Olena Lysenko

Half a Day for Defenders

Goal: To urge the Ukrainian Parliament to dedicate half a day for passing nine bills to strengthen army defense capabilities and veteran benefits.
Duration: One year (2017-2018).
Results: All nine bills passed by Parliament and signed into law.

Communication Activities:

Roundtable Discussion
The campaign was launched by the leadership from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, alongside the leaders of non-profit organizations, and Reanimation Package of Reforms experts. Attendees presented an official letter to the Ukrainian parliament's Chairman. I handed out copies of the letter, along with the supporting infographics, to the journalists covering the event.
The event generated media headlines including: "Parliament ignores bills for veterans," "Bills for the military: voting cannot be postponed," "Volunteers present demands to the Parliament," "Parliament urged to allocate day for veteran protection bills.

The event sparked widespread media attention, with headlines such as "Parliament ignores bills for veterans" and "Bills for the military: voting cannot be postponed," highlighting the pressing need for legislative action to support army personnel and veterans.

Endorsement Letters
Legal Hundred NGO submitted formal requests to various officials and authorities. In response, we received sixteen endorsement letters from The Presidential Administration of Ukraine, Parliamentary committees, Members of Parliament. These letters supported our campaign objectives and reinforced the importance of our proposed legislation.

Viral Videos on Social Media
I invited well-known activists and veterans with large social media following and a high degree of public trust to post videos endorsing our advocacy campaign. These videos went viral on Facebook, a popular platform for activism in Ukraine. Veterans soon began motivating each other to create more videos. For example, Leonid Ostaltsev, a veteran and popular Kyiv restaurateur, started his video saying: "Martin Brest just called and roasted me. Why the f*ck haven't you recorded the video yet?" The videos garnered thousands of views and attracted online media coverage, amplifying our campaign message.

Letter-Writing Campaign
We provided our followers with a letter template and guidelines for contacting their Members of Parliament. This grassroots approach aimed to increase direct public pressure on lawmakers to support our bills

Social Media
I shared weekly updates on bill status on Legal Hundred's social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram). I reached out to bloggers, influencers, and non-profits to push our message. We also provided our followers with a clear outline of the legislative process, detailing steps each bill needed to pass.

Examples of Legal Hundred's social media posts and screenshots from our highly popular webinars, hosted and live-streamed on Instagram and Facebook as part of the 'Half a Day for Defenders' advocacy campaign. Legal Hundred's webinars garnered 52,000 views in 2018.

Consultations with Members of Parliament
Our legal team presented to parliamentary committees and held one-on-one meetings with MPs and parliamentary group leaders. These consultations aimed to clarify bill details, address concerns, and build support among key decision-makers.

Parliamentary Round Table
We organized the roundtable event in collaboration with various non-governmental organizations to give veterans the opportunity to discuss our campaign with MPs. We asked veterans and families of deceased soldiers to share their thoughts and personal stories about the bills' importance, highlighting their potential impact. These testimonies attracted media attention.

Veterans with disabilities and PTSD address lawmakers at the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv, November 2017. They advocated for the 'Half a Day for Defenders' campaign, urging increased legislative support for military personnel and veterans.

Email Newsletter
I sent weekly updates on bills and voting analysis to subscribers, including MPs, their assistants, and journalists using Mailchimp. Our analytics reports were quoted by media outlets like the Ukrainian Weekly magazine.

Media Liaison
I was looking for compelling stories and people who could discuss their challenges and how passing the bills would address them. I also pitched analytics, infographics, Op-Eds.

Liudmyla Kornii and Tamara Kovalenko, widows of fallen soldiers, urge Parliament to pass the bill, 2017. Their personal stories, highlighting the human impact of legislation and became powerful voices for the 'Half a Day for Defenders' campaign, attracting media attention to the cause.

My Key Responsibilities:

• Worked on strategy, planning, and execution of the communication strategy.
• Responsible for ensuring that all activities were in line with the organization's mission, vision, and values.
  
• Wrote and edited content (press releases, news announcements, event invitations, and others) and shared it with press contacts and the public.
• Built and maintained media contact list.
• Pitched stories to media, supported spokespeople in interviews, responded to media inquiries.
• Built, expanded and maintained a strong network of contacts, collaborated with non-profits, influencers, bloggers, volunteers, donors, politicians etc.
• Conducted media monitoring and analysis.
• Managed social media platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, Youtube.
• Organized events (interviews, press conferences, round tables) and looked out cooperation opportunities.
• Handled inquiries from our stakeholders.
• Created a crisis communications plan.
• Analyzed the effectiveness of communication strategies and tools.
• Planned and managed the budget of the communication department