually.

One such event, the Ukrainian Digital Creators U.S. Exchange Program, is already set to take place in October. Implemented in partnership with World Learning, the program will teach young digital creators how to combat social media misuse, disinformation, and cybersecurity threats throughout Ukraine.

The new hub’s August launch hosted Ukrainian refugees who have settled throughout Europe and want to foster a deeper understanding of social movements in Europe and the United States to support engagement with Ukraine. They shared how to best utilize digital tools and strategies to raise awareness about the situation in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

“The biggest benefit was bringing people together with a similar goal to help Ukraine,” said Diana Filimon, who helped organize and promote the event. “[The participants] learned more about social movements, how to conduct campaigns, and how to mobilize. It was a good opportunity for them to get together and build on their new connections.”

The hub’s creation expands on the success of DCN Global’s Influencers Hub Ukraine, which took place in 2021 and brought together Ukrainian digital influencers, media innovators, and youth activists for workshops on digital tools to combat disinformation.

Anastasiia Aharkova is a Ukrainian refugee currently living in Prague who attended both the new hub launch and Influencers Hub Ukraine. She works for a media outlet for Ukrainian refugees and established a non-governmental organization to broaden help to Ukrainian refugees. For her, the event provided opportunities to gain knowledge and network with like-minded people.

“For me, as a journalist and a member of an NGO, the workshops were extremely useful,” she said. “In my media team, I am responsible for social media and content creation, so the workshop about current trends in YouTube and content ideas was especially practical.

“Refugees have ideas and, most importantly, the will to help the host countries that sheltered them after the invasion. But a lot of people who lost their old lives first need support to gain knowledge, skills, motivation, or even inspiration to start bringing their ideas to life. And I believe that the Ukrainian hub will be a great opportunity to help Ukrainian refugees with all these aspects.”

The challenge of combatting disinformation and equipping citizens with the tools and knowledge necessary to build trust and transparency in media has been at the forefront of the Digital Communication Network since its launch in 2015. With the subsequent expansion to DCN Global and its hubs, forming communities to promote the open and accurate exchange of information worldwide continues to be a core focus of DCN’s mission.

The new hub for Ukrainian refugees looks to build upon this focus, and those involved are hopeful for what comes next.

“Keeping hope in troubled times is very hard wherever you are,” Filimon said. “But when you are a refugee, running away from a war in your country, the best way to keep hope alive is through community. I really believe in creating spaces for collaboration and gathering ideas. We need structures in order to maintain ongoing communication and collaboration, and that is why this new hub is extremely important at this moment.”