Second Information Session for Newcomers

On Friday 16^th December 2022, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic held their second information session for newcomers from Ukraine in Prague. The event was again organised by Infopoint – Prague Helps Ukrainians, this time in the beautiful premises of the Stone Bell House on the Old Town Square, provided by the Prague City Gallery.

 

The activities of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic were presented by Oleksandr Lutsenko and Mykhailo Vyshyvanyuk who introduced the participants to the website and the Telegram channel of the Embassy. It is also possible to communicate with the virtual consul Yaroslav, created to meet the needs of citizens of Ukraine in the Czech Republic.

 

The participants of the meeting received very specific and detailed answers to a number of practical questions (e.g. considering passport renewal or extension, death of Ukrainian citizens in the Czech Republic, visas, etc.).

 

The second part of the session consisted in a presentation of activities of the Prague City Gallery (GHMP) and the Municipal Library of Prague (MLP). The GHMP has been implementing projects for children from Ukraine since 2014. Citizens of Ukraine can now access all exhibitions for CZK 1. Accompanying events and educational programs for children and adults, organised by the Gallery on a regular basis, are completely free for them. The Gallery also provides its premises for cultural and fundraising events in support of Ukraine. All information about the GHMP, their activities and programs offered to citizens of Ukraine is available in a special section of the GHMP website in Ukrainian.

 

Citizens of Ukraine are also offered a free registration to the Municipal Library in Prague. The registration enables them to use all services of the extensive network of libraries in Prague. The library branches offer language courses (Smíchov, Lužiny, Central Library – Workshops, Sedmička, Korunní, Dittrichova, and Záhřebská), leisure activities and talks for children. Every Tuesday from 5 to 6 p.m. it is also possible to take a tour of the Central Library in Ukrainian. There is no need to worry about registering, the library staff is happy to guide you through the registration process and explain how to use the library’s automated system and electronic catalogues. MLP, along with other libraries from across the country, has been involved in the creation and management of the Libraries Ukraine website, a shared platform of materials for working with Ukrainian children. MLP, together with other libraries from all over the CR, is involved in the creation and management of the Libraries for Ukraine website, a shared platform of materials for working with Ukrainian children.

 

The last organisation to take the floor was Infopoint – Prague Helps Ukrainians. Infopoint provided the participants with useful information and introduced them to the profession of intercultural professionals, who help foreigners free of charge to communicate with authorities, schools, and other institutions. Although a lot of information can be found on the Internet, newcomers from Ukraine are often confused about certain issues or have only sketchy information. It is very important to use only reliable and trustworthy sources to look up information, be it the website of the Ministry of the Interior of the CR Our Ukrainians or their Facebook page, the website pragueforall.cz of the City of Prague for foreigners residing in the capital (available in Ukrainian) or their Facebook page Praha – Metropole všech. Those preferring in-person communication can contact the staff of Infopoint – Prague Helps Ukrainians to ask for information. Infopoint will continue with their activities in 2023 as a part of a project Svitlo of the Scout Institute.

 

INFOPOINT – Prague Helps Ukrainians and the related activities are carried out as a part of a 2022 project of the City of Prague supporting the integration of temporary protection holders at the local level called “Contact Centre in Support of Raising Awareness of Ukrainian Refugees”, co-financed by the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic.