Anzhelika Bielova

For six years now, Anzhelika Bielova has been working for the rights of Roma in her homeland Ukraine. With her project "Voice of Romni", she provides humanitarian aid and supports in legal issues. She communicates the needs of the community on a national level and campaigns for their rights there as well on an international level.

What is most important to you at the moment?
The most important thing for me at the moment is, of course, the safety of my family and helping those people who have suffered from the war.

 

What is your engagement?
For 6 years, I have been actively working in the field of Roma rights protection. Currently, I work in the following areas:

  • provision of humanitarian aid to the Roma community (food, medicines, hygiene kits, diapers and food for children)
  • information support for the Roma community - about the procedure for obtaining IDP status, registration and compensation for damaged housing as a result of military operations, issuing foreign passports
  • legal assistance to the Roma community
  • monitoring and assessment of current needs of the Roma community in Ukraine
  • development of long-term programs for socio-economic recovery of Roma IDPs
  • advocacy of the rights of Roma IDPs and refugees at the national and international levels

How can we best support socially and politically engaged people in your country?
The main need of the country in the victory over the terrorist country - Russia, is the supply of weapons.
You can support us on the information front - help us talk about Russia's actions at the international level, speak in support of Ukraine.
You can support activists and human rights defenders, as EVZ is currently doing in two programs.
You can support the provision of humanitarian aid to the population, support projects that contribute to the economic recovery of the country - help IDPs find work, create economic opportunities for them, projects aimed at supporting the establishment and relocation of businesses.
You can support projects that contribute to the improvement of the educational process of children and youth, because education in Ukraine suffered due to the war started by Russia. Millions of children cannot attend educational institutions, and the most vulnerable, such as Roma children, do not have access to distance learning due to a lack of technical means.

 

When/in what context did you first hear about the EVZ Foundation?
When the EVZ fund started to help Roma who suffered from the National Socialist regime and my grandmother received help, I was a child at that time. Now, thanks to the EVZ foundation, my organization, Voice of Romni, also provides assistance to war victims.

In your opinion, which moment in history deserves more attention in the collective memory?
This is the Second World War. Now the whole world should remember the events of those years and prevent a world war. For this, everyone should unite and help Ukraine overcome Russia, which is now killing thousands of Ukrainians and will not stop there.

What are your concerns?
Of course, I am worried that the war will drag on for many years, and our country will be destroyed, thousands of people will die at the hands and weapons of Russian soldiers.

What makes you happy?

  1. When the family is together - this rarely happens today, due to the fact that my child and I are safe in another country, and my husband is in Ukraine, where rocket attacks occur every day.
  2. Successful initiatives and partnerships through which we help more people.
  3. Happy faces of people receiving help.

What would you do if the war ended today?
I would return to my home, to my hometown, to my husband forever, we would gather for the all-Ukrainian victory celebration, cry and rejoice that we can finally be home safely and then we would rebuild our country together. (I am writing this and crying)